Esanation, Thai restaurant in Hell's Kitchen, NYC

Located in Hell's Kitchen, Esanation is a Thai restaurant with a lounge vibe. Serving northeastern cuisine (Isan province = Isan nation for the name of the place?), they serve patrons in a modern decor with couple of neons (Love neon in the back or the disco ball in the dining room) playing an upbeat music, setting itself apart from many restaurants that will play Thai music. In fact, it reminded me a bit Viv, another Thai place close by.

Food wise, I admit that I was a bit disappointed by the menu, as they advertise street food and I was expecting small bites that we would be able to share. Ok, I never went to Thailand and maybe there, street food is different. What they propose for street food are soups, noodles and rice dishes. So, I skipped that section and went for other items that were more appealing to me.

But, before I talk about the food, if you are familiar with the blog, you will not be surprised to read that I got a Thai Iced Tea...

We first ordered an appetizer: the crispy spring rolls, stuffed with bean thread vermicelli, carrot, cabbage, taro and served with a sweet chili sauce. The rolls came very hot and were delightfully greasy, as well as very crispy. They were thinner than the usual ones we get, so, with a bit less filling; as a consequence, you did not really taste as much vegetables and vermicelli as usual, but it was fine, the crispness making these delicious.

For her entrée, Jodi went for the pad see ew, these flat noodles served with tofu and egg. I thought it was ok, the tofu being quite bland.

Pad see ew at Esanation, Thai restaurant in Hell's Kitchen, NYC

On my side, I decided to order frog legs instead of my usual chicken massaman. I chose the Ka Gob Gratiam or garlic frog legs.

Ka Gob Gratiam at Esanation, Thai restaurant in Hell's Kitchen, NYC

These fried legs were served with rice, as well as a bunch of veggies such as steamed broccoli (that I gave to Jodi...). The frog legs were delicious, crispy and not greasy. I just wished that there was more sauce for the rice as steamed rice is not my favorite side...So, I dug into Jodi's plate of noodles!