Recent Jackson Heights meals #3

[ferdia]

There's been some talk on this board about Ayada in comparison to Zaab, Sri, and Chao Thai. I like all of these places but my all time favorite papaya salad is at Ayada. It is a big mound of shredded green papaya studded with chili peppers, plenty of crushed dried shrimp, grape tomato halves, and string beans. No other place is so generous with the proportions and dried shrimp. The dried shrimp along with the fish sauce give it that special savory taste that I can't get enough of. This dish is the compelling reason why I end up at Ayada more often than at the other Thai places in the neighborhood.

Another excellent salad they serve is salted crab and mango salad. The salted crabs in this salad are IMMACULATE! I have never had a salted crab salad with the crab so clean. I was hard pressed to find even a speck of brown on these crabs. The version at Zaab is good but there is a slight bit of off taste in the crab (which are not nearly as clean) and they usually only serve it with 1/2 a crab. Ayada's version comes with a whole crab I believe, and if not then at least enough crab that me and my companion can both sample some.

Along with a salad we may order the Larb (chicken or pork) and bowls of rice and call it a meal. Their larbs are entree sized and more citrusy than at other places.

Some other favorites are:

Shrimp Paste fried rice (as good as Sri's version)
Beef tendon soup
Eggplant sauteed with Chili and Basil
Tom Yum soup (not red but very spicy - as good as Zaab's version)
Shrimp with Petai (petai is known as stink bean and may be an acquired taste)

What I wish they improve on is their noodle soups. The others outpace Ayada in this category.

[bigjeff]

i'm with you; thanks for your recent spate of posts! which noodle soups do you like at the other places? I've only had a noodle soup at chao thai that i really liked; bean thread, very light, vegetables, maybe chicken? i don't usually get noodle soups at all in thai places (I'd rather hit malaysian for that) but I'd be curious if there's some nice types of dishes.

did you like the pork larb? we had a very weird one there once, was almost like sloppy joe it was so saucy and glistening. try also their tom zap, it's good stuff.

[ferdia]

I like Chao Thai's Pork Nam Tok noodle soup. You can get it with beef or pork and light or dark (dark is cooked with some blood). At Zabb, I used to like their Tom Yum noodle soup but they have since change the brand of fishballs they use and it is not as good. I don't usually go for noodle soups at Sri but I remember it being not bad.

Yes, Ayada's Larb is bit saucier than say at Zaab, but I don't mind it, works well with some rice.

I think I've had the Tom Zap. Is it the cornish hen soup?