Hap Siriprakaisak, owner of Bangkok Cuisine, a Thai restaurant located on the Upper East Side, emailed inviting me to come in to sample his family’s cuisine.
After sitting through the epic almost 4-hour A Long Day’s Journey into Night with an amazing performance by Jessica Lange, we headed uptown to relax and dine on the Thai food of Hap’s dad, Chef Tee Siriprakaisak. Bangkok Cuisine is visually pleasing, with marble throughout, crystal chandeliers, 
elegant tableware and with waitresses in gold traditional Thai costumes.
We were glad that we followed most of Hap’s ordering suggestions. Don’t miss their moist tender five-star steamed dumplings with the flavor of both chicken and shrimp accompanied by a soy-vinaigrette dipping sauce (four for $7) or the sizzling plate of skewers of marinated pork BBQ with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce (five for $12). Also good are the lettuce cups (three for $8) filled with minced curried chicken, carrots, celery and cashews to wrap and dip in their sweet piquant 
sauce.
To be able to share more with you, I asked for small portions of those menu items that could be halved. That included the — also worth trying — seafood tom yum pad Thai $18). Mixed with the shrimp, squid, scallops and mussels and sauteed house-made noodles are scrambled eggs, carrots, bell peppers and bean sprouts in a hot & sour lemongrass sauce all topped with scallions and chopped peanuts. Mighty tasty, as was the green chicken curry — a spicy coconut blend with Thai eggplants, string beans, bell peppers, bamboo shoots & basil ($13).
The boneless duck ($19) was the only miss. Although the flavor of the traditional curry (pad pong karee) sauce was good, the meat was a bit too crispy — slightly overcooked — in that chef’s signature dish combined with tempura veggies (carrots & celery).
We were so glad the waiter got our salmon order wrong. He brought us some herbed salmon ($20) topped with fruit and accompanied by warm spinach. We kept looking for the crabmeat and shrimp stuffing until we realized we had been served the wrong dish. We preferred it to the stuffed salmon with 
Panang curry ($20), even though the sauce in the latter was might tasty.
Bangkok Cuisine is worth the trip to the Upper East Side!
– bonnie
Bangkok Cuisine
Upper East Side
1586 2nd Avenue (at 82 Street)
New York, NY 10028
(212) 988-1112
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