Ngam, New York, New York, Thai Restaurant Details

Food:

Chef Hong Thaimee is "usually onsite sharing the love" at this East Village "charmer" known for its "wonderful", "imaginative" twists on Thai comfort classics; "interesting" cocktails and a "fun" (if "small") rough-hewn space are two more reasons it's an all-around "favorite."

Food:

Hip vibe with an open kitchen. The duck and pork belly were solid but considering the price, I expected more. The duck was in a curry sauce with lychee and the duck was in a broth with lots of cilantro, which I liked. Spring rolls were excellent. I enjoyed the sauce that accompanied it.

Food:

I have been to NGAM several times with my girlfriend and have always been quite pleased with the quality of the food. Having said that, we went for dinner the Friday after New Year's Day this time with a party of 3. We had a reservation and it was very busy. They sat us beneath some of the exposed duct work off to the side. This is relevant because it started leaking at an increasing rate all over the table to the point where it became a steady stream. I notified a server and about 10 minutes later a manager came by. He offered us new dishes but by then we were almost done. Then they offered us a new table about 5 minutes later and we were ushered across the room to an even smaller table. Now don't get me wrong, the food was always good, but after it was all said and done ,they didn't compensate us for ANYTHING! I would love to go back but that left a bad taste in my mouth. Which is a shame because that was our fav thai joint in the city.

Food:

Still the best Thai I've ever had! I went there last year with some family. Chef Hong greeted us at the door and walked us in. I let her know I recognized her from IRON CHEF and that me and the guys had been rooting for her. She made us feel like friends the second we walked in. My family let her know I had just returned from Deployment, she said hold on a second, ran away and came back moments later with a bottle of champagne. I couldn't believe how awesome her and the staff were right off the bat. THEN THE FOOD....I cant say enough good things. PORTIONS were great. Each of us ordered something different so we could sample from each other. I've never had good squid ink but felt like experimenting that night and I wasn't let down. The atmosphere was very relaxed and loud enough that we could talk and laugh without feeling like we were interrupting anyone. LASTLY Chef HONG came to check on us herself and spent 20 min just talking to us. I really felt like we had gone to someones house for dinner and had an awesome time. THANK YOU HONG, YOU'RE THE BEST!!!!

Food:

BRUNCH.

Returned here for lunch last Sunday and were pleasantly surprised that Ngam offers a brunch menu! We were not expecting it--and they gladly made the regular, dinner menu available as well.

We made a reservation via OpenTable 20 minutes before heading arriving--but we didn't even need it. Not that they weren't bustling; my favorite thing about this brunch, aside from their Thai inspired innovations (like Thai coffee drizzle on their french toast, and other subtleties) on brunch classics, was that we could walk right in, to a comfortably patronized but not overcrowded floor in a spacious restaurant with high ceilings.

The two of us ordered way too much food (their $24 brunch special includes an entree, a side like our super spicy brussels sprouts, and bottomless mimosas and bloody mary's--with a Thai twist of course) plus a Tom Kha soup from their regular menu because it was a chilly day.... Our server was very very helpful in helping us choose; he explained the differences in dishes and helped us balance the flavors in our choices.

They were maybe slightly understaffed to attend to my daydrinking (it was after all bottomless crunch cocktails--I suppose this usually means 1 or 2 for most Sunday brunchers...) and the large space meant we sometimes had to wait or gesture wildly for the servers' attention. However, we had wanted a quiet lunch to take our time and talk over, and we got it.

Sunday brunch, meet Ngam. (Please, don't all run there and ruin my spot now...) Oh, and -- order the Chiang Mai Fries.

Food:

It's always a struggle to plan a group dinner with interesting, well priced menu choices. Ngam happened to have a long table that seated large party and drool inducing entrees that I was curious to try - as my "see you later" dinner, I finally gave this place a try.

Making the reservation was beyond painless thanks to opentable (rare for such large group - 9 ppl). Despite the fact that it was surprisingly packed for a Monday night, my group was seated immediately when we arrived. Upon being seated, the first thing we all did was check in for free drinks. Unfortunately, they no longer allowed for swapping of soft drinks or Thai iced teas. Rather than allowing drinks/offers go to waste (not of us drinks!), our waiter encouraged double/triple fistings.

We went with both their traditional and unique dishes - chicken pad Thai, the dark knight, zucchini pad Thai, kale fried rice, and my personal favorite - curry lamb roti pot pie. I wasn't particularly impressed by their noodle dishes - pad Thai noodles were a bit undercooked, the dark knight was really salty. But the fried rice and the potpie were on point. Their fried rice reminded me of risotto cooked in coconut broth - creamy and full of flavor! My potpie was loaded with shredded lamb, mashed sweet potato, and chopped cashew pieces - all in this sweet, heavenly curry sauce (more sauce please!). The chewy, soft roti served as the potpie pastry was pure genius. My only complaint was that my dish came out lukewarm.

Although our waiter was very sweet (at least during the time we interacted), his service was almost nonexistent. We sat for at least half hr to place our order, another half hr to wave him down for our bill, finally another 20 mins for him to pick up our payment (It would had suck if us girls don't get along and had to sit through long awkward waits). Ventilation wasn't great (we all smelled like Asian food within 5 mins). Overall though, Ngam was still a great dinner choice. I would love to return to try their lunch and brunch specials!