Results tagged “thaifood”

Whether you spell it Issan or E-san (as the folks at Poodam’s Thai Cuisine do), the cuisine from this Northeast region of Thailand by Cambodia and Laos is some of New York City’s most delicious and spiciest.

When a restaurant throws down a chili-laced gauntlet with the title, “Can you take the heat?” most people expect to be crying by the end of the meal. Andy Yang, Rhong-Tiam’s executive chef, has issued just such a challenge.

The atmosphere at Ploy Thai, a newish restaurant on the corner of Elmhurst Avenue and Broadway in Queens, seems promising in its authenticity; upon entering for the first time we were pleased to find a few tables of Thai families, a specials board written completely in Thai and karaoke of girl band Girly Berry playing on a flat screen TV.

At the Ethnic Market highlights international specialty foods and ingredients that you're very unlikely to find at your local Gristedes.

This week in the Times, Bruni one-stars Mesa Grill (pictured), knocking the restaurant down from the two stars given it by William Grimes in 2000. Says that while the Bobby Flay restaurant “has considerable charms… on balance [it] presents only flickers of the excitement it did [when it opened] in 1991… It’s an overly familiar, somewhat tired production. More to the point, it’s an inconsistent one.”

When you first thumb through the menu at Eat-pisode, the new Lower East Side Thai joint on Ludlow Street, you might cringe that the pages are numbered "Eat-pisode 1," "Eat-pisode 2," and so on, as though they are chapters into gastronomic revelation. Fortunately, all of the cringing stops there, and delectable food by the husband-wife team of Wara and Natalee Supulchai (also owners of Poh Tree Thai Spa across the street from the restaurant),...

Probably the best way we can describe Snooth, a unique wine database that recently launched online, would be if the illegitimate web-child of Google and Facebook went to wine school. Or, more simply, it’s a ridiculously large database of wine that allows you to do really cool things and share it with your friends.

Williamsburg has its Thai food, and now it seems that Alphabet City has its Cuban. Bodeguita Cubana, a Serbian-run Cuban joint that opened in May on 10th Street (between 1st & Avenue A), is the third in a trifecta of ropa vieja-offering restaurants that's enveloped the neighborhood east of 1st Avenue (the other two are Cafecito & Cafe Cortadito). Arguably the most appealing of them all (though we do love Cafecito), the French doors on the facade of Bodeguita Cubana swing open, inviting a cool breeze on these warm fall nights, and the narrow space feels bigger than its 20-seat capacity. Lighting is dim, coming from the street or a few hanging straw lanterns, creating an air of coziness and welcome. Servings are consistent and generous, especially for a menu entirely under the the $10 price range. Pressed sandwiches, notably the pulled pork with homemade bbq, are scrumptious and big enough to share (depending on your hunger level), and come with either roasted potatoes or a salad with fresh steamed fava beans.

Servers aren't cheap, so we'd like to take a moment to thank the advertisers on Gothamist this week:

Just steps from the interminable reconstruction of the BQE’s Roosevelt Avenue exit, and under the round-the-clock clatter of subway tracks, is Zabb Queens, an Isaan Thai restaurant. Isaan cuisine is soul food from the northeastern region of Thailand, and while the clichéd “hot-sour-salty-sweet” plate-view applies, it would be something bordering criminal to talk about Zabb Queens as such.

Jagshemash!

Bruni hits Jean Georges' "fringe players," Mercer Kitchen and Vong. Between the two, Vong emerges victorious with one star: "you keep wondering if the food they deliver is really as it should be and all that it could be, if the restaurant is receiving Mr. Vongerichten’s most considered judgments . . ." while Mercer Kitchen rates a mere "satisfactory": Bruni calls their menu an "ethnically indistinct assortment of dishes with enough pro forma salads and...

This has been a rough week for your -ist pals, though you wouldn't know it from the great posts all over the network. Plagued with server problems, our tech team (led by the great Neil Epstein) toiled around the clock to solve the glitches as they arose. Seriously, we've said, typed, and thought the phrase "server problems" more in the past week than we have for the last 35 years combined. Why not say it a few more times, just for fun? For example, SFist is sure the San Francisco Chronicle wishes they could blame server problems for this error. But this San Francisco man that appeared on "The Daily Show" is, sadly, no glitch in the system.

Do you remember rock n' roll? Not the synthy 80's stuff that's been inundating our ears lately, but actual guitar grinding rock. Well Dear Leader will make you remember, incase you don't. They are what rose from the ashes after the band Sheila Divine broke up in 2003. Their lyrics and sound are anthemic and loud. So come stomp your feet to them tonight at Pianos. More details after the interview.

Bennie Thai's Green Curry Soup

Gothamist was excited to see this sign pasted in a window on 23rd between 6th and 7th Avenues the other morning. The Chinatown location of Pongsri touts itself as the oldest family-run and operated Thai restaurant in New York City, and there are two additional locations -- one in Gramercy and one in the theatre district. We definitely welcome this addition to our neighborhood, as we are in dire need of some decent Thai food within delivery range of the office. And we particularly like the chili pepper dotting the "i" -- a very nice (and spicy) touch, just the way we like our Thai food.

Gothamist is a sucker for a street fair. We're not talking about the neighborhood-based, culturally-themed festivals that pop up from time to time. Those are great, but we'll take the tired old generic street fair - factory-second underwear and all - that pops up on a different Manhattan avenue every Saturday and Sunday from March through November. Sure, they're all the same, but who can resist the predictable variety of these so-bad-for-you-but-so-good movable feasts? Among our favorites:

It's always an issue. Where do you go to eat after the theater? You want a unique dining experience, and not to end up at the Olive Garden. Here are some recommendations:

Lauren Antler, Comedian