Just as the checkpoint has spread its way up the east coast, so have its friends. Following our time with newfound friends Fred and Carrie, we were able to catch up with a mix of friends from all places over Sunday brunch, every New Yorker’s favorite activity.
We gathered roommates, high school, college and study abroad friends and met up for a classy mid-morning meal of excessive amounts of coffee, fresh banana walnut bread, several classic brunch favorites, eggs stewed with tomato, and an unusual offering of breakfast pizza.
The brunch itself was good, but it was really most notable because we were able to bring so many friends together at one time in one place.
We spent the afternoon catching up and playing competitive card games, and preparing for an evening adventure. Since returning from our summer jaunt to Thailand, we’ve experimented with all varieties of Thai take-out cuisine in our respective cities. But nothing quite measures up, and honestly we suspected nothing outside the borders of old Siam could. Los Angeles has its own Thai Town and as an east coast elitist, I assumed New York had to have one too. We just had not yet looked in the right place.
Sure enough, 45 minutes away from lower Manhattan, a winding ride on the R train, is a little Thai enclave in Elmhurst, Queens. The neighborhood is so authentic as to include metro New York’s only operational wat. And as we learned on the streets of Bangkok, where there’s a wat, there’s a way, and usually an impromptu restaurant or two.
The title of most authentic Thai restaurant in Elmhurst is seemingly a competitive one. It’s a topic that has been debated by the best of New York’s food writers and at least for now, the honor rests with a small family-run restaurant on bustling Woodside Avenue. As one New York Times food critic wrote, “I knew Ayada was a serious Thai restaurant when I started weeping at my table.”
We had company on our journey in the form of Chaz’s high school friend Kim and her boyfriend Bing because we had not seen them yet — and also we thought Kim’s Thai heritage might come in handy when deciphering the menu. A perk of bringing a bigger group meant more ordering. But on our walk to the restaurant, Kim and Bing commented that they were not that hungry. We decided that would not impact our decisions.
We started with a fairly aggressive number of appetizers based on food-critic guidance and recommendations from Kim. The long parade included a papaya salad, fish cakes, crab rolls, chicken larb salad and E-sarn sausage. Before you judge, there were four of us and we just sampled. (Sort of.)
But to be a little more discriminating: The papaya salad pictured above nearly blew our heads off in true Thai style (and was still just as good the next morning out of its plastic container). The crab rolls were a fascinating and unusual composed item. With an inside of crab and pork and an outside of crispy tofu, the rolls were definitely unusual, and also very delicious. We wrapped the E-sarn in pieces of lettuce with onion, chili peppers and peanuts, in a style somewhat reminiscent of betel leaves.
The fish cakes and chicken larb were my least favorites… the former was a little too bland compared to the other items on the table. The larb had a little bit of a gritty texture, and as far as composed salads go, just gets me less excited than shiny, spicy, brightly-colored papaya.
We were nearly full when the main courses arrived, but that’s irrelevant when there’s a Thai feast on the table. We ordered two of my favorite dishes, both of which were completed to perfection at Ayada.
Pad see ew is one of the simplest Thai dishes to prepare — something we learned at the hands of Big Mama — but that doesn’t mean it’s always done well. The dish is simply composed of rice noodles, Chinese broccoli and in this case, chicken. But the secret lies in the sauce, a delicate balance of black soy, sweet chili and several other critical items that I sadly do not remember from my one day of pad see ew expertise. Thankfully, the chefs at Ayada did have that list handy.
The other winning item on the menu was the penang curry. My occasional objection to curries is that they are too liquidy. Penang is my personal favorite because it is spicier and thicker than the typical curry, meaning it sticks more to the protein but still provides a big oomph in flavor. We ordered ours with chicken and it was delightful.
We chose a third entree at the suggestion of the New York Times — chinese broccoli with crispy pork. I was interested in the dish for the broccoli. The dish was spicy and flavorful, but just didn’t do as much for me as the others. I might have been more into it with a different protein — I could see it working well with tofu — but that’s a dish for another day.
I did not actually even try to the other entree on the table, but that was largely because I was so full by the time it even reached my side of the table. Plus it was the most daunting looking: spicy frogs’ legs ordered by Bing. I’m not saying I would be unwilling to try them… there were just several other things I wanted to get to first.
By the time the entrees had all been cleared, I felt like I could barely move. Conveniently, most Thai desserts feature the two foods I like least — milk and bananas. However, everyone else seemed to really enjoy the palette cleanser of fried bananas with ice cream, the sweet ending to a fantastic meal.
Ayada provided the most Thai food I’ve had outside of Thailand. And compared to a 24-hour journey to Bangkok, a 45-minute train to Queens is definitely something I can do on a more regular basis.
