This place gets better reviews than I would thought just looking at it
Seems to hold its own with other Thai places in Murray Hill pretty well
Esan Thai
- Nearest Transit Station:
-
33 St. (4, 6, 6X)Grand Central - 42 St. (7, 7X)Grand Central - 42 St. (4, 5, 6, 6X)
- Hours:
- Mon-Sun 12 pm - 11 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
- $$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
44 reviews for Esan Thai
Review Highlights What's this?
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"The Drunken Noodles are always delicious as are the curries." In 8 reviews -
"...Drinken Noodles were fantastic, and the Basil Veggie Duck was rockin." In 4 reviews -
"The basil fried rice with veggie duck is simply amazing." In 3 reviews
Rating Distribution | Trend
44 reviews in English
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Review from Yolanda L.
KNICKERBOCKER, NYI eat at or order from Esan Thai at least once a week. I work in midtown so I've had lots of Thai food (all over Hells Kitchen) and I must say Esan is probably one of the best (if not the best) Thai I've had in the area. The restaurant usually does not have a wait so it's my go to dinner spot most Friday and Saturday nights. I really dig the multicolor haphazardly striped walls but some of you may my agree.
My usual dining partner is vegetarian so we always get the vegetarian protein, which is is delicious, especially the veggie duck.
The Drunken Noodles are always delicious as are the curries. Try the veggie duck, you'll never know that it's not real meat :)
I recently had the mango sticky rice. Definitely hits the spot. -
Review from Feyi B.
Greenbelt, MDFood was mmmmmm..... *licks lips*. I had the basil fried rice. Try the lychee drink, it was amazing. It was empty when I came here, but I was okay with that. Me n my boo got a cute lil table by the window, so no complaints! -
Review from Lenny K.
Sunday night we tried going to Ruay Thai but the place was way too crowded. So we headed a few doors down to this Thai place on the same block. Relatively empty but we were in the mood for Thai food. We took the chance here and were very glad we did. I'm probably being a little generous with the 4 stars but it's definitely better than 3. I'm rounding because not only did the manager/owner give us a very pleasant greeting on the way in but also shook our hands on the way out.
The food was good and inexpensive. For starters we had a couple of Thai Salads and a bowl of chicken and wonton soup. The broth was too hot but my wife said the wontons were among the best she has had. The Thai Salad was pretty large and could have been shared. The accompanying peanut sauce mmm mmm good.
My wife and I both had shrimp pad thais for our main course and my daughter had the yellow curry chicken which they gladly substituted out potatoes and substituted in broccoli as per her request. Kudos for that as some places won't make that change.
The pad thai portions were a little smaller than other places but not ridiculously so. No complaints here. They both came out pretty mild but I added some chili powder and it was fine. The shrimp were cooked to perfection. I also had a Thai Iced Coffee; sweet but not overly so--letting me enjoy that coffee taste.
The menu had a lot of pictures. I like pictorial menus when I am not really familiar with the food. Next time, I will try to be a little more adventurous.
The place looks very plain but it is clean. There is a full bar too. I didn't have anything alcoholic but the prices seemed cheap. -
Review from Saheli K.
Manhattan, NYI am all about Esan thai because of the mango sticky rice. I've had mango sticky rice at several places, but this one is the best. It is sticky rice, with a sweet coconut sauce, served with tangy mangos that make this dish a treat for your tastebuds
Besides this amazing dessert, the veggie dumplings, the veggie spring rolls, and the drunken noodles are also great. If you have some extra room in your belly after all of this, you can even order the donuts (not as good as the mango sticky rice, but still pretty amazing!) -
Review from Erica C.
Fresh Meadows, NY(And this is where my other part of my veneer fell off. Thank goodness. Refer to my Mizumi post)
So after arriving 7 hours early to work (another thing that can only happen to me), my mother decided to come here with me. She ordered here many times and approved of their food.
Reading off the lunch special, I ordered the basil rice with beef and the green papaya salad. I did enjoy the green papaya salad but I think my rice was supposed to be spicy. It wasn't. I didn't say anything until later. My mother had my spicy rice all along. She ordered the thai rice with shrimp. I should have known.
For the appetizer, my mother ordered the summer roll. I'm pretty sure the summer roll isn't supposed to be fried. They gave her two pieces and we just dealt with it.
I have to say though, that waitress was really kind. She wasn't the one who took our order. Every now and then, she would make sure to come by to check if everything was okay. I would come back to give this restaurant another try. -
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Review from Wen C.
SoHo, Manhattan, NYAll the food was tasty but the portions were quite small for the lunch specials. However, it only cost 6 bucks (with http://Delivery.com discount), so I wasn't too disappointed. The salad was accompanied by a sweet peanut sauce that was quite good. I ordered the Red Curry lunch special with a side of jasmine rice and salad. The curry was flavorful with that lovely coconut milk aroma. It was also quite spicy, for someone who doesn't usually handle spicy very well...
Can't say too much for the ambiance of the restaurant, but when I picked up my order around 2pm there wasn't a single customer in there.-
Red Curry lunch special to go, with salad side and rice.
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Review from Bob B.
Maricopa, AZMy wife and I had dinner here on April 29, 2013. We decided to return due to our past experiences.
For starters we ordered Curry Puff @ $6 and shrimp in blanket @ $6. Very good choices! For our
main dinner, Shrimp Pad Thai @ $12.95 and Cashew Nuts Chicken @ $10.95 with brown rice. Everything was very good and served hot temperature wise. We shall return on our next visit.
They also did a great delivery on April 24, the date of our arrival in NYC. It was late and we didn't feel like going out, so we ordered in! Everything arrived hot and good!-
Shrimp Pad Thai
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/29/2012
On September 21,2012, our family of four dined here. We ordered Shrimp in Basket, Summer Rolls,… Read more »
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Review from Chante R.
After allowing my hungry tummy to find a lunch spot, I ended up here...what a great choice! If you are seeking spicy Thai cuisine, this is the place! I had the $20 pre fixe....started out with the tofu soup and the chicken satay followed by the sauteed ginger chicken with jasmine rice.
Yummm....will be back again to try more of their dishes and their exotic cocktails...spicy Thai Margarita!!!-
Cool Cocktails!
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Review from Jill I.
New York, NYAllow me to tell you the history of this unfortunate location where Khao Sarn II currently take hold, I call this spot the "637 Second Ave. Curse."
Err, so I've lived in Murray Hill, close to this spot, for the last 10 good years and this exact place has changed many times into many different restaurants. Ready?
When I first came to reside the area 1. it wasn't a restaurant. Then later it became 2. a Texas Smokehouse BBQ. I had gone there a few times, was very good food, but always fairly empty. So it was kind of expected that this place closed down and turned into 3. Caspian Persian Grill which I never gone to eat but looked like a respectable place. To my surprise however, it suddenly went out of business without holding more than a year and became 4. Chada, a thai restaurant. Lo and behold this place lasted about a year as well and now it's under 5. Khao Sarn II.
Now, I've been to Chada and actually remember its history clearly. It opened in the fall of 2008 and closed around on christmas 2009, very short-lived. Although Chada had decent thai food, I preferred Talent which is around the corner.
Anyway, I haven't yet gone into Khao Sarn II to sit and eat, but I do sometimes stop in to get a thai ice tea to-go. Their thai ice tea is average price and good. But I just can't help and think about how long this place will last. For now it seems to be doing well I suppose but when I pass by here at dinner hours it looks kind of empty sometimes.
I'm telling you man, this location is just strange. Don't know why, the neighbors are doing just fine. Gemini Diner next door has been there and kept its place for as long as I can remember. Maybe it's just not tempting enough, I mean with Pio Pio and many places tasty and popular in Murray Hill it's probably tough competition.
Well it's your call if you want to visit this place or not. But I probably wouldn't recommend. Really, how different can it be from Chada that was only open for 1 yr? Also there's so many thai restaurants just in this area alone, Jaiya is even couple of blocks down. I give this place 3 stars for their "A-OK" thai ice tea. But if there was a star for "be wary" that's what I'd put.
All in all, I suggest to just bring a camera and take a picture of this place while it lasts and create a history book/memorabilia of this location, and do a research paper on what is the underlying reason of the "637 Second Ave. Curse?" -
Review from Julianne B.
Santa Monica, CAI would really like to like this place. And I am willing to give it another shot. Especially since i hear the Williamsburg location is great.
But...last night we ordered drunken noodle with beef and a chicken curry. We received veggie chicken vs. regular chicken which was quite a disappointment. I enjoy vegetarian food but cannot understand why anyone would eat fake meat and I certainly did not want it for dinner. The drunken noodle was meh. The beef was kind of chewy.
All together, it was a major disappointment. I just moved into the neighborhood and am quite confused over where to eat. This option didn't work out so well for me. -
Review from Michelle H.
New York, NYReview for lunch only. $5.95 for two courses! So hard to find that cheap of a lunch that is also of good quality. Also this special is offered 7 days a week! Score!
You can choose an appetizer, soup, or salad as your first course. Second can be a curry, sauteed dish, noodles, or fried rice. Portions are decent.
We tried the papaya salad, the massaman curry and the drunken noodles. The salad was nice and fresh. The curry was the perfect amount of sweetness and the chicken was the perfect texture. The drunken noodles were extremely flavorful and spicccee. Just the way I like it.
Service was great! They were constantly refilling our waters and checking up on us.
Looking at their normal menu, prices seem to be pretty comparable to other Thai places in the area.
But check it out for lunch fo sure! -
Review from Alexandra C.
New York, NYGood, decent, filling Thai. Dishes could have had more flavor.
Papaya salad was okay, nothing like at my fave place on 9th avenue.
Sauteed chicken- they certainly do not skip on the meat.
I give it 3 stars because of the incredible value- a filling meal of 2 courses for just under 6 bucks. Nice atmosphere, friendly service.
For that price, would return!
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