Sripraphai

[ahr]

I’m considering venturing out of deepest Brooklyn into deepest Queens to visit the venerated Sripraphai.

What I’m seeking is not an itemization of everyone's favorite dishes, but suggestions for a well-balanced dinner for two people who might not make the schlep again soon.  (No matter how wonderful the food, I break my diet relatively infrequently these days, and, Fat Guy’s advocacy of regularity notwithstanding, generally try new places on such occasions.)

Anticipating some preference questions:

- We’d be one glutton (myself) and one female of normal appetite but adventurous disposition.

- Our most recent Thai meal, at Pongsri (there’s that “sri” again) on Second Avenue, consisted of two soups (tom yum koong), deep-fried tofu, steak salad, red curry with shrimp, duck with snow peas, basil, and chili sauce, and pumpkin custard.  (Low-carbers please note: this is Atkins-compatible, save for the custard and any rice.)

- We exhort the staff at Pongsri -- a friendly, homey place (pardon the adjectives) where we’re sort of semi-regulars, with food, on a good day, as tasty as I’ve had Thai in Manhattan or Brooklyn -- to make our meal “very spicy.”  Though this may well be mild in Sripraphai terms, I have also eaten Indian food that a Subcontinental friend pronounced inedibly hot.  The point, I guess, is that while not explicitly masochistic, we wouldn't necessarily rule out any dish because of its heat level.

So, what would be a suitable Sripraphai dinner for two, soup to sweets?  Dietary constraints need not be considered.

[Fat Guy]

Bring beer.

If you arrive in Woodside early enough, be sure to do some shopping that the peerless 99-cent stores on Roosevelt in the 50s-and-60s. There's also a good burger place, Donovan's, out there if you want a pre-dinner snack.

Two people, huh? Well, I'd definitely start with the denatured catfish salad (that's not what it's called of course) because it's clearly the finest example of this dish being served in New York. I see no reason to waste your time with any other appetizers -- they are not the strength of this kitchen.

I'd get "soy sauce noodles" with whatever meat you like. Don't bother with the pad-thai -- it's not fabulous. Chicken with ginger, onion, and scallion (I think that's the name of it) is a nice dish, though not spicy. Still I always order it. Penang curry with beef. At least one other curry and that's really a matter of your personal preference. Pork leg soup. Sticky rice.

I've never had a good Thai dessert that wasn't fruit, so I'd skip dessert. Go afterwards to the Twin Doughnut on Roosevelt Avenue (where it meets Queens Boulevard) and get glazed crullers. They tend to come out of the oven around 10:00pm. Make the guy get them for you from the back, not from the stale selection in the display case, and resist his attempts to sell you a phone card.

[ahr]

Thanks, Fat Guy.  I'm not going for a few weeks, but I wanted to post before you hit the road.

A soup, an app, a noodle, three mains, a rice; sounds about right.

Questions:

- Would it be correct to conclude that, other than the catfish waffle, seafood is not their strength (for the optional dishes)?

- I'll probably do a late lunch.  Does that change anything at Sripraphai?  When are the late-afternoon crullers fresh?

- Can you help calibrate how "hot" I should order?

Thanks for the BYOB note.  If you hadn't, though, I'm sure Steve P. would've mentioned it.

Speaking of desserts, I'm fond of Pongsri's (2nd Ave, not C-town) coconut-pumpkin custard.  It's not like the traditional recipes I've seen: it's a square cut from a tray like Sicilian pizza, pumpkin shreds baked into the top, slightly heavy, grainy and wet, with a sweet, sort of flanny aspect to the coconut taste.

[Fat Guy]

The banana sticky rice is the least one-dimensional/sickly-sweet dessert at the place, but as I've stated on threads elsewhere I'm just not an Asian dessert fan. Give me a cruller over the best dessert in Asia anyday. But if you like coconut-pumpkin custard, by all means, be my guest, fall off the wagon for the sake of the fluorescent green noodle dessert served with ice chips in it or the sweet black bean thingy they heat in the microwave.

However, in the late afternoon, the crullers will not be fresh at Twin Doughnut.

I see no harm in doubling up on sticky rice. No doubt my sticky rice consumption habits and preferences are improper, but it's not as though I eat it every day so when I can get it without having to haul out all sorts of special apparatus I get as much of it as possible.

I think it would be correct to conclude that the quality of the uncooked proteins is not the reason you go to the restaurant. In such a situation, fish rarely carries the day.

Ask for your foor Thai spicy, then say you really mean it, then say it again. This might get you something in the neighborhood of spicy enough for you. But the only way really to get it Thai spicy is to have them confuse you for a Thai person, which in your case I'm guessing would require a lot of makeup or a fortuitous miscommunication between waitstaff and kitchen.

[ahr]

But the only way really to get it Thai spicy is to have them confuse you for a Thai person, which in your case I'm guessing would require a lot of makeup or a fortuitous miscommunication between waitstaff and kitchen.

Didn't you know that the Thai were one of the Ten Lost Tribes?

[Mao]

This is the otehr place aI am heading to this weekend besides Bouley.  I will definately order catfish.  Isn't there also a ungle curry dish that is suppose to be rather delectable?  Also, is the consensus that you need to request that your food be served "hot" or it will be too mild?

[Fat Guy]

I don't know if it's the consensus, but it's the truth!

The jungle curry is quite good, but so are all the curries. I think it's a question of which curry style you like in general. I mean, I don't like yellow curries. I'm sure the restaurant's rendition of yellow curry is fabulous by the standards of the dish, but I won't like it anyway.

May I also suggest getting some takeout at the end of your meal? I mean, the stuff is so cheap, there's no reason not to eat it for a couple of days afterwards. The curry and soup items travel better than the noodle dishes, of course.

[Mao]

Now take out, truly a brilliant suggestion, Fat guy.  I was contemplating going to Veritas too in order to round out the weekend, having not been there yet (along with Sripraphai), but all that take out may crowd it out.  I suppose I could still bring the take out to work Monday or Tuesday and hit Veritas Sunday night.

I wonder if slightly old Thai food has the same comfort food qualities that 2 day old cold pizza or hamburgers do for me.  The latter two foods, I will admit are in pretty poor taste, but sometimes I enjoy reliving my college days.

[Fat Guy]

I haven't developed a unified theory of Thai takeout just yet, but I have noticed that some dishes are just awful an hour after they're made and they stay awful (Pad Thai), while some dishes stay pretty much the same for days (liquidy curries and soups), while other dishes deteriorate somewhat but remain comforting (basic stir fry dishes).

[Jinmyo]

What I like about Thai foods are the combination of very cooked down and extremely fresh ingredients. So I would think that takeout for stockpiling should involve the highest ratio of glop because they'll rot less. Sticky rice can keep fairly well and is great cold.

[ahr]

Rereading Fat Guy's review of Sripraphai, I see that:

- "Thai spicy" ordered by a Caucasian = "perspiration and some discomfort"

- "Thai medium-spicy" ordered by a Thai = "a blur of pain and suffering"

Would the proper order for a diner not so fortunate as to be a member of that particular lost tribe therefore be "Caucasian 'Thai medium spicy'," or perhaps "Thai 'Thai slightly spicy'?"

[Mao]

Went for first time yesterday and had crispy catfish salad, pork leg soup and Jungle curry chicken.  I guess expectations play a large roll in food and eating, but I must say that apart from the catfish salad, which was excellent, the rest of the meal did not come close to replicating the excellence of the food I ate while in Thailand.  It was rather underwhelming.  Could have been an off day, but the curry in particular was watery and the chicken plastic like.  I will go back again, but probably with more people so I can try a greater number of dishes, and get more sample size. Still will confexss disappointment.

[rich]

It was an absolutely spectacular night yesterday, so I convinced my wife to trek from Staten Island to Woodside for dinner at Sripraphai.

Dropped the top of my little two-seater and off we went. There's nothing like driving down Roosevelt Avenue directly through the heart of beautiful, downtown Woodside.

Upon arrival, my wife forced my to put the top up, even though we got a spot right outside the restaurant. Then I went into the Thai shop next door and picked up a few items including some bulk Tamarind.

Dinner was awesome, but we couldn't eat in the backyard because it was full. Started with the crispy catfish salad, then some grilled pork meatballs and finally some shredded pork with eggplant.

We ordered "Thai Spicy" (not Thai nationals) as per FG's instructions and enjoyed the flavors. I thought the catfish salad was the best - full of unique flavors and spice.

Another thing - the restaurant has two TVs and both were tuned to the Food Channel. So there we were, enjoying a great meal and watching Sara Moulton and whoever the guy is that follows her.

On the way home we dropped the top and again ventured through beautiful downtown Woodside - even went a few blocks out of the way to drive by the old Pfizer building on Woodside Avenue. One of Queens' great old landmarks.

[LaNiña]

Heresy, I know, but I was there on Tuesday for the 4,789th time and it was off. Same with 2 visits ago. Hmmm.

[khao]

I've been roughly 20 times and it's been bad exactly twice. There's no trend, Nina.

[LaNiña]

I know, I know, it was just scary to have it happen.

[ahr]

Heresy, I know, but I was there on Tuesday for the 4,789th time and it was off.  Same with 2 visits ago.  Hmmm.

Good thing that eG doesn't have the sort of resident Sripraphai heresy-detector that Chowhound used to have for DiFara's.

[Stone]

can someone post driving directions from Manhattan? I can't seem to find the big thread.

I'll hopefully be there for lunch tomorrow if anyone wants to stop by.

[phaelon56]

I've eaten at Spripraphai only once and had the dish I've seen in very few Thai reataurants: sour curry. Very, very good. I orded it spicey and it was just about right but I was with an Asian friend who has eaten there many times and they appear to have known that real spiciness would be okay. I wish more places would follow the lead of my favorite local Thai place here in Syracuse offers "Thai Hot 1 to 5" in addition to their standard Mild, Medium and Hot (which, she informed me, is on an "American scale of hotness").

[Blondie]

Is the subway not an option? I stop there on the way back and forth from Long Island, but would choose the train if I wasn't already in the car.

Assuming you're coming from Manhattan, which East River crossing will you take?

[Fat Guy]

59th Street Bridge, take Queens Blvd., follow the subway tracks as they bend left from Queens Blvd. onto Roosevelt Ave., follow Roosevelt to 62nd Street and make a left, then make your first right onto 39th Ave. (before you make this right, you can stop at the bodega on 62nd for beer), at that point look for parking -- Sripraphai will be a couple of blocks ahead on the left side of 39th Ave. (6415 39th Ave.) but you should park wherever you can.

[Blondie]

Williamsburg Bridge: Stay left, take the BQE (Triboro/LIE direction) to the Roosevelt Ave. exit (toward Broadway). Left onto Roosevelt, bear right onto 39th Ave. and Sripraphai will be on the right.

[jogoode]

Is the subway not an option?

The 7-train's unpredictable weekend service has killed many of my attempts at a great meal. I still love Sri with a passion and I'm glad this thread was ressurrected.

[jogoode]

I've eaten at Spripraphai only once and had the dish I've seen in very few Thai reataurants:  sour curry.  Very, very good. I orded it spicey and it was just about right but I was with an Asian friend who has eaten there many times and they appear to have known that real spiciness would be okay.

I've had trouble in the past convincing the waitresses at Sri to trust my desire for "Thai spicy". But after about 30 trips and only a couple of dissappointments -- a mild panang is a terrible thing -- I think they trust me. I was there for dinner a few days ago and ordered a red curry -- an incredible red curry -- and it was nice and spicy, but not overly so. The waitress volunteered that red curries are not meant to be extremely spicy. Green curries are generally spicier. The spiciest dish I've had at Sri is the "Southern Style Curry," a searing dry curry with lots of pea-sized, bitter eggplants. Truly awesome.

I'd really love to go with a group of eGullet people at some point because I'm getting tired of spending $30 at such an inexpensive place, to try a variety of dishes, every time I go.

[Fat Guy]

You don't have to take the 7 train. You can take the LIRR to Woodside. On weekends it's only $2.50 under the CityTicket program.

The outdoor area at the restaurant is quite nice and can be used for a private function. One wonders how that little kitchen would handle a banquet, though.