I read a couple of reviews claiming that Rhong Tiam Rhong Tiam was authentic Thai food. I was so excited. Could it be? Authentic Thai in Manhattan? No, I was mislead. My cousin Christina is home for spring break and I took her there for lunch and now feel bad for not taking her somewhere more memorable.
They have Green Curry, Red Curry, Panang Curry…..same as all the other Thai places. All dishes have a choice of chicken, tofu, beef, or shrimp, another menu trait common in Manhattan Thai places. I chose the Woon Sen Pad Thai (made with bean thread noodle) and Christina had the regular Pad Thai. The meal starts with a decent vegetable soup, very peppery in a good way. They served our lunch in a bento box (what the?), with crappy fried dumplings and spring roll, mayonnaise drenched salad, and rice. While my noodles tasted ok, they were definitely not authentic. They were more sweet and not spicy. Further, everything else in the box was junk.
I am insulted that some people tried to compare this place to Sripraphai. I was totally let down by the meal. I do see that their dinner menu is a little different and a bit more expansive than the standard Thai place, but I would find it hard to believe that this place could pull off a Sripraphai level meal at night.
I just love Thai curries. It is sad to see that someone has insulted them by botching them up. I had some great curries at Cabbages and Condoms and Soi 5 at Bongkok as well at a lady with a cart at Sukhumvit. Also had some good curry at a fairly posh restaurant curry at KL. Malaysian curries are quite nice too. Thai curries are growing poular at India too. Some restaurants make it well while others make it a bit too lumpy. I’ve made them with ready made curry pastes.
I’ve tried to put a chilly fry recipe for you. Let me know how it went
http://finelychopped-k.blogspot.com/2008/03/goan-chilly-fryremixed.html
Give Rong-Thiam another try. Some of the food I had there gave me complete sense memories of meals I had in Bangkok, where I lived for five years. Try the tom yam noodles, the catfish salad, the roasted pork neck appetizer, or the tom yam gung.