Open for Business: Sai Thai Kitchen, 437 Fifth Avenue
Tuesday, November 22, 2024 at 11:06AM Sai Thai Kitchen officially opened for business over the weekend in the space last occupied by popular falafel joint Fatoosh, on Fifth Avenue just north of Ninth Street. It's a dim, elegant space, with a well-planned menu that helps to set it apart from the pack.
The owner, nicknamed Sai, spent many years living in Bangkok and has been a Park Slope resident for ten years. I spoke to the manager, Sandy, who told me that Sai translates to "sand," which is a motif in the dining room and also a symbol of persistence (the Thai in the logo translates to "sand" as well).
"Sand symbolizes small things," she said. "If you want to build something great, you have to start small. Sai loves the people of Park Slope, and worked very hard over many years to open this restaurant."
Sai visited every Thai restaurant in the Slope while planning the menu, and made sure not to become just another Thai food carbon copy. There are several dishes that don't show up on too many Thai restaurant menus, including Khao Soi Shrimp, which teams shrimp with egg noodles, pickled cabbage, tofu, red onion, and coconut curry. There's also larb chicken, in lettuce cups, Tom Jerd tofu and vegetable soup, and a super-spicy Pad Charr squid, sauteed with a chili-garlic-peppercorn sauce.
Steamed dumplings are made from scratch (including the wrapper), and colored red with beet juice, and there's also an emphasis on using plenty of the freshest vegetables available. There are also a couple pleasant surprises, like the availability of quinoa as a side dish, spicy fried calamari, and crispy whole red snapper or filet of tilapia.
Another differentiation is the level of spiciness that some of these dishes reach. "The spiciness is at the level that Thai people eat, which is much higher than in most restaurants here," said Sandy. Many items have one to three red chili peppers next to their names on the menu, and two peppers here is the equivalent of three on most other menus. You can also order a side of homemade chili paste if you're still looking to kick it up a couple more notches. Spicy food fiends, I think we may have found a Thai restaurant for you.
Sai Thai Kitchen, 437 Fifth Avenue Brooklyn NY 11215. Phone: 718-499-3262.
Here's the menu (click for larger versions):
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Fifth Ave, Open For Business in Food, Storefronts
Reader Comments (9)
The menu looks enticing and it would be nice to have some actual good thai in PS, because honestly the rest are mediocre, at best. Song has gone so far downhill, I won't go there anymore. Spice is terrible. Mee Thai is pretty decent, but this place looks far more charming inside.
My only question is...what it up with this and Nahm kitchen leaving the facade this bare cement? It looks unfinished. Is this the new hot look because to me it looks terrible.
Not at all the Isan menu I thought it was going to be. That said, I wish them success.
Love the bare cement look! hope they are good, I love Thai food, hubby doesn't, so, I rarely get to have it. Haven't been to Song in ages, has it really gone downhill? Used to love them! Will have to check this new place out for lunch
LOVE THIS PLACE!! Their lunch specials are amazing, their dinner is awesome... I do hope they get a bar -- though BYOB was fun to try. Check it out very different and very tasty.
We went for lunch, it was really good. We loved the curry puffs (no filled mainly with potatoes, as other restaurants do) and the seared salmon (wow, perfectly cooked, very juicy). Other dishes were really great. I love the look of this place, with the wooden tables and the bottle-chandeliers (they need an alcohol licence to go with these!). Very friendly. I hope this high quality will last more than a few months... This is my new favorite thai in the Slope, for sure.
Ordered lunch from there yesterday, liked the corn cakes and the vegetable dumplings were good. but, was not impressed with our main dishes which were shrimp pad thai and green curry chicken. Not sure if I would order from them or eat there again. the main dishes were very blah in our opinion, and one of the people eating had been in Thailand for a month this past summer
I had lunch at Sai Thai. Pad Thai was very excellent and tasty. I recommend this one to anyone who want to try real Thai food. Love it.
I had been customer at Song for many years. Last night I had dinner at Sai Thai with my hubby. I had Vegetable and Tofu Green curry. It was spicy as menu said. They put different kinds of vegetable. Curry sauce is tasty. My hubby had Skirt Steak. It was perfectly cook with side of Thai style dipping sauce. We are finally find the Thai place we are looking for. This place will be our new dine-in and take away for sure.
khao soi shrimp is the best in the city, queens included!!!! very hot and the curry color was nice and dark from all the dried spices. bright pink vegetable dumplings are also delicious, a bangkok street food that you cant find anywhere else in new york.