Midtown Lunch

When Fusion 9th went Fukushima after a very short period of time (not like we’re gonna miss their meh-at-best food) it was a near given that a restaurant would come into the space. Nobody really expected such a quick-draw on part of Larb Ubol/Isan Authentic Thai, though – there was maybe about two months tops of vacancy on this 9th Ave frontage. It’s unironic cliche on Midtown Lunch that 9th has tons of Thai places, some that are even good, and some that had the ol’ eyebrow raised. When they opened not a week after our newspost, it was time to match their quickdraw with a quick review. Doubly so because this spot is the creation of Ratchanee Sumpatboon, formerly of Zabb Elee. Does Larb Ubol Thai the knot or is it amongst the dustbin of pad thai history?
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Because 9th Ave didn’t have enough Thai places already, Isan Authentic Thai Cuisine has swooped into the Fusion 9th space (on 9th btw. 36+37th). No longer an empty, abandoned shell, the insides had people swarming around and decorating. Unless the Fusion 9th people took out the appliances and kitchen equipment, it looks like Isan will be good to go pretty soon.
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If there was a betting pool going, the winning figure might just have been six months for this place… Fusion 9th is shuttered, covered up in newspaper, and dark. We weren’t really big on their food, so this doesn’t come as too much of a major disappointment. The sign taped to the insurance gutter asks the mailman to throw mail under the gate, so it looks like it could either be temporary or just occasionally checked. No DoH closures or other bad things are obvious – hopefully they’re retooling to have better food.

There was some unhappy rhetoric in the comments of our review of Fusion 9th on the day that it opened. Not wanting to let the first-day blues of a botched order stand in the way of honest critique, I took advantage of the onset of a cold to get some noodle soup in order to blitz our good buddy Rhinovirus and settle the Fusion 9th question once and for all.
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These guys work fast – days after we posted about TS Ma being replaced by Fusion 9th, I got word from my confidential source that they had opened. Here at Midtown Lunch, we don’t screw around when Malaysian options hit the desert of food deserts – southwest midtown – so with great sobriety and regret did I set aside the thought of a cold-cut sandwich for lunch. No looming reminder of a massive Super Bowl pigout would prevent me from getting my foot in the door at Fusion 9th to determine if it’s worth an eyebrow raise or if it’s just forgettable “fusion.”
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TS Ma, which hasn’t gotten much notice from us in the past, has shuttered and is changing things up a bit. An anonymous tipster (who may be my boss’ boss’ boss, so if this article doesn’t get published I’m out of a job – no pressure) got word to me that the new sign was put up just about yesterday. Now renamed Fusion 9th, it looks like they’ve moved from Chinese and sushi probably not worth eating to pan-Asian. I’m sure we can safely replace “Fusion” with “Multiple cuisine hodgepodge” in our minds, though, given the window.
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