One of the Thai restaurant that we really enjoyed in the past was Uncle Boons. They were very popular and with its small interior, it was not easy to get a seat on a busy night. Unfortunately, they closed its door permanently during the pandemic… The sister restaurant, Thai Diner has survived, and they offer some of the menu from Uncle Boons!
We haven’t had the chance to dine here before the pandemic, so I am not sure if they always had the outdoor seating by the restaurant, it seem like they always had that. The outdoor seating by the wall goes all the way to the window, providing a good amount of seating.
However, with the pandemic restrictions, many of the restaurants built extra outdoor seating on the sidewalk or on the street. Thai Diner is no exception. They built a quite the elaborate outdoor seating space, almost look like its own house with windows and doors, indoor plants and skylight!
Even though the outdoor seating looked really nice, and it was heated, but the cold temperature and chilly wind made us want to dine inside. It was still early, and it was during the weekday, so the inside was almost empty. I remember seeing photos of this place, usually packed, before the pandemic. Now, you get to take beautiful photos like this, before the lunch rush.
They have some counter seats at the bar, counter seats by the window to the right, and booth tables to the left. The booth seating had hooks for your coat, which I always like, but they come with even better feature! The seat has a storage underneath for your bags and other personal items! How considerate! Just don’t forget to take them before you leave… Another feature I liked about this restaurant was the ceiling. It was covered with the bamboo (?), which made it feel like you were inside an old, traditional house in Asia somewhere, or some kind of tree house. Neat!
Since we were taking a day off, we started off with their Hot Cocktails! We ordered Hot Pandan Buttered Rum ($13) and Spiked Milo ($13). If you are not familiar with Pandan, it is a tropical plant that grows in Southeast Asia. It has sweet and floral flavor and aroma. The leaves can be used like a banana leaf, as a wrapping before food before steaming or frying. Pandan paste, powder, and extract can be used in dessert and drinks, mainly as a flavoring.
Hot Pandan Buttered Rum is made with Rum, Pandan, and Coconut Butter with Whipped Cream. It has a very distinctive green color, almost neon green. Nice and strong, and it sure tasted great! It was so buttery, reminded me of butterscotch drinks. Cream on top was tasty too, it was like a hot spiked butterscotch drink. Yum!
Spiked Milo is made with Uncle Boons Thai Rum, Hot Chocolate Milo, and Pandan Marshmallow. If you grew up in Asia, you probably have heard of Milo. It is a malted chocolate powder, mixed with hot water or milk to make a chocolate drink. Kind of a hot cocoa mix. I grew up with Milo, so it brought back some memories! This one was also nice and strong. There were two large green marshmallows on top, and they had kind of coarse, crackling sugar on the outside. It slowly melted into the hot chocolate…so good!
Before we arrived, we decided on what to order already. Even though the menu at the Thai Diner was all so interesting and tempting, we finally decided on four dishes. But, we heard that we should order small amount of food, as their dishes are very filling. So, we started off with two dishes. Uncle Boon’s Khao Pat Puu ($25), and Thai Disco Fries ($10).
We had the Khao Pat Puu at Uncle Boons, and we loved it. Even though the restaurant has closed its doors, its sister restaurant, Thai Diner is keeping its menu alive! Khap Pat Puu is a Traditional Crab Fried Rice with Egg, Cilantro, and lime.
It was a good portion, large enough to share among two or more people. Just as I remembered, it came with large chunks of crab meat! Everything was cooked perfectly, not greasy but just right. The sauce that came on the side was super spicy, but very refreshing. I only needed a small dab of that sauce, to give an extra flavor and a punch.
Thai Disco Fries is made with Fries smothered in Massaman Curry with Red Onion, Peanuts, Cilantro, and Coconut Cream. I was super excited for this dish, as I love fries, and I love disco fries even more! If I see Disco Fries, I want to get some… I had some tasty ones with fried eggs on top at The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town, a speakeasy in London, a Korean flavored one with Kimchi and Bulgogi at Phobu in NJ.
And this Thai Disco Fries at Thai Diner did not disappoint. It was soooo good! The thick fries were crispy on the outside, and soft and potato-y in the inside, just the way I like it. It had some Massaman Curry on the bottom, and it was packed with flavor! It had a good kick to it too, quite spicy. I loved their unique creation!
We wanted to order more food, but at this point, we were getting really full… Those drinks and these two dishes were really filling altogether! We were sad that we couldn’t have more food, but hey, we always have room for a dessert (or two). For dessert, we decided to go back on memory lane again, and ordered something we had at Uncle Boons, which is also one of the most popular dessert here. It is Uncle Boons Coconut Sundae ($9).
Coconut Sundae is made with Coconut Gelato topped with Coconut Caramel, Palm Sugar Whipped Cream, Toasted Coconuts, and Candied Peanuts. This is for cream lover…as it is topped with loads of whipped cream! I loved the salty and crunchy peanuts against sweet and velvety cream. It also had extra crunch from the caramel. The whipped cream had unique sweet flavor from the palm sugar, it was extra mild and flavorful. The coconut gelato and toasted coconut made this dessert nice and coconut-y, but without being overwhelmingly so. Tasty!
Their bathroom is all the way in the back, next to the bar. They had two unisex bathrooms, and the one to the right is accessible.
The accessible one was nice and roomy, well lit and clean. It had interesting poster depicting exercise poses… You can learn about it while you do your business.
At the end, instead of ordering four dishes and a dessert (or two), we only managed to have two dishes and a dessert… We just have to go back again to try more of Thai Diner’s delicious food! The food was surprisingly filling, but the fact that we had rather rich, strong alcoholic beverage had contributed to that as well. The price for some of the dishes are a bit high, but you do get the high quality, delicious food. The staffs here were welcoming, friendly, and didn’t rush us at all. We had a nice, relaxing lunch, and were well taking care of. If you are looking for a real-deal, delicious, spicy Thai food, give this place a try!
Thai Diner – 186 Mott Street, New York, NY 10012