These Thai restaurants come from my New York visits, with each entry anchored to dishes I tried. The range runs from Fish Cheeks’ seafood to noodle-focused meals in Queens and very spicy khua kling at Saranrom. Use the neighborhood and address links to plan the right part of the city.
Listed for browsing, not in order of preference. Menus and availability can change.
New York City · Seafood on Bond Street
Fish Cheeks
Fish Cheeks has been one of my favorites for years. Our order included oysters with nam jim, fiery crispy Zabb Wings, whole branzino in cilantro-lime broth and tiger prawns with curry powder and soft-scrambled egg. Coconut pandan sticky rice sundae finished the meal.
New York City · Thai dishes with a creative twist
Dahla
Dahla reworked khao soi with mafaldine, braised beef cheek and pickled mustard greens. We also tried smoky moo ping, oysters, charred octopus with shrimp-paste riceberry and sea bream in tamarind-coconut sauce. It was a broad dinner with several different seafood and meat directions.
New York City · Crab noodles and seafood in LIC
Soothr LIC
At Soothr LIC, spicy citrusy beef salad led into a sour-and-spicy seafood hotpot. Karee Pu Noodles brought crab and yellow noodles in egg curry sauce, while whole fried branzino came with mango salad. This entry is in Long Island City, not the Manhattan location.
New York City · Several noodle styles in Elmhurst
Pata Paplean
My Pata Paplean meal included roasted pork egg noodles, pink Yen Ta Fo, Nam Tok soup and Tom Yum noodles with lime, chili and peanuts. Crispy pork skin salad and Hat Yai Chicken added more texture. This is the noodle-heavy Queens visit in the collection.
New York City · Bangkok-inspired sharing plates
Wanglang NYC
At Wanglang, we shared shrimp cakes with plum sauce, papaya salad, whole steamed branzino with lime, garlic and chili, and pad Thai with a head-on jumbo shrimp. Basil fried rice with New York strip and a fried egg added a meat-and-rice option alongside the seafood.
New York City · Spicy dishes in Queens
Saranrom Thai
Miang Kha-Na brought Chinese broccoli leaves with dried pork, lime, chili, peanuts, onion and ginger. Crisp catfish with green mango salad followed, with crab fried rice before very spicy khua kling. The ground pork, yellow curry paste and lime leaves made this the especially fiery part of my Thai coverage.
