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Los Angeles · Thai

Amphai Northern Thai Food Club

Tiny Thai Town Chiang Rai specialist for khao soi, sai oua, nam ngiaw, and a daily steam-table spread.

Price
$
Opened
2019
Neighborhood
Thai Town5301 W Sunset Blvd #11, Los Angeles, CA 90027

Restaurant website →

About

Chef-owner Amphai Dunne (often called Nancy) opened Northern Thai Food Club in early 2019 in a twelve-seat corner unit of a Sunset Boulevard mini-mall in Thai Town, after years of selling out Northern dishes at local weekend festivals. She cooks the food of Chiang Rai and Mae Chan, Thailand’s far north near the Myanmar and Laos borders: herb-packed sai oua sausage, khao soi with a braised chicken leg in coconut curry broth, nam ngiaw (tomato-slicked pork rib stew over fermented rice noodles), nam prik dips, and a rotating steam table of stews, fried ribs, and sour sausages that Bill Addison’s Los Angeles Times review treated as the real map of the room. Look for a vinyl banner that simply reads Northern Thai Food beside Pa Ord; The Infatuation and LA Mag keep the shop on shortlists for home-style Northern cooking that is more steam-table conversation than Night + Market wine-bar energy. Soft hours run long into the evening; confirm live on amphainorthernthaifoodla.com. No Michelin listing as of July 2026.

Menu highlights

  • Khao soi with braised chicken
  • Sai oua (Northern Thai herb pork sausage)
  • Kanom jeen nam ngiaw
  • Daily steam-table stews, larb, and sour sausage specials
  • Nam prik dips with vegetables

Diners say

Public reviews praise the sausage, khao soi, steam-table specials, and Chiang Rai flavors that feel homemade. Recurring friction includes a cramped room that is hard to find, limited seating, and a setup that does not suit large groups or diners who want a polished hang. Diners who like it usually go solo or as a pair for a focused Northern Thai lunch or early dinner, not a reservation-led tasting night.

Review synthesis as of 2026-07-31. Synthesis of recurring themes in public Yelp and Google Maps reviews sampled July 2026; not a rating or ranking. Cross-checked against amphainorthernthaifoodla.com, Los Angeles Times (Bill Addison, May 2019), The Infatuation, LA Mag, and city business start date March 1, 2019. Soft hours: confirm live. No live Michelin listing found July 2026.