Jackson Heights Life

Somewhat off-topic, but a friend pointed out to me this fascinating single-topic blog, dedicated entirely to the pursuit of the dish Khao Soi in NYC Thai restaurants:
http://khaosoi.blogspot.com

There's a lot to be learned here, not just about this one dish, but about Thai food and restaurants generally. 
(Tom) Yummy!

Interesting. I think Arunee, which is pretty good, isn't as good as a lot of the others. My favorite is Chao Thai.

Here's my take:

Arunee: Very good.  Sizzling seafood is excellent, as is crab fried rice, among many other dishes.  I eat here most often because it's closest to my apartment.

Rice Avenue:  Not very good.  I've been disappointed several times.  Given the other delicious options in the area, I don't think I'll be back.  Even the decor, which is supposed to be "Manhattan chic" is not terribly impressive.

Sabay: Very good!  This is the sleeper.  Why don't more people know about this?  Considering the price, it's excellent.  They also deliver.  The staff is very nice.

Sriprapai: Excellent, although it may be a bit hit or miss with some dishes, in my experience.  Justifiably famous, my Manhattan friends always want to go there.  The garden in the back rocks.

Chao Thai: I haven't tried it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

Zabb Queens: I haven't tried this one either.

Ploy Thai (81-40 Broadway): Has anybody tried this?  It's new.

I'm off right now... winter time work is slow.  I'll go and try unknown Thai places with you!!!! I love thai food and I have similar thoughts on above.  Let me know. PM me if you're up for it. rose

I've been to Arunee twice and both times asked for the pork and noodles dish, which they said they were out of.  If you're not going to serve something then take it off the menu!

Funny that, I just ordered from them on Sunday night and they said they were out of the pork and noodles.

I know a Thai waiter in Manhattan who says that the best Thai restaurant in Queens is "just past the Elmhurst Ave. station on the left" which I guess is Chao Thai from looking at the map; but I haven't tried it yet. 

It seems people on chowhound are raving about a new Thai place in Sunnyside called Dee Thai.  Check out   the comments on chowhound
Here's an excerpt

"for those who had the good fortune to eat at ubol's in astoria before it changed hands and went to seed, and bemoan the disappearence their fantastic mock duck, try it at dee thai. it was even better than ubol's. we also ordered a chef's special fish dish served in a coconut shell, satay app. and salad, and finished with great green tea ice cream--not the standard fare. everything we had was fresh, beautifully prepared and presented.

sleek and clean and calm with elegant decor, and a lovely staff but, best of all, everything was delicious and inexpensive."

and from someone else:
"What I'll say in short is: I'm VERY impressed. Pad thai was probably the best version I've ever had in NYC. The curry fried rice was flavorful with a bit of a kick and the laarb was thai spicy (unfortunately laarb is not one of my favorite dishes). So far beats Sripraphai for me (I like Sri but in the last year or so I felt that their dishes got a bit - just a bit - fast-food-ey).
The food was steaming hot when it arrived.

So I'll say, run don't walk to try this place out. I can't wait to try more from their menu."

We live in 80's and we have had Zabb delivered many times. And their Drunken Noodles are the best I have had outside of Thailand.

I find that Zabb is one of the Thai spots as close as you will get to eating in Thailand. In fact they are one of the only places that has the soup my wife got on the street in Northern Thailand. We love it and eat there all the time.

Finally made it to Zabb Thai for dinner.  The food was very good.  We had steamed pork dumplings (excellent-probably the lightest pastry dough ever) and pork BBQ tenders to start and pad thai with shrimp (medium size shrimp cooked perfectly where they crunch when you bite down) and a chicken with cashew, pepper, onion dish.  It was tasty but it was fried like a General Chow chicken in Chinese restaurants.  I thought it would be sauteed chicken.  The Thai ice tea was also good.  Much better tasting than the one I had at Wave in Astoria. 

Now for the negatives: didn't like the look of the interior.  A little drab and dark.  Service was friendly but slow.  And they only take cash.  And I forgot it was a BYOB and I didn't BMYOWN ANYTHING!  I'm glad I went anyway.

But I still like Arunee and Sripraphai much better both for food and atmosphere.  Next I'll have to find Chao Thai.