Manhattan Thai

Pork on Fire

When I do research to find a new spicy restaurant, Thai comes up the most. It turns out that the best Thai restaurants are located in Queens, so they're a bit of a trek. Unfortunately, my Manhattan friends view Queens as barely more accessible/civilized than Darfur, so tonight we needed a compromise. Enter Rhong-Tiam, a new-ish Thai place in the village. It doesn't have the reputation of Sripraphai, but it does have a dish called Pork on Fire, and that's a game I wanted to play.

The dish consists of pork tips wok sauteed with fine chop lemongrass, fresh garlic and bird eyes chili, crispy kaffir lime leaves, and basil. The first flavor I noticed was the garlic, and something that resembled nuts. I can't be sure what kind of nuts, because very soon the "fire" part of the dish kicked in. And folks, it was legit. Still pretty manageable, but it gains momentum, and it's hard to eat more than a few bites in a row without stopping to eat some rice or stare wistfully at your empty water glass. The waitstaff at Rhong-Tiam was stretched too thin, so luxuries like water refills and all the entrees arriving at once were unavailable. As punishment, I have no choice but to inflict a blistering pun: WRONG-Tiam, get it together!

We also got some Chicken with Green Curry, Drunken Noodle, and Black Pepper Beef. All were tasty, but within the realm of expectations for decent Thai in Manhattan.

Green Curry With Chicken

Drunken Noodle (partially eaten)