We’ve recently been on a Thai binge trying different regional Thai foods ranging from southern to northern. I’m finding that northern Thai food tends to be a bit too spicy and too sweet for me, although the tastes are sure to accentuate those who need such bold flavors. This restaurant has recently been acknowledged by Michelin guide and is located near NYU around Union Square. We were able to walk in without reservations at around 5 PM on a Friday night, though they said our meal was limited to 90 minutes.
Ambiance & Service
The exterior of the restaurant resembled a bustling restaurant in an alley. The signs for this restaurant all indicated “street food”, so that does make sense.
The interior of the restaurant was quite amazing. It reminded me of what you see in movies of Thailand where you see cables hanging just beneath the ceiling, and the decor felt very night market like. Many of the wait staff wore crossing guard type vests. I’m guessing this is to emulate the street atmosphere. The ambiance was definitely noisy, but you can hear your party pretty easily.
The service was exceedingly fast. Once we ordered, the food came out in less than 10 minutes, and it came out all at once.
Food
The Thai Iced Tea ($6) tasted very good. It was a good blend and not super sweet.
The Yuzu Sparkling ($7) was actually pretty good. It was also not super sweet, but very bubbly with a lot of yuzu flavors.
The Crab Fried Rice ($28 small) came with lump crab meat, egg, and scallion. They definitely gave a pretty good portion of crab, and the rice was nicely cooked and flavorful. It had some sweetness to it due to whatever sauce they used to stir fry it in.
The Pla Tod Nampla ($38) came with deep fried branzino, marinated in a sweet and savory sauce, and served with a side of mango salsa. Nearly the whole fish is edible due to being fried pretty heavily. The branzino has a slight sweet and sticky flavor to it. The mango salsa offered a nice counter balance to the fish. The fish wasn’t really fishy until you start nibbling the head. The other parts of it were tender and tasty.
The Tom Yum Shrimp ($28) came with shrimp, mushroom, Thai herbs broth, and evaporated milk. The soup was ordered mild spicy. This came with a ton of mushrooms, which I gave to my partner. They said the mushrooms didn’t have much flavor since they were similar to the regular store bought button up mushrooms. Nonetheless, the broth had that lemongrass zing to it that was quite good, especially when you dump it on your rice. The shrimp was decent, and it was wholely edible.
Final Verdict
Pranakhon is a very decent gem in the Greenwich Village / NYU area. The restaurant itself is bustling, and the food is quite good. If you’re in the area and in the mood for Thai, definitely check this restaurant out.
Yelp Jabs
For food, we ordered the beef soup, very very spicy, even my friend who likes spicy food said it’s way too spicy and you can’t adjust the spicy level either
I think Thai spicy is one of the hottest things on the planet, and I wouldn’t dare risk to say I’d like something very very spicy. I always ask the wait staff how spicy things are in general. They usually have a good idea how their restaurant’s medium spicy is compared to American palettes.
The curry is also really spicy (in my opinion). It only had one pepper next to it on the menu so I thought I would be able to handle it, but I couldn’t lol.
Don’t be like these last 2 Elitists. Always ask the wait staff how spicy their ratings are. They tend to set expectations pretty well. Our soup had 2 pepper symbols, and the wait staff was able to dial down to mild. All it really means is they add less chili peppers to it.
Revisions
- Jul 21, 2023 - Initial revision.