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

watercress salad–tastes better than it looks

After an overwhelming purusal of a 12-page menu, and fortified by a Singha, the 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), which was best enjoyed with 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 deeply 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, which had a lovely heat (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. The burning lasted for half an hour.

cashew chicken

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, tasted a little flat on my chili-pepper numbed tongue, but eaten later at home they were a dense, sweet and coconutty treat.

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 to be but I would go back, and just be careful to avoid any dried chilies. At least I can now proudly add deep-fried salad to my snacking resume.

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