A Tale of Two Thai Joints
After my trip to Thai X-ing a while back, I was eager to try Little Serow, Johnny Monis’ upscale version of family style thai dining in the basement of Komi. Coincidentally, just a few weeks later my friend Sarah was kind enough to invite me to join her at Little Serow to thank me for making the menus for her wedding. I was excited to find out how the two matched up and to try out Komi’s little sister.
While the two Thai joints do share several core concepts (family style dining, always changing multi-course pre-fixe menus) their similarities pretty much end there. Little Serow doesn’t take reservations, so we put our name in and had a glass of wine on Emilie’s rooftop until they called about three hours later to let us know our table was ready. We decided to sit at the bar, which was great because the bartenders were both super friendly and able to tell us all about our dishes. There’s a bit more light at the bar, but my photos are not superb because they don’t allow you to use flash.
So here is the verdict: It took me until the fourth course to taste a dish that was beyond so-so, but from there everything was very good to excellent. Then there was the pork ribs, which were in a category of their own: out of this world. They are served last and before they arrive you’re thinking to yourself, there is no way I can eat anymore. Then she sits them down in front of you and you realize that you most definitely can. You find yourself chewing every last bit of tender meat that hasn’t already fallen off of the bone and then biting off the end to get the marrow. Okay only I did that, but I see no shame in the gesture. They also paired it with a phenomenal oak smoked doppelbock, which apparently I can buy at Whole Foods.
Overall, the food at Thai X-ing is more authentic, much more abundant and on the whole better tasting. The style of service was much more pleasant at Little Serow, in that they let you get at least part way through your course before throwing down the next one. At Thai X-ing it’s almost overwhelming how quickly they are bringing heaping plates your way. I certainly enjoyed my meal at both. If you are a foodie and have been eager to try Little Serow, I think you should, it’s definitely worth it. However I can’t say that I left feeling the same way as I did about Thai X-ing: with three groups of friends in mind that I want to bring back to try it with me.
