For Thai cuisine in New York, it feels like there are two eras: Before Fish Cheeks and After Fish Cheeks. Before, menus at Thai restaurants were pretty interchangeable: Pad Thai, Massaman curry, satay and the like. Fish Cheeks, founded in 2016, blew that template up, with its emphasis on traditional seafood dishes, inventive cocktails, and conspicuous lack of standard Thai-merican dishes. It created a sensation when it opened in NoHo in 2016, and the lines out the door are still a nightly fixture almost a decade later.
It seems a little overdue for Fish Cheeks to finally be opening its second location, in Williamsburg, as of May 13. But better late than never, right? All the old favorites — the coconut crab curry, the Zaab wings, and the whole fried fish, to name a few — are making the migration, but there are a few new exclusive eats and drinks that will make an A-B comparison between the original and the sequel worth traveling for.
The old favorites from the original Fish Cheeks have been thoroughly fawned over elsewhere, so I won’t focus on them here (although, seriously, if you haven’t tried the coconut crab curry, put it on the to-do list immediately). The new eats and drinks I tried are worth the trek even if you live around the corner from the NoHo location. The difference between the two menus can, I think, be summed up in one cocktail. The Spicy Mango in NoHo is made with tequila, mango juice, lime, and a chili tincture; the sweetness of the juice balances out the heat of the tincture. It’s a terrific drink. But the Spicy Mango 2.0, dreamed up by beverage director Nannawat Bunphet and available in Williamsburg, uses mezcal as the base spirit. It employs, from what I can tell, less juice. It’s spicier and smokier and more bracing. Is it better than the original? I don’t know. But it seems more… exciting?
The other new cocktail I tried, the Plara-tini, is said to be a Thai-influenced take on a dirty martini. And yeah, I can see that, but I generally hate dirty martinis and yet I loved this drink, featuring anchovy brine (!) and papaya salad dressing (!!). It’s savory and salty but, despite the description, not too briny, and super-duper flavorful where many dirty ‘tinis are one-dimensional. I can’t vouch for the Something Banana, with dill, pineapple, tomato, and a ginger-banana foam, since I didn’t try it, but it certainly sounds interesting.
A pair of dishes are making their debut on the Williamsburg food menu. The one that stood out to me is marinated raw blue crab cured in lime juice, fish sauce, Thai chili, and shallot. It’s bright and spicy and citrusy and fresh and altogether wonderful… and very raw. Fish Cheeks patrons hardly seem like the squeamish type, but I was curious about whether executive chef Dustin Everett foresaw any negative reactions to a dish that’s outside the typical sensibilities of an American diner — even when that American is a New Yorker. “I don’t see the crab dish as pushing boundaries,” he replied. “It’s about honoring the authenticity of Thai cuisine and the cultural context behind the flavors…. It’s less about being provocative and more about inviting guests to expand their palates and experience the richness of Thai food.” Having tried said crabs, I can vouch that the tenderness of the meat and the complexity of the flavors was worth the until-very-recently-alive qualities of the crabs.
The other newbie is Tom Yum Noodles, a comfort-foody dish that’s firmly in the tradition of eating noodles to symbolize long life around Songkran, or New Year. “In Thailand, this dish is often made with instant ramen,” Everett told me. “It’s a late-night staple for students and has this nostalgic, comforting feel.” Fish Cheeks upgraded to ramen made by Sun Noodle, which Everett describes as “the gold standard here in New York — they bring the texture, freshness, and consistency that elevate the dish while keeping it true to its roots.” The spicy-sour soup, which aside from the thin noodles is studded with pork, egg yolk, mussels and other seafood, is stupendous — I wouldn’t quite pick it over the coconut crab curry, but I certainly wouldn’t mind inhaling the two together, carb overload aside.
Between the old classics and the new classics-to-be, plus the snazzy look of the place, the new Fish Cheeks gives Brooklynites a reason to celebrate — and eat out. And for Manhattanites… well, it gives us another reason to get on the L Train. (661 Driggs Ave., Williamsburg)