*Thai Food

J threatened my life if I posted about the Thai restaurant the Chinese Camp Girls ate at last night. Part of me agreed and I generally don't write reviews on sites like Yelp or menupages because I don't want other people to know about it. But, I don't think many people read this blog. If you do, you are my friend, you've probably gone with me at one point or another so really, it's fine. I will risk my life for you.

My first encounters with Thai food were probably from college. In the cute little Wellesley village outside school, nestled among the 50 or so hair salons (I think there were at least 2 students to 1 hair stylist), was Amarin of Thailand. I can't say if it was necessarily the most authentic Thai food but it had a clean, pleasant atmosphere - a milder, gentler Thai dining experience. I loved the shrimp in a blanket, pad woon-sen and pineapple fried rice. http://www.amarinofthailand.com/

One of the camp girls married a Thai guy and learned how to make this awesome soup. Oh, it was so savory, sour, and addictive. The food and the gorgeous sculpture garnishes carved out of melons at their Thai Water Ceremony was particularly memorable. It was so awesome to sit in the backyard around picnic tables, chowing down with the monks. And no, I didn't touch them or even attempt to chase them around to touch them. I behaved myself. M sometimes orders Thai food for me when I come and visit. Her favorite place in the DC metro area is Sawatdee (http://vyut.com/sawatdee). She gets super spicy drunken noodles and I like the comfort of a pad tofu jae (veggies and tofu) after a long train ride. My Thai friend J took me to her favorite Thai place in Queens but alas, I have no idea where she took me or what it was called. She and her girlfriend have since moved to Thailand and run two really awesome websites (http://www.bangkoklesbian.com/ and www.realthairecipes.com). Since we couldn't always go to Queens and there was no way I could remember where and what - almost feels like she blindfolded me - we ate in Hell's Kitchen. Update: J was kind enough to let me know that she took me to Sripraphai.

So, there you have it. My favorite Thai restaurant is Wondee Siam (the original one). I can never find my dish at any other Thai restaurant so I always get a pad woon-sen and a shrimp tom yum. I eat all the shitake mushrooms first, then the cabbage and noodles and then the shrimp. Camp girl J says it is the best pad thai in NYC. M had a nice crispy duck dish. And back in the day, I enjoyed a delicious bright orange Thai iced tea. Note: there are 3 Wondee Siams - poor M was wandering about Hell's Kitchen for hours. Enjoy!

Wondee Siam, 792 9th Ave, New York NY 10019, Btwn 52nd & 53rd St