Recommendations- Miang Kham Kang, Soft Shell Crab Mun-Pu, Nuer Todd, seafood in general. Also on a side note, the spot is spelled Wanglang as one word.
I went to this new excellent Thai food place, from the people behind Tha Phraya on the Upper East Side, with a few others yesterday evening. The menus are similar, with this having a slightly fancier look and a few dishes that aren't on the menu at the other place. Similar to the other spot, there is a large cocktail menu, but I didn't bother. Two others had their Thai Iced Tea, which they enjoyed, which came with a lot of miniature round ice cubes. The staff here were friendly, giving recommendations to people based on spice preference, and otherwise recommending the seafood and Khao Soi the most from their main dishes, and the Thai Donut/Tod Mung Goong or Pak Mor/Steamed Rice Dumplings in terms of appetizers.
I started with a dish that I love but don't commonly see in NYC, the Miang Kham, or Miang Kham Kana, for $17, which is listed as one bite wraps with five Thai flavors. Along with Chinese broccoli leaves as wraps, the flavors to add included lime, ginger, chili, peanut, roasted coconut flakes, dried shrimp, and shallot. This all comes with a caramelized sauce, which has a bit of a sweet heat with some nuttiness. You can think of this as a Thai version of a ssam, though a spoon is used instead of chopsticks to put all the various ingredients inside the leaves before being wrapped up. There is a wide mix of flavors from sweet to spicy to salty to vegetal, and this can easily be shared as well. I would heavily recommend this.
Two of the others shared the Pak Mor for the same price, listed as savory Thai steamed rice crepe wrapped around sweet radish, red onion & peanut topped with coconut milk. This came with four pieces and was a very colorful plate. Along with the various flavors, there was also a bit of heat from some chopped bird's eye chili to balance out the sweetness. They seemed to like this a lot, also.
My main dish was the $35 Crispy Soft Shell Crab Mun-Pu, listed as crab topped with crab paste sauce, garlic, and cilantro, with namjim seafood sauce on the side. The crabs were perfectly fried without any excess oil with a very thin layer of batter, so it was easy to taste the natural sweetness of the crab. The best part of the dish was the sauce, being complicated and extremely flavorful with plenty of crab essence along with lots of garlic, a bit of sweetness, and some savoriness. This went perfectly over the complementary jasmine rice, and whenever I wanted to add a bit of heat or extra flavor, the namjim on the side added a bit of extra citrusy sourness and heat. This was delicious and highly recommended.
I tried a bit of someone else's Khao Soi Nuer Toon for $29, a northern Thai coconut curry soup with egg noodles. Compared to the usual version topped with a stewed chicken leg, this came with ultra tender braised beef, as per the words "neur toon." Of what I tried, the broth was excellent, being complex with some sweetness and a bit of heat. To add a bit more flavor, there was also a chili oil on the side, which I had, as the other person doesn't like spicy food much. The chili oil was my preferred type with a stronger roasted flavor, but with plenty of heat. Two others enjoyed the $30 Crab Fried Rice Mor-Din and the $45 Pla Tod Kra-tiam very much, which both came with the same namjim.
The food here is excellent. Would recommend heavily. read more