It has been a while since we had Thai food in the city and we kind of were craving it. So we decided to find a place for a Saturday lunch and stumbled upon Thai Villa, near Union Square. I did not expect to find such place. Not only is the decor incredible (the dining room is on two floors, the second being more like a mezzanine that they created, taking advantage of the very high ceilings), with its lamps that make you feel you just entered a dream that started with the serenity of the Buddha you cannot miss near the entrance, but the food is quite unique. Ok, they have vegetable dumplings: what’s the big deal? Well, they are blue…So, stunning presentation for sure but delicious food too.

Here is what we had:

Of course, I ordered my go to Thai drink, a Thai iced tea that was good (I think it happened only once that I had a so so one).

Then there were the dumplings I mentioned before. They are called Pak Mor Puk and are vegetable crepe dumplings filled with chive, jicama, black mushrooms, cabbage, bamboo shoots, and served with a sweet soy sauce. I am always a bit wary with vegetable dumplings as, sometimes, the shell is too thick and the filling one dimensional, overpowered by one ingredient. Of course, the blue color is mesmerizing, but the taste was great: the crepe was thin and slightly sticky, and the filling had lots of flavors.

For her main, Jodi got the Pad se-ew that was pretty good, although quite classic.

On my side, I hesitated quite a bit as I always have the Massaman Curry when having Thai food, loving this dish. But their extensive menu has so many mouth watering choices that I finally decided to try something different and ordered their Muk Koong Kai Kem that is sautéed squid and shrimp (there was lots of it) with a duck egg yolk. The presentation was beautiful, the ingredients sitting on a crispy shell similar to these taco shells you get when having a taco salad. It was a bit spicy with sweet and savory tones, and was served with rice that kind of has a soothing effect.

Muk Koong Kai Kem or sauteed squid and shrimp at Thai Villa in NYC, NY

So, overall, we had a great meal at Thai Villa: I cannot wait to go back for dinner!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Thai Villa - 5 East 19th street, New York, New York, 10003

I Just Want To Eat!