Flatiron Lunch: The West Flatiron Thai Options Continue with Rin Thai
Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.
I feel like I am on a Thai food goose chase around 23rd Street and 7th and 8th Avenues organized by FL’er Stevenp. First, I was sent to Regional and M Thai after my own lackluster experience at Pongsri. Then, Rin Thai was recommended.
All of these Thai places seem to have similar lunch specials with a small appetizer and main dish for under $10. At this point, I am having trouble keeping any differences in the menus straight and would be happy for favorite dishes from the readers in the comments.
I ordered two lunch meals to try a couple dishes. First, I ordered the spicy basil fried rice with chicken which despite simple appearance had an amazing flavor. The dish struck the right balance of basil, chilis, pepper and lime.
I could not believe how much food was packed into the take-out container. Each of my main dishes was filled to the brim and the container was heavy like a brick. Granted with fried rice and noodles, the portions are often larger. I would be interested how large the curry and sautéed dishes are.
The crispy dumplings appetizer was much better than I expected or they looked. In fact, this might be the best Thai lunch appetizer I have ever had.
For my other appetizer, I tried the caesar salad with ginger dressing. The caesar salad at Spice is better in my opinion.
The other main I ordered was the pad Thai, which a friend of mine in the neighborhood orders all the time. In fact, I think we ordered it once when I was hanging out at her apartment, and it was great. This time, I thought it was a little bland and needed some chili garlic sauce to spice it up.
THE + (What people who like this place will say)
- I didn’t know fried rice could be this good.
- The crispy dumpling is a freebie appetizer that is actually exciting to eat.
- These portions are insane.
THE – (What people who don’t like this place will say)
- What happened to the pad Thai?
- Spice should not have a better caesar salad.
- Unclear if Rin has distinguished itself from all the neighboring Thai restaurants.
Rin Thai, 265 West 23rd Street btwn 7th and 8th Avenues, (212) 675-2988
Posted by Sarah Zilinski at 11:18 am, February 7th, 2014 under Flatiron Lunch.
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