15 Dishes (Or So) at SriPraPhai
- By Robyn Lee
- Dec 26, 2009
- Comments
This post originally took place on December 14.
- OH YEAH.
A few weeks ago James organized a food blogger dinner at SriPraPhai, surely New York City's most famous Thai restaurant (and I had only eaten there once before—I fail). Ye know what that means: SO MUCH FOOD, OH MAN.
Here's what we ate. By this point I unfortunately don't remember much besides that I ate too much, and while coddling my distended belly I thought, "I need to do that again." To help pare this down to the good stuff I added a * to my favorite dishes (aka "dishes I'd like to order again").
- BBQ Beef
BBQ beef: with chili, mint, onion, and lime juice. Those four ingredients make everything taste good, as long as you are a fan of tart and spicy.
- Ground pork.
*Ground pork: with ginger, chili, peanut, lemon juice, and onion. Another tart and spicy combination. I liked it more than the BBQ beef, probably because it's pork-based.
- BBQ Pork
*BBQ pork: marinated with honey and served with chili sauce. More pork-based power.
- Papaya salad.
*Papaya salad: shredded papaya strands, green beans, and carrots with dried shrimp and peanut. Multiple kinds of crunchy in one salad.
- Pad-See-Ew.
Pad-See-Ew: sautéed wide rice noodles in soy sauce with chicken and broccoli. I love just about anything in the "rice noodle" category (aka "my favorite type of noodle) for that bit of chewiness and elasticity not found in wheat noodles.
- Pad Thai.
Pad Thai: sautéed rice noodles with bean sprouts, egg, shrimp, and peanuts. I don't remember much about this dish; certainly not the most exciting part of the menu. You probably don't go to SriPraPhai for the Pad Thai.
- Green curry.
Green curry: with duck, bamboo shoots, and coconut milk. ...And other stuff the menu doesn't mention.
- Chinese broccoli.
*Sautéed Chinese broccoli: with crispy pork. That's how you make broccoli better. With pork!
- Nur-Sub noodles.
Nur-Sub noodles: sautéed noodles topped with ground beef and onion. I might have the wrong description seeing as I don't even remember the noodles, but there was definitely beef and onion.
- Eggplant.
Sautéed eggplant: with ground pork, garlic, chili, and basil leaves.
- Sour curry.
Kang Som: sour curry with shrimp and cha-om omelet. Yay omelet chunks.
- More curry!
Kao-Soy: curry egg noodles with chicken.
- FRIED FISH!
*Fried red snapper: topped with green mango sauce and loads of shredded green mango and red onion. THIS IS SO GOOD. Had that tangy spicy thing going on, and whole fish is my favorite kind of fish.
- Fried soft shell crab.
*Fried soft shell crab: with side of green curry sauce with pineapple, pumpkin, and long bean. I'm not sure I even tried the curry; I went straight for the fried little crab bodies, soft on the inside, lightly crisp on the outside. Easily my favorite form of crab. They have a few dishes with soft shell crab; I shall try all of them.
So my favorite dishes are generally fried, porky, or appetizer-y. Along with...
- Cute container.
*STICKY RICE!!! It goes well with appetizers and salads. Or everything. I love sticky rice.
- I see corn.
Out of the three desserts we picked from their refrigerator case, my favorite was the one with *tapioca pearls, coconut milk, and corn. Not knowing there was corn in it when I took my first bite, I was surprised to taste globules bursting with sweetness, yet "corn" didn't cross my mind until I looked more closely at what I was eating. That is, a bright corn kernel here and there, nestled among the soft lime green tapioca pearls. It's a good combination.
- Nom nom.
Few leftovers remained. That's what happens at the wrath of 10 food bloggers / hungry people. Eating companions of the night: James, Cecilia, Talida, Alex (+ friend), Evo, Ulla, Tia, and Esther.
- Gotta get organized.
Thanks to Talida for being the scribe of the night! Or else I would've forgotten what we ordered.
Address
SriPraPhai
6413 39th Avenue, Woodside NY 11377 (map)
718-899-9599
Comments
That dessert looks awesome! And I thought I recognized Ulla in the background there. She is rad.
Thank YOU for taking all the pictures! Man, every time I look at them, I get hungry again.
SriPraPhai: The BEST Thai place in NYC, hands-down. I ordered a spicy fish stir-fry with...I believe Thai eggplant, and it was DIVINE. I must try the whole fried fish next time I go :)
Pad see ew is one of my favourite Thai dishes, ever! Plus, I love how it almost sounds gross, with that 'ewwww' at the end. Looks like you had an awesome dinner!
FYI: The ground pork dish is called larb and is one of my favs next to the khao soi. Best thai in NYC if not all of US. Yes, I said it ALL OF US.
Unlike certain other commenters *ahem*, I enjoy eating *swill* and would gladly eat at this place! I will have to add it to my list.
Great post! Sripraphai is easily one of my top 3 restaurants in NY, but I find it hard to get away from the same favorite dishes when I go there. Now I've got some new ones to try! Thanks!
In case you're wondering, 'same favorite dishes': crispy pork w/chili and basil, crispy catfish salad [like som-tum, but green mango instead of papaya, and a little more funk], southern style curry w/duck [too spicy for a lot of people, including the chef - so i've heard].
re DocChuck: lol
Oh wow, I love the look of that sour curry - I've never seen any curry with omelette chunks in it. I've had the noodles with beef and onion and tomato once here in London but have never seen it at any other Thai restaurant...but glad to see that it does seem to be a real Thai dish!
anna: Yup, Ulla is awesome!
Talida: Taking photos is even better when someone else is doing the writing. :)
Erika: I gotta try that next time!
Joyce: That's one of the few dish names I'm able to remember. The "ew" helps. ;)
Michelle: I LOVE THAT WORD. Larb. And what it is. Glad to hear I don't have to go anywhere else for the best Thai food!
Kate: I love swill as well.
Susan: I tried the crispy catfish salad the first time I went..gotta get it again next time.
Su-Lin: I'm pretty sure that was my first omelet-chunk-in-curry-experience. Not bad.
I would have to try this place out some day.
I want to go back. Right now!
Thanks for the photos!!!
good god that's an impressive spread! finishing all those dishes must have been a cumbersome feat.
three words.
CHECK MARK WIN
unh!
Yes, thanks for taking the photos! You were the only blogger not to slack off during the dinner. What would we do without you?!!
D: We will accomplish that. Yes.
Esther: No probz!
Allix: We can fit a lot in our bellies. Nooo prob. (pats distended belly)
James: Hell yes.
Tia: No one slacked, WE ATE SO MUCH.
lol yes... slacked... but not at eating!!!
love the rustic recipes, loks incredible
the pork and honey chili, I gotta try that tonight
I don't know what should I do if I were in a place like this with a lot of delicious dishes probably I get crazy.