Sripraphai

sripraphai cashew chicken

Reputed to be one of the best Thai restaurants in the city, Sripraphai sits on an unassuming block in Woodside, Queens, almost in earshot of the rumbling elevated 7 train. Since a renovation a few years ago, this spot is less of a hole-in-the-wall, and more of a modern sanctum for serious lovers of Thai cuisine. I hoped it would be worth the schlep.

After a perusal of the overwhelming 12-page menu, dishes began arriving at a brisk clip. One standout was the crispy watercress salad–tempura-coated greens covering tangy bits of chicken, squid, and shrimp ($9.50), with a side of coconut rice ($2.00). The fried shrimp cakes with chili dipping sauce ($8.50) and fried chive vegetable dumplings ($4.00) were somewhat less remarkable, although the crisp, yet chewy texture on the dumplings was a nice surprise, rather like biting into fried cake. My favorite dish of the night was the tom kha gai soup ($4.00). Huge chunks of chicken and mushroom marinated in sweet coconut milk, with a perfect spice level for me (I asked for medium spicy). It was easily the best tom kha I’ve had. The cashew chicken entree ($8.00) looked innocuous enough–breaded chicken coated with sweet chili sauce and pineapple–but one accidental bite into a dried, rather tasteless chili set my tongue on fire.

sripraphai watercress salad
watercress salad–tastes better than it looks

There was no choice put to order some coconut ice cream ($4.00), which was a soothing dessert although one had to dig through a slimy pile of sweet palm seeds to get at the good stuff. The yellow bean cakes ($4.00), which resembled uraniam-esque hockey pucks, were a dense, sweet and coconutty treat.

sripraphai coconut icecream
coconut ice cream

All in all, the flavors were good, the prices were fair, and the service was fast. I was not as blown away as I’d hoped, but I would go back, and this time, use caution around unfamiliar chilies.

64-13 39th Avenue Woodside Queens
11:30 am – 9:30pm Closed Wednesdays