Whether this place is better or worse than the Tuk Tuk in our neighborhood, Ill never know because I refuse to patronize Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill Thai restaurants out of principle (well, I tried 9D once because its the nearest restaurant walking distance from our apartment). I dont know what it is, Ill eat mediocre Chinese, Mexican, oh, and slew of other cuisines, but anything less than great Thai food seems like a waste of calories.
We found it impossible to believe that Singapore, Hong Kong and particularly Malaysia (since they share a border) wouldnt have better Thai food than the U.S., but the general local consensus was “dont bother.” From what I'd read, from what our waiter at a Sichuan restaurant across the street from Tuk Tuk told us, and was evidenced by the table of Chinese regulars sitting behind us who ordered “not too spicy,” Hong Kongers dont care for hot food.
So no, the food wasnt spicy, it was blander than Lemongrass Grill, our benchmark for Thai blahness. But at least we found out and had our fears confirmed. We had set lunch specials and both chose papaya salad that was completely sweet and sour, I dont think there was a single chile note in the entire dish. My green curry was adequate, as were James chile basil noodles, but once again were lacking punch. The cook and staff were Thai, which only made me wonder what kind of food they made themselves.
Tuk Tuk Thai * 30 Graham St., Hong Kong
I heard there are a lot of Thai restaurants in Kowloon City, you can try to find one with a lot of eaters in it, that should be safer, although I'm not sure if they're spicy enough for your standards. Thai restaurants are concentrated in that area becuz there are many Thai spice stores there and makes the Thai restaurants easy to get what they need.
http://www.ypmap.com/en/viewer.asp?mapService=LocationMap
If you want authentic Thai food, I guess you'd need to visit Thailand sometime.
Posted by: Chris | December 11, 2008 at 12:23 AM
Chris: Having my trip to Thailand ruined a few weeks ago, I was looking for Thai food in HK and Singapore (where I ended up instead) and yep, Kowloon City seemed the place to go in HK. It was on my list, but I never had time to go exploring. Plus, I felt like I should concentrate on Chinese food.
Posted by: Krista | December 12, 2008 at 11:25 PM
Yup, always explore its local foods first, unless you have a craving for other cuisins.
Posted by: Chris | December 15, 2008 at 08:35 AM