HIT SINGLES

Where to find the best Belgian waffle? A magnificent mole verde? To-die-for dim sum? Times restaurant reviewers Linda Burum, Michelle Huneven, Jonathan Gold, Max Jacobson and S. Irene Virbila give their favorite platters a spin.

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Smoky grilled catfish, roasted hot red chiles, slivers of kaffir lime leaves and the clean sparkle of lime juice come together in Thai Nakorn’s catfish larb. It’s an E-saan-style salad from the country’s northeastern corner, where the rustic food is earthier and simpler than the more familiar Chinese-influenced central-Thailand-style fare. Order larb with sticky rice so that you can eat it as the E-saan do: Make a small ball of rice, use it to pick up bits of spicy fish mixture along with a mint-leaf garnish, then pop the whole thing in your mouth. To cool your palate, munch the side of cabbage leaves or use them to wrap up morsels of salad.

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Thai Nakorn, 8674 Stanton Ave., Buena Park; (714) 952-4954. Catfish larb, $6.