4. Zaab Zaab
Recently listed among the New York Times‘ Top 100 Restaurants, Zaab Zaab is a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant along Woodside Avenue in Little Thailand known for its fiery Isan cooking and emphasis on seafood. Zaab Zaab, which has another location along Grand Street in Williamsburg, the restaurant’s interior is modern and colorful. The back wall by the kitchen is painted many different colors, while the ceiling displays imagery of birds, stars, and other geometric patterns. Many of the restaurant’s chairs are stools like those seen at Bangkok’s food stalls.
Zaab Zaab is known for its larb, an Isan classic with minced meat with roasted rice with lime, chili, mint, and fish sauce. Gaeng Om, a Northeastern herbal curry with eggplant and galangal, is another popular dish. Among the restaurant’s seafood options are Mieng Pla Pow, a salt-encrusted fish marinated in cumin and stuffed with pandan, as well as prawns pad thai. Other popular options include a selection of hot pots, such as the Tom Haeng with beef intestine and tripe; Neur Yang, a sliced ribeye with tamarind sauce; Moo Tod Pla Ra, or fried pork belly in fermented fish sauce; and Hor Mok, a steamed curry with pork belly or catfish in a banana leaf.
5. Kin Sen
Kin Sen is a much newer Thai restaurant on Whitney Avenue, a bit of a walk from the main street of Little Thailand on the same block as a few Indonesian restaurants. The restaurant has a more modern interior with gray brick walls, wooden tables with black leather chairs, grass-like wall decorations with flowers, the restaurant’s name in neon lights, and circular light fixtures.
Kin Sen’s menu features dishes found at few other Thai spots around Elmhurst, including Lookchin Tod, or fried pork balls, a northern Thai sausage called Sai Ua, and Lawk Jim pork with watercress and bean sprouts. In addition to classics like Pad See Ew and Rad Naa, the restaurant offers about a dozen noodle soups including Yen Ta Fo, served with jellyfish and fish balls, Ba Mhee Puu with crab and egg noodles, and Neun Toon with slow-cooked beef and cilantro. There is a smaller selection of entrees including Pad Kapraw with chili basil sauce and Pad Kratiem with a pepper garlic sauce.