Lunch Break: NYC Thai Treats

Chill out with cool Thai dishes in Midtown, Queens and Long Island in today's New York Lunch Break.  By Yvo Sin.

Pad Thai

409 8th Ave
New York, NY 10001
(212) 268-2752

Just blocks from Penn Station, Pad Thai could easily rely on location to get by. Instead, they offer a fantastic lunch menu for around $7, and above average Thai food that will satisfy your craving. The pineapple cashew chicken fried rice (pictured) is quite a tasty treat, while the restaurant's namesake dish also makes for a yummy, filling lunch. Add on a Thai iced tea and linger over your meal before going back outside to fight the tourists mobbing the outside of your office building for no reason; you deserve it.

Sripraphai

6413 39th Ave
Woodside, NY 11377
(718) 899-9599

280 Hillside Ave
Williston Park, NY 11596
(516) 280-3779
sripraphairestaurant.com

Long lauded as the best, most authentic Thai found in all of New York, Sripraphai has since expanded to two locations... both of which are equally good. Asking for "Thai spicy" will yield face melting results, but without Thai spicy, the food is well-balanced and quite authentic. Try the mee krob (pictured), tangled nests of crisp, slightly sweet, slightly vinegary noodles topped with shrimp, and served with bean sprouts to offer a cool counterpoint to the tanginess of the noodles itself. Any of the noodle dishes are sure to please, though really, the entire menu is fun to explore. Bonus: if you enjoy the mee krob, you can buy containers of just the noodles by the cashier - it goes really well in salads or just eaten straight while watching TV.

Boon Chu Thai

83-18 Broadway
Elmhurst, NY 11373
(718) 898-6836

The pad thai at Boon Chu is perfectly balanced, but try the pad see ew (pictured), broad white noodles sauced with an incredible brown beef gravy that has seen some patrons practically lick the plate clean, or the crispy catfish salad, which will have you questioning all you know about catfish. The catfish is fried into impossibly crispy nests on top of shredded lettuce, then dressed with a fish sauce vinaigrette and a layer of sliced bird eye chilis. Careful, though: too many of those chilis and you may need another Thai iced tea. Luckily, they do those quite well too.

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Yvo Sin is the founder and head writer of The Feisty Foodie.