Larb in Shoreline
Larb is a minced-meat salad from Isan, the northeastern region of Thailand that shares a border and a great deal of its cooking with Laos. Meat is chopped fine, dressed hot with lime juice and fish sauce, then loaded with red onion, green onion, mint and ngo gai — and bound with khao khua, rice toasted dry in a pan and ground coarse, which is what gives larb its nutty smell and its sandy texture.
It is not a lettuce wrap and it is not a stir-fry. It arrives at room temperature, sour and salty before it is spicy, and it is eaten with sticky rice pressed into a ball with your fingers and used to pick the meat up.
We are named after it. That is the whole argument for ordering it here.
Our larb
Four on the menu, all served the same way — pounded to order, dressed hot, finished with roasted sticky rice.
Larb Moo (Pork)
$14.45Ground pork salad with pork liver, pork skin, ngo gai, green onion, red onion, cilantro, mint, lime leaf, roasted sticky rice
Larb Gai (Chicken)
$14.45Ground chicken salad with ngo gai, green onion, red onion, cilantro, mint, lime leaf, roasted sticky rice
Larb Ped (Duck)
$18.45Ground duck, crispy duck skin, ngo gai, green onion, red onion, cilantro, mint, lime leaf, roasted sticky rice
Larb Hed
$13.45Mixed mushroom, ngo gai, green onion, red onion, cilantro, mint, lime leaf, roasted sticky rice
Its close relative
Same dressing, same herbs, different cut — grilled and sliced rather than minced.
Nam Tok Moo
$16.45Grilled pork sirloin with ngo gai, green onion, red onion, cilantro, mint, lime leaf, chili with thai chili lime dressing
Questions people ask
- What is larb?
- A minced-meat salad from Isan in northeastern Thailand. The meat is chopped fine and dressed while hot with lime juice and fish sauce, then mixed with red onion, green onion, mint, ngo gai and khao khua — dry-toasted rice ground coarse, which gives the dish its nutty aroma and its texture. It is served at room temperature with sticky rice.
- Is it larb or laab?
- Both, and neither is wrong. It is a Thai and Lao word written in a different alphabet, so English spellings vary — larb, laab, laap and larp all name the same dish. We spell it larb, which is also our name.
- What is the difference between larb and nam tok?
- The dressing and herbs are nearly identical; the cut of meat is not. Larb is minced. Nam tok is grilled and then sliced, so you get char and chew instead of a fine crumb. Our Nam Tok Moo uses grilled pork sirloin. If you like one you will almost certainly like the other.
- How spicy is it?
- Larb is traditionally a hot dish, and we cook it in the Isan register rather than a toned-down one. Tell your server how you want it — that conversation is the reliable way to get it right, and far better than guessing from a menu label.
- What should I order with it?
- Sticky rice, which is the utensil as much as the side. A papaya salad and something from the grill make it a full Isan table for two.
While you are here
Papaya Salad
Nine of them, pounded to order in the mortar — from the mild Thai one to Tum Tard for the table.
Thai Hot Pot
A clay pot of broth on your table, three meat sets, and everything cooked as you go.
Lao Food
The Lao side of our menu — Luang Prabang papaya salad, nham khao tod, duck larb, bamboo.
Come and eat
14561 Bothell Way NE, Shoreline. Open fri – sun, 12–9 PM.