Ayada is our favorite Thai spot in Elmhurst. Considering the quality and variety of Thai food in this neighborhood, that’s a very big deal. Eat the drunken noodles and panang curry at Ayada, and it’ll make you question all the other drunken noodles and panang curry you’ve had elsewhere. Their raw shrimp salad is another one of our their dishes we think about constantly, and if you want a different kind of raw shellfish, they make an excellent som tum with chunks of shell-on blue crab mixed in.

Even though Thai Diner’s iconic sister restaurant Uncle Boon’s closed, and the universe at large is pretty much going to sh*t, Thai Diner’s food has gotten even better since it opened just before the 2020 shutdown. We particularly love the cheesy BEC on a roti, babka french toast drizzled in Thai tea glaze, and an aggressively delicious sandwich with chicken and banana blossom salad piled between its sesame seed buns.

If Ugly Baby were a person, it would probably be the loudest one in any given room. And we mean that as a compliment. The food at this Carroll Gardens spot tends to be bright and flavorful (like the mural-covered walls), with a good amount of heat on a lot of the dishes. Start with the young jackfruit salad, then split the kao tod nam klook (curried rice with pork skin and peanuts) or a big bowl of khao soi with someone.

Some restaurants serve spicy food that’s like a punch in the face. It hits hard, then you’re down for the count. At Kru, an upscale spot in Williamsburg that specializes in modern takes on century-old Thai recipes, the heat should not be discounted, but it’s not here to knock you out. The food here is nuanced, layered, and delicate. Order correctly, and you can have a transformative meal. Think of it a little like a workout for your palate.

Somtum Der is an East Village spot that specializes in Isan Thai food, and it’s one of our favorite places for a fun dinner with a big group. The dining room is big and airy, with lots of long tables that will easily fit five to seven of your friends, and they have an especially good list of cocktails and Thai beer. Multiple types of papaya salad should be on your table: our go-tos are the tum thai kai kem and the tum poo pla-ra with tiny field crabs.

Hug Esan is on the same block in Elmhurst as some of our other favorite Thai spots, like Zaab Zaab and Ayada. Get a group together and settle into the tiny, vibrant dining room for a meal you’re going to be talking about for a while. Build out your order around a whole tilapia: it comes grilled or fried, and neither choice is incorrect. You should also get a bowl of spicy Mee Ka Tee or Khao Piak Sen, a meat-heavy soup thickened with pork blood.

Khao Kang is a counter-service, cash-only spot in Elmhurst. Within a few minutes of walking through the door, you’ll be eating some of the best Thai food in the city. You’ll see whatever’s available in the rows of heated pans behind the counter, and for less than $10, you can get a selection of three entrees over a heap of rice. The fried garlic pork and ka pao moo are reliably delicious, but we tend to concentrate on the curries when we come here.

Soothr is an East Village restaurant that serves central Thai dishes you may not have seen before elsewhere in Manhattan, like sukhotthai tom yum noodles and specialties from Bangkok’s Chinatown hub. Whatever you do, order the koong karee. This curry has a pleasantly gooey shrimp and egg consistency, and every rich bite tastes like shrimp paste just called curry powder to say "I love you." Their gazebo-like backyard is one of our favorite summer dinner spots.

If we were 100% certain it wouldn’t get into our eyes, ears, and nose, we’d dive into a pool of the coconut crab curry from Fish Cheeks in Noho. It’s a little sweet with a good amount of spice and big chunks of crab hidden on the bottom, and we often eat it straight without any of the rice on the side. The fragrant po tak soup is another great thing to share with one or two people, and we love the fact that every table gets free shrimp chips with dense, fishy chili jam.

Wayla is an LES spot that has perpetual birthday party energy. It’s dark and dungeon-like, your cocktail will contain at least one piece of fruit or flora, and there’s a beautiful backyard you could put on a postcard and send to someone abroad. The food here, like the crispy fried chunks of branzino, slightly sweet noodles spilling out of a lobster’s head, and noodle-wrapped meatballs will always make you feel just the right amount of deluxe.

The two-block stretch in Elmhurst that’s home to Khao Kang and Ayada is an intimidating place to open a Thai restaurant. But Zaab Zaab, an Isan Thai spot serving dishes packed with lots of chilies, herbs, and lemongrass, holds its own and then some. The menu is broken up into a bunch of different sections (grilled, fish, som tum, etc.), and you should treat it like an urgent checklist. Get the juicy larb with crispy duck skin and bits of chewy liver.