Sripraphai

[jogoode]

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.

You can also take the R or the G.

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.

I'm always impressed by how quickly their tiny kitchen get the food to you. I guess most of the stuff is made earlier (soups, some curries(?)) and all they have to do is throw in fresh herbs. And I guess the salads take only a minute or two to assemble. Maybe I'm no longer impressed, but I'm still happy to get started five minutes after I sit down.

Edited March 28, 2004 by jogoode (log)

[weinoo]

I thought the pickled sparerib appetizer rocked.

[foodgeek]

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

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

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.

They do well with some seafood dishes. We never order enough garlic and pepper shrimp (everyone loves it and its a small order), which is only in the picture menu. The mussel omelette is good, especially ordered crispy (well done). The seafood soups are good....we order the soup that would normally have beef offal...but substitute seafood instead. I don't remember the name if the soup offhand.

Heat wise....the soups are hotter than the food. Keep that in mind.

Desserts that I like at Sripraphai include banana sticky rice, pumpkin custard, and coconut rice squares. Grab the desserts on the way in and put them on the table. They may not be theer when you are ready for them. They can heat up the banana sticky rice for you if you want, when you are ready. Supposedly...the takeout desserts from the nearby thai clothes store are better that Sri's but I've never tried them.

I'm thinking that I need to hit Sri next time I visit NY. :)

[Mistinguett]

The green curry with duck is outstanding ( it is soupy, as someone mentioned). I always pair it with coconut rice, which I could eat plain - but why? when there's all that curry sauce...

[Stone]

I found myself in Queens today, so I hopped in a cab and went to Sripraphai for a late lunch. I got there at 3:30 -- it was packed. I was able to squeeze into a small table.

I ordered papaya salad, pork larb and, based on recommendations here, sour curry.

The papay salad was terrific. A tall mound of shredded green papaya, fresh and crispy, flavored exquisitely with onion, lime, chili and peanuts. A great start.

The larb was also terrific. A large portion of coarsely ground pork, boiled lightly and flavored with lime, mint leaves, chili and ground toasted rice. Love the stuff.

I told myself that I would only eat half of each salad to stay hungry. But of course I ate it all.

As for the sour curry, I can't say that I'm a fan. This is a thin brown curry, more of a soup, with cabbage, beans and some shrimp. But the flavor, from tamarind, was too bitter and acrid for me. Almost bile-like. i think it's one of those things that some people like and some don't. I don't.

But still, I walked out drunk (two oil cans of fosters), full and happy. A good way to go through life.

[phaelon56]

As for the sour curry, I can't say that I'm a fan. This is a thin brown curry, more of a soup, with cabbage, beans and some shrimp. But the flavor, from tamarind, was too bitter and acrid for me. Almost bile-like. i think it's one of those things that some people like and some don't. I don't.

Hmmmmm... perhaps that's why so few Thai places have it on the menu? I loved it as did my dining partner but we're quite possibly part of a small minority. I actually liked the sour curry I previously had in Rochester NY at Mama Sans much better but was pleased just to see it on the menu elsewhere and still enjoyed Spripraphai's version.

[Stone]

As for the sour curry, I can't say that I'm a fan. This is a thin brown curry, more of a soup, with cabbage, beans and some shrimp. But the flavor, from tamarind, was too bitter and acrid for me. Almost bile-like. i think it's one of those things that some people like and some don't. I don't.

Hmmmmm... perhaps that's why so few Thai places have it on the menu? I loved it as did my dining partner but we're quite possibly part of a small minority. I actually liked the sour curry I previously had in Rochester NY at Mama Sans much better but was pleased just to see it on the menu elsewhere and still enjoyed Spripraphai's version.

I think it's one of those flavors that doesn't necessarily translate to the American palate. There was an aftertaste that I found very harsh.

[lambretta76]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the amazing fried watercress salad at Sri... quite possibly one of the best things I've ever eaten. One thing - I ordered it "mild on the Thai scale" and it was one of the hottest things I've ever consumed. A FRIGGIN SALAD had me sweating like mad! I couldn't drink beer fast enough, but it was so good. Next time I order it - it's "American spicy."

[snausages2000]

I got in over my head, with regard to spice, at a Sripraphai dinner last weekend. We told the waitress we like it spicy and, unfortunately, she listened. Nothing I've ever had at Grand Sichuan, no Indian Vindaloo could have adequately prepared me for the Sripraphai fire.

Fried Catfish Salad and Pickeled Spareribs (the catfish, and the pungent sauce it soaks in, being superior to the rubbery riblets) were both managably hot. No problem.

Soy Sauce Noodles with Chicken. Delicious. Not hot.

Then, a combination of Green Curry with Duck and Sour Curry with Pork absolutely destroyed me. The pork pieces in the sour curry looked like sesame crusted meat, with sesame seeds sadistically swapped out for pepper seeds. I ordered Coconut Milk to cool the mouth, and it worked, perhaps too well, as its numbing effect may have allowed me to eat more than my body could handle. I noticed what looked like scotch bonnet peppers in one of the curries (I was in too much of a spice daze to know what was what), as if red chiles weren't adequate punishment. Is it possible they use habaneros?

All the food was delicious, but I'm wondering if anyone else has ever experienced an aftermath like this: I started hiccupping about an hour after meal, and couldn't stop for 2 days. My esophagus was so battered by the ordeal that it hurt to swallow for another 2 days after that, and I had to refrain from drinking hot liquids. I've never been so spice-traumatized. I'm proud, I suppose, to have tested the limits of my constitution, but am sad, in the end, to have been so profoundly defeated.

[jogoode]

Then, a combination of Green Curry with Duck and Sour Curry with Pork absolutely destroyed me.

Green curries are some of the hottest. But if you think that's bad, try the southern-style curry. If you tell them to make it Thai spicy, the waitress will give you a priceless look. The dish is pretty awesome, though.

Snausages, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with the spice. I've also found it hard to recover from meals at Sri when I go for spicier dishes like green or southern-style curries. After almost all of my first five visits, my stomach needed a full day to recover. Also, once, the top of my mouth became inflamed while I was eating panang -- possibly an allergy.

Kinsey, if you're reading this take note. You like heat; this is heat.

[Eric_Malson]

Had a marvelous meal here tonight....there were 3 of us, all big eaters, so we got to try what seemed like half the menu.

Standouts for me were the pork larb--absolutely fantastic!--and barbecued pork appetizers (the barbecued beef with lime, mint and chili was delicious, and the papaya salad with shrimp, squid and mussels was good, but not the sort of dish I tend to get excited about).

Decent green curry with chicken (must try the duck) and an ok but rather bland musamon curry with chicken (it's my friend Peter's "control" dish for Thai restaurants and he pronounced it excellent, but next to all the extremely spicy food, it seemed overly sedate). There was also a wonderful plate of "drunken noodles", which turned out to be chow fun in a very tasty, zingy sauce with bits of beef and vegetables.

But for me, the real star of the meal is the dish I, naturally, can't remember the name of, but is easily identifiable in the curry section of the menu: something like "chu cho curry with tilapia filet" (definitely two "ch's"....Choo choo? Chachi? Chi-Chi's?). OK, the tilapia filet was fried a little too long and was a bit dry, but it was covered in a deep red paste that was the most delectable thing I have tasted in a long time....subtle, fiery, complex--all at the same time. Spectacular.

I have GOT to get out that way more often. Of course, the problem is always talking Manhattanites (which leaves out almost all of my friends) into going out there. But it's sure worth the effort.

[kevin]

Eric, the stuff you are refering to is "choo chee / choo chii / chu chii" curry. The spelling is optional as long as the phonetics are accurate.

[Stone]

FYI -- Although Citysearch says Sri's open until 10 each night, I just confirmed that in fact they close at 9:15.

Hopefully I'll make it Friday.

[bloviatrix]

Frank Bruni gives Sripraphai 2 stars in tomorrow's NY times.

Thai Pilgrimage Leads to Queens

The balance of sweet, sour, salty and hot is what is often praised about Thai cooking, which focuses on bold flavors in blissful harmony. But at too many Thai restaurants in this country and this city the heat is tempered and the sweetness amplified as concessions to American palates. The spices are muted, the herbs less fresh than they could be and the lemon grass permitted to run roughshod over all else. Not at Sripraphai. Here the star anise, coriander and galangal sing clearly, identifiable voices that swell and recede as they hew to their carefully calibrated roles in a broader chorus.

Edited November 3, 2004 by bloviatrix (log)

[jogoode]

I'm surprised, to say the least, to see this review! Happy, I think. Sri was on everyone's radar by now, so the review won't pack the place any more than it's already packed. If you weren't willing to go to Woodside before the review, you probably won't be willing to go more than once now. (Judging by my friends' reluctance to return, even after having loved the food.) Having said that, I'm glad to see it recognized in this way by the mainstream press.

But will the food be affected somehow by the move and the review? Will the restaurant brace for the arrival of a different breed of Manhattanites by toning things down? I hope its long history of popularity means that if this were to happen, it already would have.

Bruni wasn't impressed with the seafood. I've been very impressed. I love the salad of shrimp, squid and crispy watercress. The in this is consistently squid tender and the shrimp good and never over cooked.

Do you think that the picture in the Times is of Sri's new interior? I've never seen that wood latticework.

[bpearis]

Do you think that the picture in the Times is of Sri's new interior? I've never seen that wood latticework.

←

They've moved the dining room into what was that Thai grocery store next door. The wall between them is going to come down once they renovate the old space for one big dining room.

I agree that this review probably won't send that many more people out to Queens, though I wonder how many people will read this review toda, trek out there only to find it closed.

[jogoode]

I wish they didn't feel that they had to renovate; I like the doctor's office decor. It's hard to reconcile my wishing Sri does good business -- because it deserves it -- and my wanting it to stay the same, my wanting it all for myself.

I know Stone is a big fan of Sri. What did you think of the review?

[Stone]

I feel like I've been rather bluntly leavened.

But I do appreciate a good flesh story.

[bpearis]

And what kind of person drives from Manhattan to Sripraphai when the 7 Train is quicker and easier?

[Pan]

But will the food be affected somehow by the move and the review? Will the restaurant brace for the arrival of a different breed of Manhattanites by toning things down? I hope its long history of popularity means that if this were to happen, it already would have.

←

I can cite Spicy & Tasty as a bit of an analogy. They didn't receive 2 stars but did get a rave from Asimov in "$25-and-under." He raved in particular about the Smoked Tea Duck, a dish which in several trips before his review came out I had never thought of trying. Ultimately, when I did try it, I found it OK but nowhere near as good as a rendition I had in Shanghai, nor as interesting as many other dishes of theirs. The publication of the review has resulted in the appearance of a fair number of often more or less clueless non-Asian customers (including a couple, half of whom "didn't like spicy food"). The wait staff will try to steer new non-Asian customers to items they think they might like, but the dishes I order have not been toned down one iota since the review.

And what kind of person drives from Manhattan to Sripraphai when the 7 Train is quicker and easier?

Yeah, that was kind of clueless, wasn't it? Bruni doesn't know the city yet, but given his jaunts to various neighborhood restaurants in Brooklyn and now Queens, I give him credit for trying to learn. Another critic might well ignore the "Outer Boroughs" completely.

[jogoode]

And the above-ground ride through Queens on the 7 is so pretty. I'd guess that more than a few people would rather sit in their cars than ride on the subway. Some people on eG have been known to take their cars everywhere.

I had a car when I lived in Carroll Gardens last year, and it was great to have access to areas of Brooklyn that would have been hard to reach from my place by subway -- Midwood, Sunset Park, etc.

Now that I think about it, the expansion to 70 seats might also affect the food. Who knows if the kitchen will be able to handle the increase.

[bpearis]

Now that I think about it, the expansion to 70 seats might also affect the food. Who knows if the kitchen will be able to handle the increase.

←

but they sat that many in the summer, between the back yard and that weird downstairs area. i don't think it's gonna change anything. they know why people come there.

[jogoode]

Now that I think about it, the expansion to 70 seats might also affect the food. Who knows if the kitchen will be able to handle the increase.

←

but they sat that many in the summer, between the back yard and that weird downstairs area. i don't think it's gonna change anything. they know why people come there.

←

Thanks, bpearis. Keep reassuring me...

[Varmint]

I'm just adding some photos I took from my dinner at Sripraphai just over a year ago. My description of the dishes may be incorrect.

Shrimp spring rolls

Some sort of Thai chicken soup

Pork leg bone soup

Fried, "denatured" catfish salad

Chicken and soy sauce noodles

Tofu and Asian broccoli

Beef in Red Curry

[=Mark]

What? No larb?