Rice Avenue

I like the name Rice Avenue. It sounds like a street I'd want to live on. It's also a very nice looking restaurant on Roosevelt Avenue. I got a lunch special at Rice Ave. this week, walking in at around 3:15, close to the end of lunch special time. They still let me order though, and I decided to get pretty much the same lunch special meal that I got at Rumphool Thai a few months ago: a salad and a curry. This time I got green curry, since it said on the menu that it was (spicy) while the red, penang, and yellow curries were (medium spicy) and the Massaman was (mild).
The salad: iceberg, carrots, a cucumber and a tomato slice. The peanut dressing topping it all was good, with a nice hit of spice at the end. Otherwise, nothing special.

The curry. I appreciated the pretty rice pyramid. The curry was thin, and yes, a little (spicy), but it also had a sweetness to it, more than just the coconut milk. It was full of chicken, string beans, basil, and lots of bamboo shoots (my favorite). Not a life-changing curry, but a good lunch special, for $6.95. As soon as my food came out, the staff of three sat down at a small table and passed around platters heaped with food for their family meal. I tried to be subtle as I stared at their plates, but it looked much more exciting than my boring old curry. Sorry for being rude, Rice Avenue workers, but I sometimes suffer from food envy.

Rice Ave.
72-19 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights

I would just like to share this bit about the interior of the restaurant from the Rice Ave. website:
The décor of RICE AVENUE reinforces the symbolism of rice, the staple form of physical nourishment for South, East and North Asian cultures and cuisine. Upon entering the red cherry wooden door, one first notices the ceiling, a lattice of squares that recall the rice paddies of Asia. The seating is the color of uncooked rice. While the rectangular, acrylic ceiling lights illuminate the dinner in soft rice colored white. The long, horizontal wall sconces are rectangular and white, or avenues of rice white. A border of green, grass-like rice plants rings the seats and tables.
I love that I sat in a chair the color of uncooked rice. Much thought was put into the details, and I appreciate that too.

Sripraphai: Almost on Roosevelt Ave.

I met up with Judy, Mark, Stella and Rachel (JHFG'ers all) for lunch at Sripraphai before our epic cake-off at Red Ribbon (which you can read about here). I'm not sure who was smart enough to suggest that we grab a quick bite before the cake at Sri, since it is right across the street from the bakery, but it was a great idea. As we perused the very thick menu, we quickly decided on two appetizers and four entrees for the five of us, trying to save room for the six different kinds of cake that we would eventually be eating, but probably still ordering too much. How could you not, though, with so many options? I am a boring Sripraphai-goer, because I always order the same thing (like the Thai buffalo wing! Sour and salty and spicy so good) so it was nice to go with other people and branch out a little. Here's what we got:


Chicken curry puff served w. cucumber salad $5.50
Curry puffs are one of the appetizer items that I always order, because they are always delicious. The crust is usually very flaky, and the potato/chicken filling, flavored perfectly with curry powder and lots of turmeric is always piping hot. A lightly pickled cucumber and onion salad is perfect to add to the puff, it adds crunch and brightness. The puffs were good, the filling was chunky and nicely-flavored, but the crust was not flaky and soft, it was crisp and hard. Good, but not the same. If I had never tasted them before, I would have liked these well enough.

On to the main courses.
C-16 Sauté crispy pork with chili, garlic & basil leaves $9.50
Crispy crispy crispy pork. Some bits were so crisp, they couldn't be stabbed with a fork. The fatty pieces were great, soft with a crisp edge. Some bits were tough, some bits were perfect, I had to move the plate away from me because I couldn't stop eating it. Not spicy enough, but the garlic/basil/chili combo is a great one.

N-5 Drunken noodles: sauté rice noodles w. choice of meat, chili & basil leaves $8.50
Our choice of meat was pork. I like wide, flat noodles. Anything with chili and basil is good, as noted above, but again, for something with chili, and we really did specify spicy, not all that hot. Tasty, yes, flavorful too. A simple and good noodle dish.

I'm not sure what number this one was on the menu, maybe one of you can help, but this was fried fish topped with green papaya salad. I tasted the fish (and those of you who know me know that while I don't eat fish or seafood, I always taste it just to see if anything has changed and I might wake up one day and love it). The fish was mild and flaky, the outside crisp, the salad fresh, light, and crunchy. I didn't hate it.

Panang Curry with duck $9.00
Yum. Complex and rich, panang curry is normally made with coconut cream, so it is even thicker and richer than a green, red, or yellow curry made with coconut milk. The only problem with this dish was that because of the meat we chose, delicious duck, every spoonful that I put on my plate was made up of mostly duck skin and no meat. While crispy duck skin is one of my favorite things, soft duck skin in sauce, not so much. The meat was in there somewhere, I just had bad luck finding it.

A fun lunch, not really meant to be an exploration of the menu, just some people getting together and sharing good food before going cake crazy. Everyone who goes to Sripraphai has an opinion, and I wasn't planning on making it part of my route, since so much has been said that I'm not sure what I can really add to the discussion. All I will say is that I have always had good meals at this restaurant. Spice levels have been inconsistent, service as well, but the quality and flavor of the food is there.

SriPraPhai Thai Restaurant
64-13 39th Avenue
Woodside

Thai Special 2: Rumphool

Rumphool Thai has a $6 lunch special! Lunch specials are great. Thai lunch specials are even better. Spring rolls! It's so nice and spring-y out, and there is no place more colorful on Roosevelt Ave than Rumphool Thai to celebrate the end of winter. I dare you to find another restaurant on the route that is as cheerfully and brightly decorated as this. It's as if Ikea threw up on the walls, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. A blurry view but you'll get the point.
A very friendly waiter greeted me and led me to a seat by the window, and I sat facing the street, and the huge colorful pillows. It is impossible to be unhappy when facing pillows such as these, especially when the sun is shining.
I pondered over the lunch special menu for a while, and asked my server what he thought was best. He basically reccommended everything. If I felt like noodles, then I should try the Pad-Kee Mao (Drunkman Noodles). People like the Pad Thai he said. If I want everything mixed with rice, I could get fried rice. If I felt like spicy, I could get a curry. I felt like spicy. Red curry was spiciest, he said, and that it's best with chicken. No reason to argue with that.

Lunch special comes with salad and spring roll.
A nice crunchy iceberg lettuce salad with a chunky and sweet peanut dressing. The spring roll was crisp and hot, and smothered with the dressing as well. It seems odd to cover something deep-fried with something liquid, but the contrast of the cold and sweet dressing while biting through the crisp shell of the savory spring roll was delightful. No dipping required.

What I forgot to mention was that I also ordered curry puffs, which brought the price of my meal up, but I am a sucker for curry puffs.
Look at them. Crisp and flaky dough surrounding a spiced potato and chicken filling. Rumphool's curry mix is turmeric-heavy. Each bite is meant to be dipped into the vinegary cucumber and onion chutney, cutting through the richness and heaviness. I do love a good curry puff, and these were better than average.

The red curry came with a large scoop of rice. It had a nice consistency, not too thin or thick. It was full of bamboo, chicken and basil. The spice level was not that high, at first I only felt a slight tingle in the back of my throat. But half-way through, my nose began to run, which is always a good sign of creeping heat. It was flavorful and filling. For a $6 lunch special, (plus my $4 foray into appetizers) I was quite pleased. The food was good, the service was friendly, and just being close to that many primary colors in one place is bound to lighten anyone's mood.

Rumphool
57-17 Roosevelt Ave
Woodside

Postscript:
There are three somewhat strange things about this place besides the decor: No bathroom, closed Tuesdays, cash only.

Thai Special

It's so sunny and nice outside today, and it felt great to be walking around again. I was looking for a lunch special to take home with me this afternoon, and I found it at Dee Thai. The lunch special had six appetizer choices and thirteen entrees, for a total of either $7 or $8 depending on the protein chosen. I decided to ask for something that I never ever order: Pad Thai. Why? I don't know, it just happened. I really don't know what came over me, but I sort of panicked and blurted out pad thai when, now, as I am perusing the menu in the privacy of my own home, I see that there are some tasty sounding options like Kow Ka Moo: Stewed pork leg and steamed kana over rice. What's kana? Chinese broccoli, if the internets are to be trusted. Or any of the flat noodle dishes. Or the Pork Chop Garlic: Grilled marinated Pork Chop with Thai herb in garlic sauce. Why was I so hasty in my choices when I could have said "pork chop garlic" out loud? Oh well. I ordered a pad thai and a green curry. Shrimp and chicken, in that order. Green curry is my first Thai love, so at least that made sense. I asked the man who took my order what his favorite appetizers were. He was sort of surprised by the question and mentioned spring rolls and kyo koong tod, a fried wonton with shrimp filling. I asked for both. Again, not sure why. I think I'll blame it on not having left the house since Tuesday. The food was ready quickly, and I walked out of there and up to the train, remembering to crack open the containers with the fried apps so they wouldn't get soggy on the way home. Pro: heat radiated up from the bag keeping my left side warm. Con: I smelled like shrimp. Also, why was the Flushing bound 7 packed at 12:20 on a Friday afternoon? Anyway, here's the loot.
Spring Rolls were still crispy. Otherwise, just regular old spring rolls.


These were crispy too. Very light. Lots of wonton and very little filling, but that was ok with me.

The curry, a full pint of it, plus rice. A reverse of the wontons, much more chicken and veg than liquid. As far as green curries go, it was on the water-y side, with very little spice. Lots of bamboos shoots, which I love. Not as complex a flavor as a curry that you could get, say, in Woodside, a few stops down.

The pad thai. Still not sure why I ordered it. If the perfect plate of Thai noodles should hit the sweet, salty, spicy and sour notes, this one was more sweet than anything else. For $8 it was a good deal - four wontons as an app, and a container full of noodles topped with four nice-sized shrimp.
This is me still wondering why I ordered pad thai. And enjoying my tea. I didn't go in expecting to be wowed, I was just looking for a lunch deal and that's what I got, and for just under $15 for 2 two-course meals, I'm not complaining. Dee Thai definitely deserves another trip, eaten there, and with some better ordering. But there are more Thai restaurants on the route, so I got to keep on moving.

Dee Thai
46-17 Queens Blvd
Sunnyside