Chicken Pad Thai (above, $6.75) Side Salad with peanut dressing (below, included in special)

Chicken Pad Thai

For the first time in a while I opted for Pad Thai over Drunken Noodles (Khi Mao). Pad Thai is my old standby and with only one exception, Chai’s was delicious. The serving looks small but it was actually quite filling.

• The flavor was balanced, just enough fish sauce, tamarind, chili pepper and crushed peanut.
• White meat chicken was tender, piping hot and tasted fresh.
• I asked for it extra spicy and it arrived with a nice kick, not painful but enough to clear the sinuses a bit.
• The one exception: An overabundance of scallion.

Salad

A better option than the minuscule spring rolls, the salad was tiny and mundane despite the enticing sight of shaved carrot & beet root. The peanut dressing was watery and bland, the lettuce was boring iceberg and there was only one slice of cucumber and tomato.

Lunch Special Menu

Here it is in all its self-explanatory glory.

Conclusion

Quality Thai for a good price in a stylish setting. What more can you ask for when you’re eating near Midtown? There are literally 34 seats crammed into this small restaurant and there would be 6 more if not for the small pond (below) which ordains part of the storefront. Regardless, it adds a little flavor to an area that’s commercialized and touristy, so seize the day. Go out for lunch and enjoy an affordable, filling meal at Chai.

Chai

930 8th Avenue at 55th Street

Chai at Williamsburg

Cauliflower? Cabbage? Zucchini? What are these vegetables doing in my Drunken Noodles? They’re obviously there to make a severely small portion look heartier and to decorate the appearance of some extremely mediocre pork (tough and stringy). Overall, this dish was greasy, weak on flavor and spice, and a straight up rip off. I usually like to give places more than one chance to impress but Wondee Siam gave me NO REASON to return.

See the rest of my Drunken Noodle Tour here.

Wondee Siam 792 9th Ave b/t 52-53 St. New York, NY 10019

(212) 459-9057

ROUND 1: THE PORK

I’ll be honest, my favorite part of Topaz’s Drunken Noodles is the pork, and so before I ever had Pam Real Thai Encore, they were at a disadvantage. What makes Topaz’s pork so good is that it’s sliced pork with sweet skin like you’d find on boneless spare ribs. Delicious. It’s tender, moist, and flavorful in comparison to the dry and bland shredded pork you find in Pam Real Thai’s.

DECISION: TOPAZ

ROUND 2: FLAVOR, NOODLES AND HOT-FACTOR

I’m a man who likes his food hot and his noodles moderately sauced. Why do I include these two in the same category? Because the Noodles carry the sauce and the sauce carries the spice. They go hand in hand.

Topaz

To preface, at Topaz I ask for my Drunken Noodles extra spicy. This results in a dish that comes with chili powder on top of the dish, requiring me to mix it up when it first arrives. I’m not really a fan of this but it’s all part of a balanced dish that really is delicious, so I deal. After the chili powder, the spice is derived from chopped Thai Chiles, sliced green Chile peppers, and big fresh leaves of basil. Topaz’s filler is Thai broccoli, but I like the crunch and flavor, it doesn’t bother me. It all results in lightly sauced noodles that sometimes cake together, but are worth overlooking due to balanced and bearably spicy sauce.

Pam Real Thai Encore

Before we get into quality, let’s talk quantity of spice. At Pam Real Thai Encore You can add “kicks” of spiciness, increasing up to 3 levels (i.e. one kick, two kicks, three kicks). I went with 2 kicks and I was in pain. I can handle spicy, but this was the kind of spicy that had my entire face sweating and my nose running. It was awesome. Regardless, the sauce overall was too garlicky. It became the overpowering flavor. There was a decent amount of basil, but it wasn’t as fresh and flavorful as Topaz’s because it was drowned out by the garlic. Also, instead of sliced chile peppers, there were roughly chopped green and red peppers, filler ingredients I can do without. There also seems to be more of a reliance on sauce than with Topaz’s, probably to add flavor where the bland pork falls short. In the end, overabundance of garlic and sauce falls short in the face of sliced chili peppers and balanced flavor.

DECISION: TOPAZ

ROUND 3: PRICE AND DELIVERY EXPERIENCE

Price is a push because both places provide quality sized portions for $9.95. Pam Real Thai Encore, however, is cash only. (NB Pam Real Thai Encore is closed Monday) Delivery, unfortunately, is another story, especially for Topaz, who when it gets busy at lunchtime, just takes their phone off the hook. Unacceptable. I realize they have a dining room to take care of in addition to pick ups but to just take the phone off the hook is not cool. Dinner time delivery has never been a problem but this lunchtime phenomenon angers me. Pam Real Thai Encore, on the other hand, always seems to be able to get to the phone, albeit sometimes after a dozen rings, but at least we know we’ve got a chance. Keep in mind, Pam Real Thai Encore is closed Monday.

DECISION: PAM REAL THAI ENCORE

***OUR WINNER***

***TOPAZ’S PORK DRUNKEN NOODLES***

For me the pork alone is reason enough to go with Topaz’s, but I know some people don’t eat pork. I feel confident enough with the balanced flavor of Topaz’s Drunken Noodles overall to say that no matter what meat (or tofu) you go with, you’ll be pleased. Pass on Pam Real, go to Topaz for Drunken Noodles.

Topaz

Pam Real Thai Encore

The pork was tender and tasty but continue reading to see why you can pass on Pongsri…

Before you read on, keep in mind, NYC Food Guy loves spicy Drunken Noodles. It’s the only thing I order at Thai restaurants. Some places don’t call it Drunken Noodles but they all serve some variation. Look for Noodles with Basil and Chili Paste.

NYC Food Guy has 2 expectations when it comes to Thai food:

1. Very spicy
2. Different flavors and textures in every bite

Pongsri passed the test on the spicy end, although I could have handled a little more heat, considering I requested it to be extra spicy.

They failed the flavor and texture requirement:

• The noodles were gummy, flavorless, and stuck together.
• The Chinese broccoli and red and green peppers tasted like they weren’t fresh.
• The only flavor I really tasted was the basil and the chile flakes
• There were no eggs mixed into the dish, an integral part of most good Thai dishes. As a result, textual variety was limited to just 3 layers: Vegetables, weak noodles, and pork.

Speaking of the pork, it was the most redeeming aspect of the entire dish. Tender and tasty, most of the larger pieces were lean but there were a few fatty chunks dispersed throughout.

I’ve experienced much dryer and fattier pork in other dishes.

The best pork I’ve eaten in Drunken Noodles is from Topaz Thai.

With the variety of Thai options in Midtown West (Menu Pages lists 23 restaurants) you can take NYC Food Guy’s word and pass on Pongsri for Drunken Noodles and Pad Thai. My friend ordered the Pad Thai, it was decent, but nothing more than standard.

Head to Topaz for the best Drunken Noodles I’ve had in Midtown.

Pongsri Thai Restaurant