Thai Standby

Pongsri Thai on New York City's 48th street is one of the first places I had Thai when I moved to NYC. My friend Jenezuela lived right across the street at the time, so we tended to order it quite a bit. Then she moved to Venezuela and I didn't frequent that neighborhood quite as much.

My first return back was with That Sara, my friend Mel, and Sara's friend E on the night we all saw BareNaked Ladies at Radio City Music Hall (amazing concert). I was delighted to find the food was still as fresh and affordable as ever. I've gone about once a year since then, usually with That Sara, as was the case last night.

If you're in the market for an appetizer, their spring rolls and their soft-shell crab are both quite tasty, but last night a dessert caught my eye, so I opted out of apps to save room. Priorities, people!

I have been trying to branch out and try new things (my go-to dish had always been Pad-See Ew there, I think it's number 124 ;) On my last visit, I tried the unusually-named "Big Bird's Love Nest." It was chicken, cashews, veggies, and pineapple chunks flecked with red pepper flakes, all atop a 'nest' of vermicelli which I think had been flash-fried or otherwised molded into a nest. Last night I remembered that I really enjoyed it, even though it had been so long I couldn't remember why, exactly. After much hemming and hawing, I ordered it again. The dish is spicy but NOT overwhelming, and the pineapple helps balance out the heat. The veggies were crisp, crunchy and flavorful, and the whole dish just sang to me. Yum.

Sara ordered the shrimp pad thai with no spices (as they are NOT her friend), and it appears the kitchen followed through with her request (since she didn't stop breathing or anything after her first bite) ;). Here's the link to her review! Our dishes came out in about 5 minutes flat, which was quite shocking. Service was swift last night, though not very attentive. No one checked on us to make sure everything was okay, no one checked in on us, period! The guy who refilled our water glasses took our dessert orders--I wish we could have tipped just HIM! ;)

I had about 1/3 of my dish wrapped up for leftovers (lunch today!) and saved room for the pumpkin coconut custard. I think I tasted more pumpkin than coconut, but that's just fine by me, and it was delicious. Smooth, creamy, with slices of fruit stacked vertically in each of the four squares. YUM. I was quite glad I made room for this!

Sara got her favorite: mango and sticky rice. It smelled delicious as well and it was quite tasty! The mangos were meltingly-ripe and sweet, and the sticky rice was sticky and nutty and not-too-sweet. I'm not really a rice person (I can take it or leave it, and in fact opted NOT to have it with my entrée), but this was still tasty.

Considering how rarely I've been going out to eat lately, this was a delicious and quite affordable treat! If you're ever in midtown/theater district/Hell's Kitchen, I highly recommend this place! They have 3 locations in NYC, but I can only vouch for the 48th street one--and I deem it worthy of repeat visits, something rare in this city jammed with thousands of new places to try!

Pongsri Thai
244 West 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
(212)582-3392