For dinner that night, we had a pad thai showdown!
In one corner, the venerable stalwart, Thip Samai. In the other, almost next door neighbor, Leung Pha Pad Thai. First, the ground rules - as all good experiments mut have controls. The PT should have fresh shrimp, shrimp head fat, and not be contained in an egg bag.
Here's an interior shot of Thip Samai:
Notice the tons of staff out front... this place was packed!
Part of their menu:
The pad thai:
The noodle's orange color comes from the shrimp head fat.
Here's an interior shot of their neighbor, Leung Pha:
It's a much smaller place...
And the pad thai:
So without further ado, the breakdown of the results in no particular order:
Fresh shrimp cookedness - winner: Leung Pha. Their shrimp were cooked perfectly, while TS's were slightly overcooked.
Egg cookedness - Winner: Leung Pha. Their eggs were just barely set, and almost mixed themselves into the noodles, whereas TS's were slightly overcooked, bordering on hard/rubbery.
Misc components/ general flavor - winner: Leung Pha. LP uses larger pieces of shallot which retain a very slight crunchiness providing good textural contrast, whereas TS's shallots are smaller and basically melt into the noodles. Obviously, this whole thing is subjective, but this is more subjective than the rest. We also thought the overall flavor was slightly better at LP.
Noodle cookedness - winner: Thip Samai. Their noodle texture was just perfect. Soft, but retaining a little bite. LP's noodles were a little mushy.
So this is a David and Goliath moment... Thip Samai, the giant PT factory and institution versus the tiny neighbor.
Overall winner: Thip Samai. Their noodle texture was crazy good and heads and shoulders better than LP. To us, at the end of the day, PT is a noodle dish, and the noodle texture is key. The overall flavor of both were excellent, but even if LP edged out TS in almost every category, the differences there were subtle and relatively minor compared to the textural issue.
As an aside, how come no one in NY can make a PT with shrimp head fat?? It lends such a great flavor that is so distinctive, and turns the noodles a bright orange color.
