Hot Box is a closet of a space on the Upper East Side with exceptional Thai food at bargain prices, specializing in Bangkok, Phuket, and Chiang Mai. From the first category comes a splendid krapow kai daow, which might qualify as the Thai dish of the year in New York City, featuring a mound of chile-laced pork in a sweet dark sauce, fluffy rice, and a runny fried egg, incendiary and delicious.

Replacing the well-regarded Pam Real Thai Food, Lum Lum (“delicious” in Thai) is the work of Sommy and Mo Hensawang, who hail from the Ayutthaya province north of Bangkok. Some of the recipes are their mother’s, including an arresting squid soup thickened with ink. Fresh herbs are heaped upon the plates and made spectacular use of in rice casseroles, salads, and noodles, and the spice level is in the 90th percentile unless you request otherwise.

The Thonglor neighborhood is the East Village of Bangkok, a hopping area known for its art galleries, Japanese restaurants, spas, and hot dog stands. Astoria’s Thonglor changed its name from Red Basil Thai not long ago, upping its food game to include lots of crispy duck and whole fish dishes, of which red snapper is king. Got the picture? A somewhat upscale place where your money is well spent on premium ingredients, with the setting nothing special for a Thai restaurant.

The food at this Woodside gem hails from southernmost Thailand adjacent to Malaysia. That means creamy coconut milk curries presented as soups that feature egg noodles instead of rice, and a Thai-leaning version of roti canai, possessing a chunkier, more vegetable-filled dipping sauce, with a rare beef version available. Lots of seafood on the menu, and all meat is halal at this institution representing the cuisine of the southern region’s Muslim minority.

It’s been more than 30 years since a modest Thai bakery in Woodside started by Sripraphai Tipmanee morphed into this full-blown restaurant. The lengthy menu is all over the place, listing Isan sour sausage, mango sticky rice, and umpteen curry and noodle choices, nearly all of which are good. Sit in the leafy rear garden, and admire the cascades of flowers.

There’s no stinting on the fish sauce and other sharp flavors at the affectionately named Hug Esan, from owners Chiraporn Sornphoom and Jariya Charoenwong and chef Jintana Khamphaiboon. The fascinating, delicious, and frequently fiery Isan menu runs to chicken with jeaw sauce, toasted rice salad dotted with sour sausage, crab omelet served over rice, whole fish, plus the usual larbs and papaya salads.

While the city has enjoyed a rich collection of Isan restaurants from the northeastern section of Thailand bordering the Mekong River, Zaab Zaab plunges deeper with novel dishes and organ meats galore. Located amidst Elmhurst’s thriving Thai Town in a small, colorful space, Zaab Zaab’s menu from chef Aniwat Khotsopa runs to duck larb, tilapia roasted with salt, and tom hang — a steamed assortment of cow tripe, spleen, and intestine with two dipping sauces. A new branch in Williamsburg concentrates on fish.

It’s a tribute to Elmhurst as a Thai neighborhood that the large population of restaurants includes a couple that specialize in only one dish. In this case, that dish is Hainanese-style chicken from China’s southernmost region, offered from a Thai perspective. The bargain set meal includes a quarter chicken poached in an aromatic broth, rice cooked in broth, a dark consomme, and a few slices of cucumber. Chicken is halal.

What a surprise when this massive Thai restaurant set down just south of Union Square, decorated like a Bangkok outdoor market with a lottery ticket window, fake electrical poles and pigeons, and all sorts of dining spaces on two levels. The cooks are from southern Thailand, and several dishes originated there, including khao yum, a refreshing salad that will knock your eyes out with its colorful ingredients. In line with the over-the-top decor, Bangkok street food can also be found.

This East Village heavy hitter boasts a pair of specialties, including multiple noodle varieties from Sukhothai in Central Thailand, and soups and other culinary highlights of Udon Thani in northern Thailand, via owners Chidensee Watthanawongwat, Kittiya Mokkarat, and Supatta Banklouy. The menu also has some Thai Chinese dishes from Bangkok, including koong karee — shrimp in egg sauce.

While its sister restaurant Kiin Thai disappeared during the pandemic, Somtum Der forges ahead making several versions of its eponymous green papaya salad, plus a more general menu that focuses on the food of Isan, the region that bulges in Thailand’s northeast. Yes, some very fiery food is available, but you must request the heat. Don’t miss the larbs, either.

If you want to try the food of southern Thailand’s Malay Peninsula, check out the East Village’s MayRee. On a darkened block, the premises is similarly subdued in its lighting scheme, and jars of spirits infused with Thai flavorings line up on a bar at the rear. Roti nam keang, a pair of flaky flatbreads served with a bowl of peanutty chicken curry, is similar to the roti canai found in area’s Malaysian restaurants. 

Thai Café was the first restaurant of its type to open in north Brooklyn, and now there are at least a dozen, of which Amarin seems to be the best. Don’t expect a wide range of regional dishes, but a solid list of old favorites that includes a full roster of curries and stir-fries, plus a pleasingly diverse list of appetizers. Among them is a wonderful quartet of fish cakes red with chili paste.

Who would’ve thought a Korean fried chicken chain would spawn such a good Thai restaurant? But Bonchon Chicken has done just that. Noree Thai Bazaar, owned by Andy C. Lau, seeks to resemble a night market, with drinks and snacks an important part of the formula. There’s an enhanced emphasis on satays, with choices running to shrimp, chicken, pork, and a host of vegetables, whether marinated in lemongrass, dunked in peanut sauce, or rubbed with cumin. Lots of curries, salads, and noodles, too.

This is one of a small crop of restaurants specializing in khao man gai, the Thai spin on Hainanese chicken rice. Eat Gai was originally founded in the East Village in 2018, and still under chef Mukda Sakulclanuwat, it moved to a new space in Essex Market and added Thai fried chicken to its menu, along with other dishes on a daily basis. Consult the overhead chalkboard before you order.

Like the name says, this Williamsburg Thai restaurant specializes in noodles, the last of the great Plant Love House empire remaining. It offers Isaan, southern Thai, and occasional Chinese Thai dishes from Bangkok, as conceived by owners Benjaporn Chua, Preawpun Sutipayakul, and Jirawat Sutipayakul. Everyday dishes run to duck, blood boat noodles, and spicy chicken wings with a sweet dipping sauce.

Located right on hopping Vanderbilt Avenue, where a dining area in the middle of the street often banishes cars, Nuaa Table offers the familiar cuisine with lots of colorful bistro flourishes, along with inventive dishes and a section of street food, including lots of noodles. A Bangkok stir fry of pork chunklets and basil comes topped with a runny deep-fried egg, while a banana blossom salad packs a good deal of heat and sourness, served with greens and herbs for wrapping bites.

There’s nothing ugly about this baby from chef Sirichai Sreparplarn, who has raised the bar further where Brooklyn’s Thai food is concerned. The menu is frequently revamped and now reservations are available on Tock. It’s one of the best Thai spots in town, with epic heat available in some dishes, like the laab ped udon, a duck salad so fiery it will have you reaching for your mango-flavored beer.

This hidden gem is the best Thai restaurant Park Slope has yet fielded, though the neighborhood has long had many agreeable places with uninspiring menus. Bangkok Degree is presided over by Chusak Srithongsul and Wirot Sirimatrasit: The first ran a restaurant in Thailand showcasing grandmother recipes, while the second is a veteran of the Elmhurst Thai scene. The result is a menu with street food from Bangkok, regional recipes from around the country, and invented dishes.