After nearly a dozen years, Pye Boat Noodle has gone from the neighborhood's best kept secret to…read morebecoming one of the borough's most popular Thai spots. They've been consistent with service and food, and the vibe is very reminiscent of my time in Thailand.
Located in the busiest part of Astoria (#1), they've done a great job at taking the narrow interior and making the most of the their interior and patio dining (#2). "Pye" is paddle in Thai, which is an homage to the boat food culture in the canals of Bangkok.
Their pye boat noodle ("guay tiew ruea") is their signature dish and is sufficiently porky with slices of pork meat, pork meatballs, pork rinds, and in a pork blood broth. Beef is also an option, but I still think the pork version wins.
Of course, dry noodles are always an option. They're the more classic Thai dishes that are still tasty, such as their pad kee mao, pad see ew, and the classic pad thai. They're all very tasty, but the ba mee moo dang hang whch is more like a Chinese dry noodle dish, with egg noodles and a smatter of yu choy and roasted pork + crab.
Another banger is their sukhothai noodles, which is in a chicken soy broth with dried shrimp, ground pork, roasted pork and pork rind, with a nice topping of cilantro and scallion.
Price wise, it's a bit up there but it's also Astoria. Entrees are going to range from $16-22, and there i no shortage of variety from their robust selection. While service takes a small dive on their busiest nights, all Thai food lovers owe it to themselves to try this place at least once.
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(#1) Broadway.
(#2) Aka the "backyard" dining room.