Van, Anuja, and I had talked about having a weekend fun day in and around the Red Hook area and when it came time to make a list of places to go there were actually a lot of choices. There was the Red Hook Lobster Pound, Brooklyn Crab, Hometown BBQ and Chiang Mai. However, the one place on the list that none of us had been to was Chiang Mai. Location-wise, this place is a pain the butt to get to, as it the majority of Red Hook if you don't have a car. Originally we were going to walk from the closest subway stop (Smith and 9th) but it was 1,000 degrees that day, so we ended up taking various shuttle/uber combinations to get there.
Chiang Mai is a pop-up located inside a random artisanal housewares store. It's a bit confusing because the houseware store also makes food and there was a sign that said that if you were looking for brunch, it was around the corner. But we were actually there for the Thai restaurant, not the usual brunch so we had to double check that we shouldn't have gone around the corner. In any case, if you're looking for Chiang Mai, don't go around the corner.
My first impression of this place was that I knew it would be a different Thai experience. The owners were super friendly and walked us through their menu which is strictly Northern Thai style food - so no pad thai would be found on this menu. Northern Thai food is making a real name for itself these days with Pok Pok and other places in the city. It's known for its spicy and bold flavors. There were 4 of us, so we decided to try a bunch of different dishes. We got the Tum Mamuang ($8), Krabong ($10), Khao Soi ($12), Sai Ua ($15), Khoong Yang ($11), and Pla Muk Yang ($9). As you can see everything was very reasonably priced and very authentic. We started with the Tum Mamuang, which is green mango pounded with palm sugar, garlic, chili, pickled fish, and served on a betel leaf. It was made with incredibly fresh ingredients (our waitress told us they frequently get them direct from Thailand) and the mango had quite a spicy kick to it - luckily the betel leaf had a bit of a cooling element to it. The way the dish was made and presented really brought me back to eating in Thailand. You could just tell that everything was made from scratch and with a lot of care in the back room. Next we tried the Krabong which is fried papaya, taro, and banana bloom fritters served with a chili vinaigrette and sweet chili peanut sauce. These were basically Thai style fritters but what I loved about this dish wasn't the actual fritters but the dipping sauces. They were sweet, sour, tangy and amazing. I had the waitress keep them around even after we polished off all the fritters as I poured it on to all my other dishes. Next we had the Khoong Yang which were 2 giant grilled prawns with the head on. Presentation-wise, it was super impressive. The prawns were huge and the tail meat was tender and delicious with a slight taste of the grilled charcoal. Next we moved on to the Pla Muck Yang, which was grilled squid with the same dipping sauces. I personally love grilled squid more than fried squid and this dish reminded me why. It was prepared very simply with some salt, pepper and grilled with some lemon - super clean and it had a nice crunch and give to the meat. Lastly we moved on to the entrees. The Sai Ua is herbal pork sausage and white pork sausage served with sticky rice and steamed okra, squash, lettuce and cucumber. The dish reminded me of the Vietnamese style pork because it's chilled and sliced vs. served warm and in a link form like a German sausage. I liked that it wasn't a very heavy dish despite being a sausage dish and the steamed okra, which looked a bit bland and boring, was a nice way to cleanse the palate a bit and cool your mouth down from the heat of some of the other spices. It was a nice dish but compared to all the other ones that had an in your face flavor profile, this one didn't seem to have it. Lastly, we tried their famous Khao Soi, which is a curry soup served with egg noodles, dark chicken meat, mustard greens, coconut cream, soy sauce, chili oil and topped with thin crispy egg noodles on top. It was a fantastic curry with the right amount of heat to it but I love that the coconut flavor really came out too. As an Asian, I love a good piece of dark meat from the chicken and this was no exception. It was a bit weird to eat such a hot and spicy dish on a boiling hot and humid day but you can't really come here and not try it.
I walked out of the restaurant hot and sweaty but really felt like I was transported back to Thailand and eating food made from real Thai people right off the streets. It's a true departure from all the regular Thai places in the city. The staff was super nice and you could see that they really took pride in their food. While half of the charm of this place is that it's located off the beaten path, it really is a pain the butt to get to, otherwise I could see myself going here more often. Total bill: $25/pp with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
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