Where to eat in Elmhurst, a Thai food mecca in Queens

My introduction to Thai food was in college. While it’s embarrassing to admit, I’m fairly certain I made pad Thai from a meal kit.

But two things happened. The first is that I fell in love with cooking. It might be one of the first times I cooked for myself or someone else, and I was hooked. Sharing a meal I had cooked felt good.

The second was that I knew Thai food was going to be one of my favorite cuisines. Thai food is funky, sour and fragrant. Aromatic herbs balance the heat of chilies and sourness of limes.

Cut to present(ish) day. I eat Thai regularly, and one of my favorite places to go is Bangkok Supper Club, the new West Village restaurant from 55 Hospitality, the team behind Fish Cheeks. The food is inspired by late-night eats in Bangkok. The kitchen has a charcoal grill, and the dishes that chef and co-owner Max Wittawat puts out are fun and inventive.

Wittawat moved here from Bangkok over a year ago to open Bangkok Supper Club with partner Jenn Saesue, who owns Fish Cheeks. According to Wittawat, Thai food should be eaten family style, enjoyed bite by bite around the table, not coursed out as you might find at other restaurants.

As he spoke, I realized that I wanted Wittawat and Saesue to come with me on a food crawl through Elmhurst, Queens, to show me the ropes at some of the city’s most iconic and beloved Thai spots. Saesue’s business partner at 55 Hospitality, Chat Suansilphong, also joined us that day.

Suansilphong lived in Elmhurst for about seven years and had some strong opinions on where to eat.

Fragrant steamed chicken and rice to begin

We began our day at Eim Khao Mun Kai on Broadway to get khao man gai, a Thai version of Hainanese chicken and rice. It’s one of the only places in the city that specializes in this dish, which is typically made with the old rice from harvest.

Suansilphong told me that the rice tends to be flavored with garlic, ginger, chicken fat and, more often than not, cilantro stems. It’s usually eaten for breakfast and lunch, although Saesue and Suansilphong said they eat it any time of day.

Standing outside, I could smell chicken broth and ginger — and my mouth began to water.

Suansilphong ordered us two sets of khao man gai. I also ordered a Thai iced tea, an iced drink made from black Ceylon tea, milk and sugar. It has a bright orange color thanks to a food dye that’s usually added. I popped in a straw, mixed it around and happily drank it.

On the tables were three little bowls. One contained minced garlic, another minced ginger and the last minced red chilies. The server brought a platter of steamed and sliced chicken thighs, gizzards and liver with sliced cucumber and cilantro leaves. A second platter with the rice and a bowl of broth with daikon came too.

Wittawat carefully spooned each of the condiments into an empty bowl to add to his chicken, along with the soybean paste that accompanied the set. Using his spoon and fork, he cut the chicken into pieces and scooped it up with the rice. He drank the broth separately to wash it all down. I was hooked.

It was the perfect start to the day, light and simple — yet more flavorful than you might imagine steamed chicken and rice could be.

A buffet of variety

We walked down the block and around the corner, stopping in Khao Kang on the corner of Woodside and 77th avenues.

Khao Kang is a rice curry shop, known in Thai as raan khao kaeng. In Thailand, these kinds of places are nostalgic and comforting, offering rice with different sides, such as curries, brothy soups or stir fries.

It opened 10 years ago and is family-run. Chef and owner Sopon Kosalanan grew up in eastern Thailand in the Chanthaburi province and learned to cook from his grandmother and mom, Thong Tad Charernnan, who, along with his aunt, work in the kitchen.

His brother, sister-in-law and niece also work at the restaurant. The menu is changed almost daily.

As we entered, Saesue looked around and smiled. “This has chaotic energy,” she said, “but it’s Thailand.”

A chalkboard on the wall behind the counter listed the drinks: longan juice, grass jelly drink, chrysanthemum tea, Thai iced tea and Thai iced coffee. Saesue ordered us the longan juice and the chrysanthemum tea.

Longan juice, she told me, is like spa water, and I eagerly drank it. It was sweet and refreshing, and there were dried longan fruits at the bottom of the cup. Longan fruit is similar to lychee or rambutan. The chrysanthemum tea is also mildly sweet and honey-like, with a slight bitter taste that I love.

And then there was the food.

Speaking in Thai, Wittawat ordered us a plethora of dishes.

Stewed pork belly with boiled egg and five spice; garlic black pepper pork; cabbage shrimp with black pepper sauce; red curry chicken; basil ground pork and string beans in a spicy sauce; pik king chicken (stir-fried chicken with vegetables in pik king curry paste); southern jungle curry (fish with cashew nuts and vegetables).

The black pepper pork was a standout for all of us.

To finish the meal, we got the sankaya fakthong (pumpkin custard steamed inside an actual pumpkin) and glass jelly milk with sago. The sago was texturally fun, with jellies and tapioca swimming in coconut cream. The pumpkin was tender and creamy.

Refreshing shaved desserts and slush drinks

We left Khao Kang and walked across the street to Tea Cup Cafe. Opened by Teerachai Vichkulwrapan about 12 years ago, it originally sold only tea and desserts. About five years ago, he began selling noodles as well.

Suansilphong ordered us pandan custard with toasted bread, yakult pipo (a yogurt slush drink) and Thai iced tea-flavored rooty tooty (a shaved ice dessert piled high with cornflakes, cubes of bread and shaved ice).

The flavors were vibrant and refreshing, the perfect bites after spicy meals, especially on a hot summer day in New York.

Fresh herbs and spice with a side of funk

Across the street between 77th and 78th streets is Hug Esan, and we headed over for more food. Opened by sisters Chiraporn Sornphoom and Jariya Charoenwong in 2017, Hug Esan specializes in Isan food from Northeast Thailand, located on the Khorat Plateau along the Laos-Thailand border.

Isan food has many similarities to the food of their neighbors in Laos. Instead of steamed jasmine rice, which you’ll commonly find on the Thai table, Isan cuisine is accompanied by sticky rice. ​It’s also distinguished by the funk of pla ra, a fermented fish seasoning, giving it its distinctive sour flavor.

Suansilphong ordered us tum Thai kai kem, papaya salad with salted egg, peanuts, and dried shrimp. Kor moo yang (grilled and marinated pork neck) came sliced on a bed of sliced green cabbage with nam jim jaew, a Thai dipping sauce consisting of fish sauce, chilies, fresh herbs, sugar and toasted rice powder. The pork larb was spicy and included a trio of pork: minced pork, pork liver and pork ear.

The surprise — and highlight — for me was the dill soup with pork spare ribs. It featured fresh dill, which my group explained is a common feature of food from this region.

Suansilphong divided the soup among small bowls for us all to share and, after drinking it much too quickly, I found myself wishing that I didn’t have to share it at all.

Fresh vegetables and snacks

By the time we finished at Hug Esan, I was uncomfortably full from the three stops. We decided to walk a bit to 3 Aunties Thai Market in nearby Woodside. Although there are Thai markets in Elmhurst, we decided that the 20-minute walk was necessary to help make space for our final destination: Thai hot pot.

3 Aunties Thai Market has two locations in Woodside, both carrying similar items. The location on 39th Avenue is slightly smaller than the one on 61st Street. Spoiler: We went to both because, as I mentioned, walking was helping with digestion.

Wittawat said he frequently orders ingredients for Bangkok Supper Club from 3 Aunties.

Saesue and I wandered the shop together, and she showed me items that immediately sparked nostalgia of her childhood and time living in Thailand. The group was excited to find fresh pandan leaves, fresh durian and a large variety of shrimp pastes.

After around 20 minutes, we decided it was time to tackle our last meal of the day.

Hot pot to finish

Jaew Hon, while also technically in Woodside on Roosevelt Avenue, is about a 10-minute walk from the 3 Aunties location on 39th Avenue. It’s upstairs from Playground, another of Suansilphong’s favorite Thai spots, and specializes in Thai hot pot.

The main difference between Thai hot pot and Chinese or Korean hot pot is the broth. It’s more similar to tom yum soup and also spicier, explained manager Tony Kawpunna, whose parents opened the restaurant around eight years ago.

The hot pot comes with two broths. We ordered the tom zap (beef) and jaew hon (pork blood). An array of meats landed on the table: sliced beef, tripe, thinly sliced pork belly, spleen, shrimp, kidneys and clams, to name a few.

Suansilphong loaded a tray full of vegetables (wood ear mushrooms, pumpkin, herbs, more dill, corn and watercress) from the buffet. He added them to the broths and we all began adding meats as well.

This style of dining brings me joy. Sitting around a table, eating together, completely full and happy. It’s the kind of communal experience that Wittawat explained to me at Bangkok Supper Club all those months ago, and part of what makes Thai cuisine special.

I was full, yes, but also feeling good. It’s experiences like this that make living in New York City with old and new friends, exploring neighborhoods, incomparable and special.