Lacha Somtum

Lacha Somtum is the Baskin-Robbins of Thai papaya salad. The menu at this blink-and-miss-it spot in the heart of Thai Town has over a dozen types of mortar-pounded som tum on the menu, tossed with things like salted crab, duck eggs, or crispy pork belly. The tangy, sometimes-searing papaya salad here is enough reason to visit, but we might love their other Northeastern Thai (Isaan) dishes even more. There’s raw shrimp dabbed with fiery chile-garlic paste, larb with bits of duck cracklings, and a pungent shrimp paste rice decorated with piles of toppings that might it look like a painter’s palette. The spice levels here get serious in a hurry, but fortunately, Lacha used to be a tea shop in a previous life, which means you can order an Ovaltine mudslide or passion fruit slushie to cool the burn.