Sripraphai

[JosephB]

The good news is that Sripraphai got a wine and beer license 2 days ago. The bad news is that Sripraphai got a wine and beer license.

Edited April 25, 2005 by JosephB (log)

[Josh]

Visited Srip for lunch today...

The three of us started off with the Tom Yum shrimp soup. Spicy yet balanced... Yum! Next we had the fried catfish salad. I enjoyed this, but it got mixed reviews from the others. "Prove that's catfish and not panko!" I liked the texture and dish overall, but alas I could not prove that it was catfish because it had zero catfish taste. Has anyone ever compared this to the broiled catfish salad version? The Drunken Noodles with Chicken was "Thai Chow Fun" if you will, but spiced nicely and the chile-laden vinager sauce that they serve with the dish really works. Our favorite dish was the delicate and delicious Steamed Tilapia Filet with Garlic, Chili and Lime Juice.

Yup, as JosephB reported, they've got a Beer list and some wines now... Also, I peeked out back and it looks like they are working on an enlarged patio area. Not sure how they're going to set it up, but the slab's down and the square footage back there looks huge. Looking forward to it!

[Daniel]

I too was there for lunch today.. Didnt read the post about the liquor license however, they let us drink what we brought. The backyard looks like its comming along.. Looking forward to it..

Edited April 25, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[docsconz]

The ideal thing would be to still be able to bring your own, but if for whatever reason one doesn't one does not have to be shut out. I would still prefer to bring my own wine as it is unlikely that they will have anything like I like to bring there. Last time I was there - a week ago- I brought a 1994 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurtztraminer Weintzenheim and a 2002 reisling kabinett from JJ Prum. Both were excellent with the food.

[markymark]

Greetings from a New Jersey lurker. My wife and I tried this excellent restaurant today for lunch. Interestingly, the place was at most 1/3 full (from 12-1)--had not expected that from the previous posts. We were able to park directly across the street at a meter.

Service was friendly, helpful, and gracious.

Dishes:

1. Duck salad--good, but we've had better. The duck is not crisp, as it is in many Thai restaurants. Herbs and dressing were missing a little zing.

2. Tom kha gai soup. Was probably the best version of this soup we've ever had. Perfect in every way. My wife unfortunately mistook an orange chili pepper for a carrot (NOT)--this caused about 5 minutes of calamity.

3. Choo chee tilapia. Excellent flavor, did not seem to have the heat that I was expecting.. We found the fish to be done perfectly, in contrast to previous posts.

4. Soy sauce noodles with chicken. Skipped the squid normally in this dish as it's not my wife's favorite. It was fine, had a nice amount of chinese broccoli, but had very little flavor. Really tasted like something found in Chinatown.

5. Jungle curry--I personally found the anise taste of the Thai basil overpowering in this dish. Or maybe I've never had had real Thai basil before. An interesting ingredient that I had to look up was Thai eggplant--grape sized.

Sweet Thai iced coffee was a great tongue-cooler and a bargain at $1.50

For those who have never been in Woodside, the neighborhood is filled with various ethnic grocers.

Edited May 6, 2005 by markymark (log)

[jogoode]

3. Choo chee tilapia.  Excellent flavor, did not seem to have the heat that I was expecting..  We found the fish to be done perfectly, in contrast to previous posts.

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Thanks for your report, markymark! I hope you'll try the restaurant again, as my meals there have ranged from disappointing (but only disappointing when compared to itself) to excellent.

Choo chee is, as far as I know, a mild curry.

As for the crispiness of the duck, I wonder whether anyone here can tell me whether it's supposed to be crispy. I've have the duck salad before, albeit a while ago, and unless I'm remembering incorrectly, almost none of the duck in it was crispy at all or showed any signs of the restaurant's attempting to crisp it, which indicates to me that crispiness was not the intention. On one hand, Thais like fatty meat and crisping removes a lot of the fat's rich flavor. (Oh man, am I in the mood for Sripraphai's stewed duck soup!) On the other hand, I've been disappointed with Sripraphai's crispy pork with chili and basil because it rarely in my experience comes out as crispy as the delicious version I had at Sapp Coffee Shop in LA. So I suppose it's possible that the kitchen just doesn't do these dishes well or consistently.

(In case you were counting, I used the word crisp or a variation of it eight times. Sorry.)

[JosephB]

I was at Sripraphai last night with two friends from Shanghai and Beijing. I thought last night's meal was particularly outstanding, and extremely fresh. I think Thursday is a good day to go because it's like the beginning of the week for this restaurant. We arrived at 6:30, a good hour before the placed got crowded, which I prefer. I had plenty of time to chat up the very friendly waitress about the goodies in the fridge.

We had the crispy pork as well, and I noted that it was crispier than the other times that I had it, though some pieces were more chewy than crispy, like pork jerky. Anyway, my friend from Shanghai was especially fond of this dish. Before we left, my friend bought a large bag of goodies from the fridge.

This was the first time that I didn't drink beer at Sripraphai. I turned instead to the coconut juice, which I loved, and works much better at taming the heat.

[Daniel]

That reminds me to ask about the fridge.. Everytime i leave I am normally running out the door for my cigarette relief.. I havent really given it too much of my attention.. Can someone break down the fridge or talk about favorite items..

Daniel

[jogoode]

That reminds me to ask about the fridge.. Everytime i leave I am normally running out the door for my cigarette relief.. I havent really given it too much of my attention.. Can someone break down the fridge or talk about favorite items..

Daniel

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Well, for one, they have about five different kinds of nam prik (relish). I've tried a few--essentially pastes based on chiles meant for dipping things like raw vegetables and fried pork skin--and they're awesome. My favorite is the brownish-red one that has catfish in it and an incendiary green one whose contents I can't name offhand.

I've never tried any of the other stuff. I'm always tempted, but tend instead to do what Steven recommended long ago: order to go dishes that hold up well. My most frequent to go dish is the stewed duck noodle soup; in fact, I've never eaten it at the restaurant.

[JosephB]

I was told by the thai waitress at Sripraphai that nam prik is also eaten with rice.

One of the nam priks they have is called noom, which is from northeastern thailand, and is considered painfully hot.

[Josh]

Question. The catfish in the fried catfish salad... how do they prepare it? I've never tasted anything like that before.

Josh

[Stone]

I believe what you're referring to is pla dook foo, or fluffy catfish. The fish is first steamed and allowed to cool. It is then shredded and the pieces are fried.

[jogoode]

I was told by the thai waitress at Sripraphai that nam prik is also eaten with rice. 

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Ah, of course. Thanks, Joe. Rice was a nam prik of peppercorns, wild onion, fermented fish or bean paste, and perhaps a little water was likely one of the earliest Thai meals.

I was at Sripraphai today. I didn't try anything new, as usual, but what I had was excellent. The crispy pork with chili and basil was better this time than when I last had it. I took home beef tendon soup (dark); it was not as good as the duck soup I usually take home--the intensity of the broth makes it almost cloying--but the tendon, which floats around in chunks that look like scallops, is awesome.

[GaijinGirl]

Need a translation (as I don't read Thai) -

What menu numbers (if any) on Spriphathai's menu are the chicken larb, and the mee grob? Thanks for any help!

--Janet (GG)

[jogoode]

Need a translation (as I don't read Thai)    -

What menu numbers (if any) on Spriphathai's menu are the chicken larb, and the mee grob?  Thanks for any help! 

--Janet (GG)

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Mee grob is on the new printed "specials" menu and chicken larb is identifiable on the picture menu or in the salad section of the regular menu. And salad whose description starts with "ground meat" (there are only two) is larb and you can choose beef, pork, or chicken. No need to read Thai!

[GaijinGirl]

Thanks - (probably taking a trip today)

As a separate aside, I have to say that it's the refrigerator section with desserts that's made ME love Sripraphai so much. The rest of the Thai restaurants I've seen offer one or two items (like fried banana or ice cream), and then you've got Sripraphai with not only a million different authentic offerings, but with the names on them for the Thai impaired, as well! It's due to that refrigerated section that I'm actually willing to travel from the Bronx to eat there....!

[GaijinGirl]

Hey - why did no-body tell me that Krystal's was near Sriprathai, as well as a great Filipino grocery called Phil Am at 40-03 70th Street??? (I arrived too early to Sri, and walked around. Great discoveries!)

But back on topic - had the laarb. Wonderful - although I've now discovered that I can't eat Thai peppers whole - my delicate little stomach has apparently lost some of its imperviousness over the years....!

[Josh]

FYI, last night I asked about the status of the back PATIO and they said that they're hoping to open it in July. It's a nice-sized space... will be interesting to see what they do with it!

[Josh]

Patio update:

It's FINALLY OPEN and nicely done with some landscaping and a fountain. Probably a dozen or so tables-for-4 out back, some with umbrellas...

Notable from last night's dinner:

There was a special appy handwritten on a post-it note in the menu, so we tried it. It was crispy rice cakes served with a shrimp/chicken/peanut sauce that could best be described as chutney-like. Not spicy, but I really enjoyed it -- my dining companions less so.

[JosephB]

Patio update:

It's FINALLY OPEN and nicely done with some landscaping and a fountain. Probably a dozen or so tables-for-4 out back, some with umbrellas...

Notable from last night's dinner:

There was a special appy handwritten on a post-it note in the menu, so we tried it.  It was crispy rice cakes served with a shrimp/chicken/peanut sauce that could best be described as chutney-like.  Not spicy, but I really enjoyed it -- my dining companions less so.

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Last night we ended up at Sripraphai instead of Zabb. None of our companions had been to either yet, and were a little bit afraid of the promise of intense heat at Zabb. Next time.

Anyway, as note above, the garden is delightful. Even after the renovations, the dining room never had much ambiance, not that it ever made a difference to us. That's why I was surprised when I saw how perfectly inviting the garden was. The landscaping and lighting are of professional quality. In place of music is the soothing splashing sound of a rather substantial fountain. The perimeter trees enclose the garden from the outside world, giving a real sense of escape. The tables and umbrellas are sleek, and well spaced.

We arrived at 7:00 pm, before the rush. I wondered if service and food quality would suffer. After all, the garden almost doubled the size of the restaurant. Moreover, it's not simply a matter of additional seating. Servers must now split their attention between two distinct and separate areas of the restaurant. And the kitchen is potentially faced with orders coming in at twice the rate as before the addition of the garden.

My party of 6 + 2 toddlers was served in the same efficient and friendly manner as usual (we're actually recognized at this point). All our favorite dishes were delicious (except for two clunkers ordered by one of the first timers in my group: pad thai - as bad as the version I once had at Ruby Foo; and crispy fried fish - dry.)

By the time we left at 8:30 pm, the restaurant was near capacity, and everything seemed to moving smoothly. I asked one waiter how the kitchen was handling the additional load, and he told me that the kitchen space had also been expanded. Afterwards, I wondered whether he meant that the kitchen had been expanded when the dining room was originally expanded, or was expended yet again to accommodate the garden. I'll confirm that next time.

The best weather for dining al fresco is just starting. See you in the garden. Don't forget to bring cash. But you won't need lots of cash here.

[slkinsey]

Oh, an interesting bit of Sripraphai information I picked up from a reliable source: they use canned curry pastes.

[Daniel]

Wow.. You happen to know which brand...

[JosephB]

Oh, an interesting bit of Sripraphai information I picked up from a reliable source:  they use canned curry pastes.

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Why doesn't that surprise me. I know first hand how labor intensive preparing curries pastes by hand with a mortar and pestle can be. And that's at home. I've always wondered how they did it on a large scale at Sripraphai. We have a dear friend from the north of Thailand, who once owned a Thai restaurant in Boston. She thinks it's crazy that I make curries by hand, though she has told me that my curry pastes are some of the best she's ever had. Nang, the owner the Bangkok Center Grocery store on Mosco Street, also thinks I'm nuts. In fact, she asked me to invite her over the next time I make curry pastes at home. But she still thinks her frozen curry pastes from Thailand are of excellent quality. I haven't tried them.

I'm not backtracking from my opinion that the food at Sripraphai is excellent. However, I will say that I've always been more drawn to the salads and fragrant soups and rices more than anything else. I've always attributed my lesser interest in the curries to fullness by the time they arrive at the table, but maybe it was something else? Anyway, I's also be curious to know what that stuff is that they're using. I think next time I'm there I'll corner my favorite waitress on the issue.

[slkinsey]

Having had Joe's curries fresh out of the mortar, I can tell you that it does make a huge difference -- especially for green curry. As much as I love Sripraphai, the green curry I had at Joe's beats Sri's by a mile.

I doubt there are any Thai restaurants in America (and few in Thailand of any size) making their curry pastes fresh to order, or even fresh daily. It's simply too time-consuming.

[peter_nyc]

I've eaten at Spripraphai only once and had the dish I've seen in very few Thai reataurants:  sour curry.  Very, very good.

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I ordered this dish tonight (my third time at Sripraphai) and was absolutely intrigued by the flavor. I'm pretty sure it was unlike anything I've had before except for maybe something I had while in Vietnam. Does anybody know what gives the curry that very distinctive fermented-like flavor? Is it fermented shrimp?

Also, I highly recommend the bean thread salad, the third salad I absolutely love (#1 and #2 being the papaya salad and fried catfish salad of course).