You may think when reading the title of this post that I made a typo in the name of the restaurant, especially when seeing a mural of a tiger in the back of the dining room, but it is not the case. The Y replaced the I, as nod to The Tyger, a poem by the English poet William Blake, published in 1794 as part of his Songs of Experience collection. At The Tyger, Chef Paul Donnelly, crafted a menu with dishes from Southeast Asia, but with his own modern interpretation. We liked it so much that we went twice, two weekends in a row.

Here is what we had:

They have cocktails, hot or cold, but we decided to try their non-alcoholic beverages as we went for lunch. I was looking forward to try their Thai tea but preferred the hot version over the cold, the latter being a bit watered down, with too much ice in it. For refreshing mocktails, they also offer two others that take their names from William Blake’s poems: Joy is my name, made with lychee, lime, sea salt and seltzer, and The Maiden Queen, composed of Thai basil, pink peppercorn, lemon and seltzer. Both were very good and I would not choose one over the other.

Their menu is meant to share, and I should mention that they do have few vegetarian dishes to offer outside of the small plates section: there, they only offer the grilled Togarashi corn, that sit on top of Kewpie mayo (a mayo made solely with yolks, giving custardy and rich characteristics), and drizzled with grana padano cheese, to counter the heat that is slowly building up as you eat it.

They propose the classic Pad See Ew and you may wonder why one would order this classic rice noodle dish there. Well it is served with a crispy tofu that reminded me of the five spice tofu at Hao Noodle: silky, slightly crunchy, this is the type of place that make you realize that tofu is not that bland and rubbery protein you often get in restaurants. But my favorite vegetarian dish is their housemade egg noodles, served with oyster mushrooms and lemon (they ditched the bonito flakes to make it vegetarian). These noodles were succulent, smothered in a buttery sauce that was so addictive and in fact perfect to soothe my mouth that was a bit on fire from the dish I had…

Let me start with that dish before talking about non-vegetarian dishes. I could not not try the Ayutthaya style duck confit curry. Well, I love duck confit and was wondering how they would bring an ancient Thai cuisine with a classic French one. I was imagining the duck confit to be cut in pieces, but the duck leg was served whole, bathed in a curry made with lychee, peanuts (for a nice crunch) and fried scallion. I was surprised that it did not come with any side and so ordered some rolls that were perfect with it, not really wanting to have rice as the curry was thick. The duck was perfectly made, falling off the bone and not salty, and I loved the curry itself that was quite spicy, but the kind that makes you want to go back to it. That dish had many elements: saltiness, sweetness and spiciness. Simply delicious!

Another main I tried was their Nasi Goreng, a fried rice dish I did not have for years now, that I enjoyed in Singapore and Indonesia years ago. At The Tyger, they make it with squid ink fried rice, calamari and a fried egg on top. It was good, but not as spectacular as the duck. I admit that I was expecting more, but there was too much rice and not enough calamari. Otherwise, I loved the crunch that was from what I think is tapioca, and the yolk helped reduce some of the heat that was building up in my mouth…

Let me finish with two fantastic appetizers I had there: the miso butter escargots that was a successful take on another French classic (I just wish they brought some bread to dip in that succulent miso butter) and the Phnom Penh fried chicken (crispy and perfectly cooked, the chicken being moist), served with a lime and white pepper dressing.

These meals were amazing and I cannot wait to go back to The Tyger and try their entire menu. It is a unique place that I surely recommend if you like Asian cuisine with a twist.

Enjoy (I did)!

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The Tyger - 1 Howard St, New York, NY 10013

The Tyger in NYC, NY

I Just Want To Eat!