I recently checked out Hed, a new thai fine dining spot in Chelsea from the michelin-recognized team behind Hed Eleven in San Francisco.
This tasting menu felt a little different from the usual because it's designed to be "shared". For the mains, we picked across stir-fried, curry, and fried dishes, and everything came out together with rice to enjoy family-style. With a group of 2-3, you can basically try most of the menu. The most memorable thing I ate was surprisingly the green curry sorbet!
The spring/summer menu leans into southern thai flavors with lots of seafood. If the $126 per person tasting menu feels like a lot, they also have à la carte options ranging from $12 to $39.
First three courses were fixed:
(1) Thai style oyster with chili jam and ikura
Absolutely loved the tangy and sweet chili jam with the oyster.
(2) Grilled scallop with rice noodle in coconut curry
My favorite appetizer of the night! The scallop was perfectly cooked and everything went so well together.
(3) Lobster soup in turmeric essence
The lobster soup had amazing depth from the turmeric and tom-yom-like Thai herbs, but it was slightly too salty for my liking.
(4) Entrees - I went with a friend and we picked one from each section, getting a total of six entrees:
*Stir-fried wok-tossed squid
*Braised pork belly
For the pad/stir fried dishes, the pork belly was a standout! It reminded me of chinese braised pork with its five spice flavor.
*Southern thai crab curry
*Braised hanger steak in isan herbal curry
The two geang/curry dishes were easily my favorites. Super flavorful and rich that it was perfect soaking into rice.
*Grilled pork jowl
*Red curry grilled chicken
For the thod/deep fried dishes, I preferred the pork jowl as it had a smoky,charred aroma. The fried batter of the chicken was a bit too thick for me.
(5) Desserts
*Palm sugar sponge cake with green curry sorbet
*Rice pudding with mango kha foam & lemon grass ginger sorbet
Both were FANTASTIC but the green curry sorbet was definitely more unique. A savory and spicy "dessert" was a whole new experience for me. I loved how the cashew and sponge cake tied everything together nicely.
Drinks
*Mae mali (mocktail)
*Chiang dao smoke highball
The jasmine flavor really came through in the mocktail, while the cocktail had a smoky flavor and subtle sweetness from longan and honey.
Beautiful space, attentive service. It's one of the most unique tasting menu I've had in NYC so far. read more