Uncle Boons

What are a couple of Per Se vets doing in a Thai restaurant off the Bowery? I dunno, but they ought to keep doing it.

Like a lot of chefs trained in fine dining, Matt Danzig and Ann Redding (husband & wife) didn’t try to replicate that model when they struck out on their own. Redding’s from Thailand, Danzig had visited a lot and fell in love with the cuisine.

The early reviews have been mostly rapturous (two stars from Pete Wells), and they’re deserved. Danzig and Redding’s version of Thai cuisine is terrific, and well worth seeking out.

The space is decked out like a Thai tavern (a poor man’s Spice Market), and in a clever nod to the nearby Lighting District, no two light fixtures are the same. The rest of the décor is in dark wood and brick, with leafy plants in the window and an oldie sound track that doesn’t blast. Eater measured the sound level at almost 80db (comparable to a vacuum cleaner or an alarm clock), but we must have lucked out with our corner table: mercifully, we could hear ourselves talk.

The restaurant accepts limited reservations on its website, but many of the seats are reserved for walk-ins. There was nothing available online, but we took a chance at 7pm on a Saturday evening and were seated immediately. An hour or two later that probably wouldn’t have worked.

The Western influence is evident, in a focused menu that is practically old-school, with its recognizable appetizers ($8–15), entrées ($20–28), and side dishes ($3–8). Didn’t anyone tell them you’re not supposed to do that any more?

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SriPraPhai

I hesitate to admit that I had never been to SriPraPhai, the acclaimed Thai restaurant in Woodside, Queens, until about a month ago. To those who swear by the joint, this gap in my dining resume might be practically disqualifying. Frank Bruni of The Times gave it two stars nearly eight years ago, and chowhounds were raving about it long before that. Let’s just say I have a long to-do list.

The experts have fallen out of love with SriPraPhai. Not long after the Bruni review, the owners took over the adjacent storefront, doubled in size, and surrendered some of the intimacy that made them so successful. Many of the chowhounders transferred their affection to Ayada in Elmhurst, which remains on my to-do list. Perhaps I’ll get to it before 2020.

We walked into SriPraPhai without a reservation at about 5pm on a Saturday evening, after a Met game. It was not terribly busy, but that would soon change.

The dining room had the cloying scent of leftover soy and garlic. It was a warm evening, and we happily took seats in the outdoor garden.

There are 144 items on the menu, and I’ve a sinking feeling that there’s a wide variation between the best items and the merely routine on any given evening. I did a bit of research before our visit, but the food boards are not in agreement about what to order these days.

 

I had to try the Roasted Duck Salad ($10.50; above left), a dish Bruni loved so much that he ordered it twice. Its charms were lost on us: the duck was cold and soggy. I rather liked the crisp tang of Salted Beef Fried Rice ($8.50; above right), but my son wasn’t fond of it.

 

Drunken Noodles ($10.50; above left) are offered with beef, duck, chicken, or shrimp (our choice), laced with hot chili and basil leaves.. The noodles themselves are a shade on the tough side, but still worthwhile. Sautéed Crispy Pork Belly ($10.00; above right) won’t be to all tastes, as the pork is so dry as to be nearly dessicated, but it was our favorite dish of the evening.

No one would come here for the wine, but to wash down dinner, $9 for a half-liter of the house red is not a bad deal. We weren’t wowed by the food, but at these prices you can over-order and it’ll still feel like a bargain. Dinner for two was $70, including tax and tip. Credit cards aren’t accepted.

SriPraPhai (64–13 39th Aveue between 64th & 65th Streets, Woodside, Queens)

Food: Good, but uneven, authentic Thai food
Service: So-so; not quite able to keep up with such a large space
Ambiance: Not the reason you dine here

Rating: ★
Why? The chowhound crowd has moved on, and I can see why

Lotus of Siam

Note: Lotus of Siam closed in May 2012. As of 2014, the space is occupied by the French restaurant Claudette.

*

Lotus of Siam, the legendary Las Vegas Thai standout, has opened in Greenwich Village, in the former Cru space. Gourmet critic Jonathan Gold called the original LoS “the single best Thai restaurant in North America.” I’m always skeptical of best — really, how could you know? — but the place has racked up accolades by the score.

Their decision to take the Cru space came quite suddenly. Eater.com posted the first rumors on October 21, and by October 27 eGullet’s Fat Guy was there for a media preview meal. In a city where most restaurants are announced months before they open, and often much longer, this was exceptionally speedy.

It’s practically a pop-up restaurant. Most of the Cru décor remains, although there are no longer any tablecloths, and it looks like the chairs have been replaced. I am pretty sure the flatware and serving pices are Cru’s (I remember them distinctly). Cru’s collection of high-end wine decanters lounges on a table-top, unused. The brief wine list consists of a few sheets of plain white paper, stuffed into laminated plastic sleeves.

New York is historically unkind to imported restaurants, especially when the chef does not move here permanently. Saipan Chutima, the chef and owner of the original (which will continue to be her home base), said that it took three years to train her Vegas staff. With most of the reviews likely to appear within two months, she will not have that luxury.

The à la carte menu of about fifty dishes debuted late last week. We tried four items, none of any great distinction. Four silver dollar-sized fish cakes were a bit lumpy. Fried rice with shrimp and pineapple tasted like take-out you could get anywhere. It was marked on the menu with an asterisk (spicy), but it had no heat at all. Had it not been for little cubes of pineapple, it wouldn’t have had much flavor, either.

Braised short rib (above left), in a mild coconut sauce, was the more enjoyable of the two entrées. Crispy duck (above right) was dull and dry.

Service — although I’m sure they mean well — was comically inept. I tried to get a glass of wine, but the server interrupted me: “Let me send over the sommelier.” Fair enough, but no sommelier came. We drank water all evening, and no one noticed.

I ordered food for both of us, from which a wise server might have inferred that we intended to share. The first two dishes arrived without sharing plates. To get them, it took about five minutes, and requests to two different runners, while we looked longingly at our food, which was getting cold. When the entrées were set down, the same drama was repeated.

It would be piling on to complain about the silverware, but I don’t think fish knives were meant to be used as the serving spoons for fried rice. I’ll leave it at that.

The dessert menu consists of just one item, which the server recited. (We were full, and didn’t order it.) “We’re still in a soft opening right now,” he said. Soft or not, they’re charging full price, but in respect of their alleged status I’ll withhold judgment. But I think they have their work cut out for them.

Lotus of Siam (24 Fifth Avenue at E. 10th Street, Greenwich Village)

Kin Shop

Note: Harold Dieterle closed Kin Shop and its sister restaurant, Perilla, late in 2015. He said that he was “not having fun and enjoying myself.”

*

Harold Dieterle, the winner of Top Chef Season 1, has done many admirable things. To date, he is the only winner of that show to parlay his success into a restaurant: Perilla.

And since opening three years ago, Dieterle has basically stayed put, focusing on his kitchen, not photo-ops. Critical reception was tepid, but we liked Perilla when we visited earlier this year, and it remains steadily busy.

A few weeks ago, he opened Kin Shop, a Thai restaurant. Yeah, it’s a bit of an eye-roller: both the kitschy name, and the deeper question whether Thai cuisine is something a non-native can just dabble in.

Does Kin Shop qualify as an authentic Thai restaurant? I’ll leave that debate to others. In an interview, Dieterle wisely described the menu as “spins on traditional dishes” and “original stuff with influences from Thai flavors and ingredients.” In short: it doesn’t much matter whether you would see these exact dishes in Thailand.

The menu is much more focused than at the typical Thai restaurant, where you could visit every day for months without running out of new things to try. There are just two dozen items, all served family style, as sharable plates. It’s fairly priced for the West Village, though not if your idea of great NYC Thai food is a place in Queens. Salads and soups are $9–14, vegetables $8–9, noodles and curries $14–25.

Spicy Duck Laab Salad ($13; above left) was aggressively hot. We loved it, but we were left with no taste for the Beef Tartare ($14; above right), which failed to make much of an impression.

Dieterle’s skill with proteins really shone, including the tenderest duck breast ($24; above left) that I’ve had in a long time. Put it in pancakes and add some red curry sauce, and you are in for a treat.

Goat ($21; above right) came with a milder curry sauce and a blaze of fried shallots, purple yams, mustard greens, and toasted coconuts. It seemed to be the same cut that would be called osso buco if it were veal, and if this were Italy. Having been braised for many hours, it came off the bone like butter. [Update: Justin, in the comments, says it’s the neck, not the osso buco.]

We didn’t mind the family-style service, but the food came out too fast. Our first two items, plus a Stir Fry of Aquatic Vegetables ($9; above left), all arrived at once. Perhaps we’d have liked that Beef Tartare better if the Duck Laab Salad hadn’t been there to overwhelm it. Perhaps the vegetables wouldn’t have seemed dispensable if they’d been served later.

The two entrées came together, as well, and I began to suspect this was part of a strategy for turning tables. Kin Shop is packed in its early days: both the bar (where they also serve food) and the tables were full, and the host was turning walk-ins away. Servers, at least, are attentive and well informed about the cuisine.

The space is narrow, with an open kitchen in the back. There is exposed brick, painted white. Green floral wall hangings match the banquettes, in a design not especially suggestive of Thailand. It is exactly what you expect a West Village-y dining room to be.

I suspect the Sripraphai set will sniff haughtily at Kin Shop, but Harold Dieterle’s version of Thai cuisine is very good indeed.

Kin Shop (469 Sixth Avenue between 11th & 12th Streets, West Village)

Food: **
Service: *
Ambaince: *
Overall: *½

Sookk

 

Sookk came to my attention a month or two ago, when I noticed that eGullet’s Fat Guy had pronounced it the best Thai restaurant in the city—better than most people’s favorite, SriPraPhai in Woodside, Queens. A guy in the Eater comments had the same opinion—but so far, they’re the only ones.

I shy away from proclaiming the “Best…” anything, even in dining genres where I believe I have sampled all or most of the plausible candidates. So I would never make such a claim about Thai food, which I have only a few times a year.

Based on my experience, limited though it may be, I thought that Sookk was above average, and certainly worth a visit. if you don’t mind a trip to 103rd & Broadway. According to my twitter feed, the Columbia students love this place, and I can see why. The prix fixe lunch is just $7. Our dinner for two was just $60, and that included a bottle of sparkling wine that might have been $60 all by itself in some restaurants. Certainly, in terms of value per dollar, it’s hard to beat this place.

But I found the food too mild. Several dishes carried the warning that they came with the extra-spicy special house sauce. We were cautioned to add it sparingly, as they would not be returnable if we went too far. After the appetizer failed to register, I unloaded all of the available sauce into the entrée, and still couldn’t find much heat to speak of.

Having said that, the food was carefully prepared, attractively presented, and mostly enjoyable. I certainly would not hesitate to return. I just find it hard to believe that it’s the city’s best.

 

The Assorted Golden Fritters ($7; above left) was our favorite dish, with an assortment of crispy chicken, shrimp dumplings, shitake spring rolls, blanketed shrimps, and sesame tofu. There wasn’t the slightest hint of grease, and a sweet chili sauce supplied just the right amount of heat. Even the tofu—and I am not a tofu guy—was wonderful.

A so-called Fiery Thai Beef Tartare ($5; above right) wasn’t very fiery at all. It’s hard to tell from the photo (which I shot after I’d spoiled the kitchen’s careful plating), but there’s a black rice cake underneath that heaping pile of seasoned beef. It’s actually a witty combination, as the rice cake somewhat resembled a hamburger patty—thus, the dish was reversing the usual order of the ingredients. For five bucks, the beef was obviously not aged prime, but I cannot fault it in a five-dollar dish.

 

Much of the menu consists proteins, to which you add your choice of accompaniments. Duck in Green Curry ($14; above left) was insipid and forgettable.

Thai Paella ($15; above right) was on a separately printed list, alleged to be the “weekly specials,” although the sheet was so dog-eared it could have dated from the Bush Administration. An abundant helping of rice was slightly on the greasy side; finding the seafood (shrimp, scallops, mussels) required a small fishing expedition. The secret sauce, as I mentioned, didn’t add much. Perhaps they ought to leave Paella to the Spanish.

The small space is inexpensively but attractively decorated in multi-colored fabrics. Tables are close together, but when families enter with strollers, the staff make room. They were about 80 percent full on a Saturday evening: we arrived without a reservation and were seated immediately. Service was a bit slow, but we were in no hurry and didn’t mind. 

If I sound a bit negative, perhaps it is only because we came in with high expectations. With the various combinations of proteins and broths, there are probably a hundred different dishes here, of which we sampled only a few. (I am fully prepared for someone to write in the comments, “You ordered wrong.”) Still, this should not take away from Sookk’s many charms. If you are looking for better-than-average neighborhood Thai cuisine, you’ll enjoy Sookk; we certainly did.

Sookk (2686 Broadway between 102nd & 103rd Streets, Upper West Side)

Food: *
Service: *
Ambiance: *
Overall: *

Rhong-Tiam

Note: Rhong-Tiam moved to 87 Second Avenue, in the former Kurve location, after the space reviewed here was shut down by the Department of Health.

*

The annual Michelin ratings are always good for a surprise or two. For the most part, I’ve been a supporter, even if I disagreed with some of the choices. What’s the point of ratings that just echo what everyone else has already said? The status quo can survive some shaking-up. Most of the Michelin ratings are defensible; many are more accurate than those the Times critics issue, and then fail to keep up-to-date.

But Rhong-Tiam, awarded a star for the first time in the 2010 Michelin ratings, isn’t just a surprising choice. It is utterly baffling. It’s the first Michelin-starred restaurant I’ve visited, where I could not imagine where the rating came from.

Let us be clear: Rhong-Tiam, which opened in March 2008, is a respectable addition to the Greenwich Village dining scene. Drop by if you’re in the neighborhood; you’ll probably like the place, as we did. But it is not destination cuisine, and it isn’t the best Thai food in New York. The tire men haven’t honored any other Thai restaurants, and they should not have honored Rhong-Tiam.

With that out of the way, understand that the food at Rhong-Tiam is good, and we liked most of what we we ordered.

 

Duck buns ($7; above left), made with duck confit and hoi-sin sauce, had a nice, bright flavor. Thai Sausages ($6; above right) would have been fine, if they hadn’t been dried out from over-cooking.

 

Moo-Na-Rok, or Pork on Fire ($13; above left), is the dish the Times loved. The intense heat chili heat catches up with you slowly. By the time you’re finished, your gums are burning, though I am not sure you can detect the pork by that point. Duck Chu Chee ($14; above right) with house-made curry gravy was a more balanced dish: plenty of heat there too, but you could actually taste the duck.

The drinks menu is non-alcoholic, and at first I assumed there was no liquor license. When I asked, the server mentioned two beers and four wines, along the lines of, “Cabernet, Malbec, umm,…hmm, Merlot, and I think Pinot Noir.” That didn’t give us much confidence, so we had a couple of Thai beers at $6 each.

Rhong-Tiam’s reservation system is a bit strange. You fill out a form on their website and receive an email a few minutes later. But the email is not a confirmation, just a promise that they’ll call you later, which they never did. So I called them, though it wouldn’t have mattered. On a Saturday evening, the restaurant was only about half full. Most of the patrons seemed to be the right age to be NYU students. The décor isn’t much more memorable than a dorm room, but the space is quiet and comfortable.

Rhong-Tiam offers an excellent value: our meal was just $64 before tax and tip. You are much better off ignoring its undeserved Michelin rating and appreciating Rhong-Tiam for what it is.

Rhong-Tiam (541 LaGuardia Place between Bleecker & W. 3rd Streets, Greenwich Village)

Food: *
Service: *
Ambiance: *
Overall: *

Lime Thai Bistro & Lounge

Source: Eater

Note: Lime Thai Bistro closed, either in late 2009 or early 2010.

*

Lime Thai Bistro & Lounge is a recent arrival in the lower West Village, though it is apparently a modest makeover of an earlier Thai restaurant called Hurapan Kitchen. Despite the attention-grabbing orange sign, the new version doesn’t yet have much of a following on this desolate stretch of Seventh Avenue: we had the place practically to ourselves.

That’s a shame, as we found the food food clever, terrific, and blissfully inexpensive.

Lobster and Shrimp Shumai ($9; above left) in a mustard-butter sauce were flawless. My friend Kelly enjoyed the Chicken Tom Yum soup ($5; above right).

I don’t recall much about the Peking Duck Wrap ($11; above left), except that we liked it. Kelly raved about the Spicy Drunken Noodle with Duck ($8.95; above right), a concoction of fresh basil, white onion, tomato, carrot, and Thai hot sauce.

I was mightily impressed with Marinated Skirt Steak ($19; above), which was beautifully prepared, not at all greasy, and a better quality of beef than I would have expected at this price. The chili dipping sauce added a nice kick, but wasn’t overly hot.

The décor is functional but rather charmless. Service was prompt and efficient.

Lime Thai Bistro & Lounge (29 Seventh Avenue South between Morton & Leroy Streets, West Village)

Food: *
Service: *
Ambiance: *
Overall: *

Kittichai

Note: This is a review under chef Ian Chalermkitticha, who has since left the restaurant. Ty Bellingham is his replacement.

*

My friend and I had dinner at Kittichai on Friday night. The Thai-inspired cuisine is artfully presented by executive chef, Ian Chalermkitticha, for whom the restaurant is named. The décor is spectacular, but it doesn’t upstage the food, which is uniformly successful.

The menu is divided into several categories:  appetizers ($7–19), soups ($8–10), vegetarian ($6–14), curries ($19–24), fish & shellfish ($24–28), poultry & meat ($22–25), and sides ($3–7). Every dish we saw, on our table and others, came on a differently-shaped plate or bowl. At Kittichai, presentation is part of the game. Most dishes are suitable for sharing.

I started with the Meing Tuna Tartare ($10), which comes with eight small round pastry shells that would normally be used for petits-fours—the menu calls them “limestone tartlets”—each holding a small peanut.  An ample portion of tuna comes spiced with ginger and lime. One at a time, you spoon a mouthful of tuna into one of the tartlets; eat and repeat. It was one of the most clever appetizers I’ve had in a long time.

My friend started with the Crispy Rock Shrimp ($13), which came in a grilled eggplant and palm sugar-tamarind sauce. She pronounced them terrific; I tasted one, and fully concurred.

For the main course, I had the Baked Chilean Sea Bass ($28). The menu describes the marinade as “yellow salted beans with morning glory,” which isn’t very helpful. Frank Bruni’s description, “divinely moist Chilean sea bass under a caramelized sheen of palm sugar and red curry paste,” is more apt. My friend had the Dry Spice Rub Duck Breast ($25). Once it arrived, a server brushed on a decadent pinapple broth tableside. It was perfectly tender and came with a side of crispy leg confit.

The wine list didn’t have much to do with Thailand. It was over-priced in relation to the entrée and appetizer prices, with not many reds below $50.

Kittichai (60 Thompson Street between Spring and Broome Streets, SoHo)

Food: **
Service: **
Ambiance: **
Overall: **

Siam Inn

Siam Inn is easily overlooked. The sign outside is small and humble; we nearly walked right by it. But for a happy, budget-friendly pre-theatre meal, Siam Inn is the ticket.

Both Zagat (“very plain decor” leads some to opt for the “excellent delivery”) and Michelin (“plain dining room”) take swipes at at the ambiance, but this is misleading. Okay, it’s not a decorator’s wet dream, like Vong or Spice Market, but Siam Inn is both pleasant and easy on the eyes. The banquettes are comfortable, the tables generously spaced. There are white tablecloths, and service was better than some two-star restaurants I’ve visited lately

In Michelin’s defense, they are tough graders on ambiance, or what they call “comfort.” Siam Inn receives two couverts on their one-to-five scale. That might not seem very good, but quite a few fine dining restaurants in New York have two couverts, such as Artisanal, David Burke & Donatella, and TriBeCa Grill, so Siam Inn is in pretty good company. Notwithstanding that, Michelin praised both the cuisine and the service, and it was an entry in the guide that led me to Siam Inn in the first place.

Anyhow, back to the restaurant: My friend and I shared an order of Thai Spring Rolls ($4.25), a generous and tasty portion that comes with three rolls, provocatively cut in half lengthwise, to show their innards.

Menu choices show between zero and three stars to indicate the degree of spiciness. I ordered a three-star special, Duck Basil ($19.95), which comes with Holy Basil, White Mushroom, Garlic and Chili. I would describe this as pleasantly hot, but not the fire-engine red associated with Sripraphai or some Indian curry houses. The duck slices (boneless, with the skin still on) were tender and moist. My friend had another hot duck dish, which looked very similar to mine, but with different vegetables and spices.

We both had a fun cocktail starter called a Blue Moon (sorry, I forget what was in it). The final bill, including tax but before tip, was about $62.

Siam Inn (854 Eighth Avenue between 51st & 52nd Streets, West Midtown)

Food: *
Service: **
Ambiance: *
Overall: *