238 replies to this topic

[prasantrin]

I came across a blurb about PDX's Pok Pok opening of two restaurants in NYC in 2012.

First is a very small space on the Lower East Side in Manhattan, at 137 Rivington Street, where a new concept will open featuring a familiar Pok Pok staple, Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings. This will be called Pok Pok Wing. The word "wing" in Thai means to run, or to go quickly. In English, it ain't no thing but a chicken wing. Wing will also have papaya salad made to order on the menu and sticky rice as well as the Som drinking vinegars. It's in a great neighborhood, very vibrant and busy with restaurants, galleries, bars, cafes, retail and fashion as well as a large diverse population of residents out on the streets at all times of the day and night.

Second will be a full service restaurant called Pok Pok Ny in Brooklyn at 127 Columbia Street in the Columbia Waterfront district near Red Hook and Cobble Hill. This is another great neighborhood, quiet and full of families, parks, low key businesses with a view of the Manhattan skyline across the water. Pok Pok Ny has a tiny dining room and a big outdoor seating area, kind of like Pok Pok PDX. In Thai language "Ny" or "nai" means "in", context being a phrase "nai meuang" or "in the city". We dropped the "meuang" for reasons of simplicity and pronunciation. The NY reference in English should be obvious.

I hope some NYers give it a try and report back once it opens. Pok Pok has a very good reputation in the PNW for serving "authentic" Thai food, but can the quality be maintained in their NY branches? (I've not yet been to Pok Pok, but it's on my list for my next visit to PDX.)

[Steve R.]

I came across a blurb about PDX's Pok Pok opening of two restaurants in NYC in 2012.

First is a very small space on the Lower East Side in Manhattan, at 137 Rivington Street, where a new concept will open featuring a familiar Pok Pok staple, Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings. This will be called Pok Pok Wing. The word “wing” in Thai means to run, or to go quickly. In English, it ain’t no thing but a chicken wing. Wing will also have papaya salad made to order on the menu and sticky rice as well as the Som drinking vinegars. It’s in a great neighborhood, very vibrant and busy with restaurants, galleries, bars, cafes, retail and fashion as well as a large diverse population of residents out on the streets at all times of the day and night.

Second will be a full service restaurant called Pok Pok Ny in Brooklyn at 127 Columbia Street in the Columbia Waterfront district near Red Hook and Cobble Hill. This is another great neighborhood, quiet and full of families, parks, low key businesses with a view of the Manhattan skyline across the water. Pok Pok Ny has a tiny dining room and a big outdoor seating area, kind of like Pok Pok PDX. In Thai language “Ny” or “nai” means “in”, context being a phrase “nai meuang” or “in the city”. We dropped the “meuang” for reasons of simplicity and pronunciation. The NY reference in English should be obvious.

I hope some NYers give it a try and report back once it opens. Pok Pok has a very good reputation in the PNW for serving "authentic" Thai food, but the quality be maintained in their NY branches? (I've not yet been to Pok Pok, but it's on my list for my next visit to PDX.)

Well, we're no experts on Thai food but, since it's opening only 10 blocks from our Brooklyn abode (much closer than Sri or Ayada, that's for sure), I get the feeling that we will be going pretty quickly once they open.

[Sneakeater]

I'll just note for locals that the Pok Pok NY mothership will be in the space that housed the Brooklyn offshoot of that Queens burrito place. You know where I mean. Which makes the description of the space in that blurb make total sense.

[Lex]

What a shame they didn't take the Jake's BBQ location.

[tighe]

I've eaten at Pok Pok in Portland a handful of times and if the food can be faithfully recreated in NYC, this is nothing but good news. The fish sauce wings referenced in the blurb should be a controlled substance....

[Steve R.]

I'll just note for locals that the Pok Pok NY mothership will be in the space that housed the Brooklyn offshoot of that Queens burrito place. You know where I mean. Which makes the description of the space in that blurb make total sense.

The burrito place died mercifully quickly and may not conjure up memories of where this space is for those familiar with the area so, for those of us who go out for decent food, we remember it as Pit Stop (which was not a bad French bistro)...

What a shame they didn't take the Jake's BBQ location.

did i ever mention that we finally stopped ordering from Jakes?

[Lex]

What a shame they didn't take the Jake's BBQ location.

did i ever mention that we finally stopped ordering from Jakes?

[splinky]

I'll just note for locals that the Pok Pok NY mothership will be in the space that housed the Brooklyn offshoot of that Queens burrito place. You know where I mean. Which makes the description of the space in that blurb make total sense.

5 burro? i walk past the queens mother ship all the time but have never been tempted

[Sneakeater]

It certainly didn't tempt a lot of people in Brooklyn.

But it had a nice big outdoor terrace.

[AaronS]

I'm really really excited about this, especially because early reports said that they would be opening in red hook and this is a lot closer to the train. I've eaten at the portland pok pok (only the original one) and loved all three of my meals. the menu is pretty different from the good thai places here, maybe because it's not strictly a thai restaurant.

[prasantrin]

The LES one is open . Has anyone gone yet?

The Brooklyn one is scheduled to open in 5 weeks (or so they hope).

[Wilfrid]

I am sure they're fantastic, but $12.50 for wings?

At Croxley Tavern, you get 125 wings for $12.50.

[AaronS]

The LES one is open . Has anyone gone yet?

I ate at the LES one a few weeks ago. the menu basically has three things on it and I managed to try all of them. I really liked my meal but apart from a few observations I don't really have much to say about it.

the wings aren't the same cut as the wings that immediately come to mind, they're a pretty decent size and I think the price is reasonable. I really liked the sauce.

the papaya salad was a really good version.

the sauce on the pork dish is a lot more complex than it seems to be at first and is my favorite thing on the menu. the perfect over-order would be the pork dish (khao man son tom) and a half order of the wings.

this is perfect food for drinking. if my life were different I'd be here all the time.

I don't know whether or not this will be as successful as the meatball place. hopefully it doesn't have to be.

I remain excited about the larger menu at the forthcoming brooklyn location.

[Sneakeater]

I went to Pok Pok BK last night, the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. I got there a little after 10, and lucked into a few minutes' wait for a seat at the otherwise packed bar. By 11, however, the bar was empty -- and so, pretty much, was the dining room. I have no idea how the impending rain and Memorial Day weekend played into that, so I can't say definitively that 11 PM is a safe time. But bear that experience in mind.

The food is very good. It's not as good as Ayada. OTOH, I can't walk home from Ayada (or get to Ayada by a short subway ride from my office).

Certainly the cocktails are better than that at Ayada (where there are none).

As it turned out, I ordered their most and least popular dishes. The most popular is Muu Kham Waan: Mangalista (of course!) pork neck rubbed with garlic, coriander, and pepper, and grilled over charcoal. (You -- or at least I -- wrap it in mustard leaves.) This tastes exactly how you'd think -- and is very good.

But not as good as their least popular dish. That's Yam Kop -- a very spicy pork bone soup with lots of herbs and stuff, and smoked frog legs for a protein. Excellent as this was, it wasn't as good as a similar dish I had at Sri. But that's faulting the excellent for not being sublime. This had a depth of flavor that was extremely satisfying. And the meaty smoked frog's legs were wonderful!

I don't think there's much mileage to be gotten out of using the great Thai places in Queens as sticks with which to beat this entirely worthy venture. It's not worth the hour or two's waits that are reportedly common. But if you can work it so as to avoid those waits, Pok Pok becomes one of the more appealing dining options in Brooklyn.

COMP DISCLOSURE: A couple of drinks from a bartender I'd known from previous employments.

[Lex]

Thanks Sneak. I'd be inclined to go to Pok Pok if I could walk in and eat like a human being. Sri is busy too but if I show up at 2:00PM on a Saturday I can waltz right in. Yes, I'm "gaming" the place but it's not like I'm bending myself severely out of shape. Showing up at 10:00AM or 10:00PM are out of the question for us.

I've been following the CH thread on this place and for normal Friday and Saturday nights they're quoting a wait of 2 1/2 hours. Lets put that into context for me. I can drive to Sri on a Saturday afternoon, eat a full meal, and drive home in the time I'd wait to sit down for Pok Pok.

Now having said all that, I *love* the idea that PP is succeeding. I want a demand for well made Thai to open up in the same was as there's been a market created for well made Sichuan over the last 10 years. It's a very good thing. Maybe if PP cools off a bit I'll go there. (My own feeling is that it's overhyped in the way of Asian restaurants where the kitchen staff is largely Caucasian serving a mainly Caucasian clientele. Yes, that's sounds racist but it's also true. Red Farm anyone?) But if PP succeeds in the long term I think it bodes well for quality Thai restaurants in New York.