Nua Thai

When you go to Nua Thai, it’s best to come with a game plan. The staff is usually bouncing between waiting tables and dealing with to-go orders, so be sure to know what you want when it’s your turn to order. Most people dining at the Midtown Thai restaurant are groups of friends catching up over bowls of tom yum soup, or the occasional solo diner with their usual order. The food at Nua Thai is vibrant, no matter if you’re dining in or shoveling forkfuls of it from a styrofoam tray, so settle in with a slightly spicy papaya salad for lunch or slurp some drunken noodles to finish off a weekday. And whatever you do, save a little room for some spoonfuls of the pillowy-soft mango sticky rice.

photo credit: Liz Silva