Red Hot NY Thai in NY Times

[=Mark]

Article in NY Times that lists some NY Thai places that are known for their flavor and heat.

Clickify this.

[LaNiña]

Jeez, hope it included that ultimate fabulous place in my 'hood that our friend Amanda reviewed a couple of weeks ago.

Who wants to go to Sripraphai? It's the only place I can have Thai food anymore. It's that different, and that good.

[Aaron T]

Nina & others

I tried Sripraphai for the first time for lunch on friday and I thought it was good, but didn't seem out of the ordinary to me (as someone who grew up in LA). We had the spicy beef salad to start and then shared the pad see yu (chicken) and some sort of combo plate the waitress recommended that had bbq chicken, rice, and papaya salad. All was good, but I can't see hopping on the train there regularly from Manhattan. Did I order wrong? Just jaded? Thanks! (please forgive my atrocious spelling)

[LaNiña]

I think you ordered wrong. But I'll leave it up to khao to respond. He's a major Sripraphai maven.

[foodgeek]

That link didn't work for me so i tracked it down:

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/28/dining/28REST.html

I've been to Pam's, and it is the article is wrong about the heat. 4 out of 5 stars worth of heat wasn't hot at all. I felt that they had toned down authentic dishes, which I guess is better than a lot of Manhattan places that seem to be reproducing already (long ago) Americanized food.

Ubol's isn't that hot either.

They should have included Sripraphai...but I know we are all thinking it. :)

[LaNiña]

So whaddaya know, serendipity. My sister is coming into the city on the 14th of August, and is insisting that we eat Thai food in Manhattan. No budging. And anyway Sripraphai is closed on Wednesdays.

Where the hell should we go? I haven't eaten Thai food anywhere except Sirpraphai in so long...(wait, except Mie Thai at the egullet NJ dinner, which was fine, but can't hold a candle to Sri...)

[tommy]

So whaddaya know, serendipity.  My sister is coming into the city on the 14th of August, and is insisting that we eat Thai food in Manhattan.  No budging.  And anyway Sripraphai is closed on Wednesdays.

Where the hell should we go?  I haven't eaten Thai food anywhere except Sirpraphai in so long...(wait, except Mie Thai at the egullet NJ dinner, which was fine, but can't hold a candle to Sri...)

pam's.

bangkok grand palace, on 1st and 50-ish.

i don't know if you want "hot" necessarily, and i'm certainly not convinced that hotter is better. but these places are pretty good. pam's is byob. bangkok grand palace has a reasonble wine list for what it is.

it might be important to note when considering my suggestions that i think jai thai produces spicy piles of shit. generally speaking of course.

[khao]

i don't know if you want "hot" necessarily, and i'm certainly not convinced that hotter is better.

I feel that if the food is prepared correctly, then the heat adds this extra dimension of flavor that isn't found if it isn't there. Heat for heat's sake, no, but the way Sripraphai does it, yes.

[khao]

Nina & others

I tried Sripraphai for the first time for lunch on friday and I thought it was good, but didn't seem out of the ordinary to me (as someone who grew up in LA).  We had the spicy beef salad to start and then shared the pad see yu (chicken) and some sort of combo plate the waitress recommended that had bbq chicken, rice, and papaya salad.  All was good, but I can't see hopping on the train there regularly from Manhattan.  Did I order wrong?  Just jaded?  Thanks!  (please forgive my atrocious spelling)

Err... I don't really think I'm a Sripraphai maven, I just like good Thai food, and having eaten fairly extensively in Thailand, I feel like I know what good Thai food is. Sripraphai comes the closest to "Thai" Thai food that I've had in New York City (or anywhere else besides Thailand, for that matter).

I think you ordered fairly well. The spicy beef salad is one of my favorite dishes on the menu, I think the combo plate is a good introduction, because fried chicken is a super popular dish in Thailand (there are KFCs everywhere), and somtom (papaya salad) is also a classic. I'm not sure what the pad see yu is.

There are lots of other great dishes, but you sampled a decent representation. The only other thing I might suggest is going back with at least five people so that you can order a ton of dishes, and see what you think. If you go read Chowhound, you can find tons of postings of recommended dishes.

[Fat Guy]

The folks on the New Jersey board are convinced that they have some Thai and Southeast Asian places that are better than anything in New York City. Probably worth investigating. Also, is Vong considered Thai?

[LaNiña]

I went to Mie Thai for the last NJ egullet dinner. In my humble opinion, it didn't stand up against Sripraphai, not by a long shot.

[tommy]

Also, is Vong considered Thai?

i think you know the answer to that. at least in the context of this thread. so why do you ask?

[LaNiña]

Sounds like a field trip to Sripraphai is in order.

[Fat Guy]

Also, is Vong considered Thai?

i think you know the answer to that. at least in the context of this thread. so why do you ask?

To annoy you, Tommy.

[tommy]

To annoy you, Tommy.

WRONG. it was to increase your total post count. you cannot catch me. i have the next week off and i'm sitting around in my underwear all day long at my computer. which probably doesn't really give me a clear advantage now that i think about.

why is it that sriprarprhahaha thai is not in TONY or zagat's. what gives? i'm looking for an address or something. anything. bueller?

[LaNiña]

i shall give you all the info when i get into the office.

zagat's sucks. so does TONY. duh.

[Fat Guy]

Or you can just look on my damn Web site, Tommy.

[LaNiña]

To Sripraphai:

Take the #7 train to 61st St./Woodside. It's an express stop, so you can take either the local (circle) or the express (diamond). When you get out of the train, go down to the street and follow Roosevelt Ave. in the same direction the train was going, to 64th St. Turn left. Go one block, it's right there across the street, can't miss it.

6413 39th Ave.

(718)899-9599

open for lunch and dinner

closed Wednesdays

[tommy]

To Sripraphai:

can i assume they don't serve beer or wine? can i also assume that there aren't many notable wine shops btwn the 7 train and the restaurant?

[Fat Guy]

Yes, it's BYO. There's a bodega up the block that has a reasonable selection of beer, but you'll want to transport wine from elsewhere.

[LaNiña]

Yeah, there's no wine around there. And I haven't been thrilled with the beer selection in the 'hood, although it's tolerable. I sometimes bring from elsewhere.

[LaNiña]

Oh, and I highly recommend getting the coconut drink in addition to whatever you bring. Nothing relieves the heat of the food better. Their iced coffee is wonderful, too.

[Aaron T]

Tommy

Also, don't forget that Sripraphai is cash only.

Sripraphai did beat Rungsit on 23rd st, & the 2nd ave branch of pongsri (how blasphemous that I mention such lower echelon restaurants in the same breath as the vaunted sripraphai).

The subway ride back to Manhattan was not long at all. You'll be able to tolerate the ride better if you have an ice cold beer in a brown bag to tide you over.

[tommy]

You'll be able to tolerate the ride better if you have an ice cold beer in a brown bag to tide you over.

i generally do when dealing with subways.

[bpearis]

While I haven't been to every restaurant on this list (but have been to Sripraphai a few times), I can easily say that Pam Real Thai is the best I've been to in Manhattan. I probably eat lunch there once a week. The definition of "spicy" changes a bit depending on your server, but it's usually pretty damn hot, especially if you aren't just ordering the standard stuff.

The jungle curry is great, as are most of the salads (I like the Larb and the Yum Nam Sod"). It's also one of the few Thai places in Manhattan that offers pork as an option for most dishes. It doesn't have the scope of Sripraphai, but it's real good nonetheless.