The kitchen is open 7 days a week, Sun-Thurs 11:30 am – 11:00 pm, Fri-Sat 11 am – Midnight. Thai Select is located at 472 Ninth Avenue between 36th and 37th Streets, 212-695-9920. Takeout and delivery available.
Restaurateurs Parkpoom Watanasuparp and Pisit Charoonsriswad, Thai natives and longtime partners, oversee a successful mini-empire of critically acclaimed Thai restaurants along 9th Avenue in Manhattan, including the excellent Q2 Thai, Aura Thai and Aceluck. But their new restaurant, Thai Select, is different. All their restaurants are known for their high-quality fresh ingredients and mastery of the complex and satisfying flavors of Thai cuisine, but Thai Select offers an alternative: modern Thai cuisine inspired by international cuisines. The food is elegant and ethereal, but the prices are down to earth.
The interior is different, too, feeling more like outdoors than indoors. Designed by Annie Chan, an interior designer from Bangkok, and inspired by the owners’ native Thailand, the light, bright, colorful setting is evocative of a backyard in Thailand, with a blue sky and puffy clouds artfully portrayed above and a backlit banana-leaf motif in the sky-lighted “Banana Leaf Garden” back room. There’s even a fountain peopled with authentic Thai statues. Sparkling mosaics at the entrance and along the open kitchen, catch the light, changing from green to blue to copper. In the front dining room, geometric wooden cutout panels hang from the ceiling, creating a sense of separation between the grass-green banquets, providing privacy and space for each dining party, without blocking the light or view (you can still see your neighbors if you want to).
Executive Chef Monchai Boonchim, whose background includes stints at Brasserie and Atlas, as well as his own restaurant Chada in Kew Gardens, and the top toque position at the popular Q in Forest Hills, combines French, Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, Japanese and Italian influences with traditional Thai to create a new world of mouth-shaking flavors. A native of Southern Thailand, Boonchim didn’t abandon his degree in teaching completely when he immigrated to the United States in the 1970s. He transformed his love of food into a career in the culinary arts and uses his skill as a teacher to train his staff and other chefs.
While some of the dishes may sound familiar, even the traditional dishes are a cut above in freshness, flavor and presentation. Pad Thai, the famous rice noodle dish, can be ordered with a choice of chicken, beef, squid and shrimp or duck. It’s made with a moderate amount of egg and the crushed peanuts are served on the side, so that diners can control the sweetness. For the curry dishes-red, green, and pad gra-prow-all the sauces are made in house using lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves or fragrant basil and other fresh herbs and spices, making these familiar favorites tastier than ever.
But the standout signature dishes really take advantage of the chef’s diverse experience. Starting with appetizer Coconut Puff Martini, delectably light and crunchy battered shrimp with intriguing spices served in a martini glass with dabs of spicy mayonnaise dip. Pork Poppers (Moo Dad Deaw) is seasoned pork jerky served with a fiery sauce, and Thai crab cake is a generous ball of lump crab meat mixed with Mexican spices and served with mango salsa.
Noodle dishes like Keaw Sealect Linguine merge Italian style whole wheat pasta with mixed seafood, bamboo shoots, basil, bell peppers and zucchini in coconut milk and green curry sauce, and Pad Kee Mao Fettuccini brings together whole wheat fettuccini sautéed in a spicy sauce with basil, onions, red bell peppers and string beans
Another special treat at Thai Select is crispy duck served in a choice of preparations including Tamarind, Honey, Lemongrass, Strawberry and Raspberry.
Throughout the menu, you’ll find a light touch and an emphasis on healthy eating. This is especially and deliciously apparent in the delightfully light, yet supremely satisfying Triple Lime Fish, a filet of tilapia steamed until tender and juicy in a balanced, slightly sweet, sour and piquant broth of kaffir lime juice, cilantro, onions and chili.
Early or late evening, tapas style is another way to go. Choose some small plates and pair them with sake-tinis, such as Pomegranate Pleasure, Mango Metro, Lychee Tini, Watermelon Stir and Manhattan Maitai, fruit flavored libations made with the Japanese rice wine (rather than vodka or gin). In addition to beer, wines (red, white and plum) by the glass and bottles priced at $25 and under, Thai Select also has a completely stocked bar and will make any cocktail you desire. [Just ask!]
One whole section of the menu is dedicated to customers’ choice. The list of the top twelve favorite dishes changes as patrons’ preferences change. The lunch menu, a special deal with an entree plus a salad, offers current favorites such as massamam beef (prepared with chili paste of Southern Thai spices, potatoes, peanuts, onions and coconut milk) and gang kua sapparote shrimp, flavored with pineapple (instead of the conventional bamboo shoots), red curry and cashews.
For dessert, Thai fusion temptations include Fried Honey Bananas wrapped in egg roll skins and served with ice cream, or Ginko Nuts (believed to enhance memory) served in ginger syrup. But even if you don’t eat the ginko nuts, a meal at Thai Select is not one you’ll soon forget!
