In the Magazine

Platt Considers Lotus of Siam; Rob and Robin on Williamsburg’s New Grub Hub

Lotus of Siam.
Lotus of Siam. Photo: Danny Kim

This week in the magazine, Adam Platt visits Lotus of Siam, “the second prominent Thai-style restaurant to open in Manhattan in the last two months.” There, our critic is taken with quite a number of dishes, an “ethereally sweet and eggy” pad thai, fish cakes with “a quenelle-quality lightness,” and “short ribs … beautifully braised in star anise and cinnamon,” among them. He approves of the Reisling-heavy wine list as well, though notes that prices are indeed high, and the former Cru space is just as “feng shui-challenged” as ever. However, desserts like “tiny poached bananas crowned with coconut sorbet” prove “little windows on an exotic, even magical, world,” bumping the restaurant into three-star territory.

While Platt considers the burgeoning Manhattan Thai scene, the Robs hop the river to Williamsburg, where an unlikely pocket has become a mecca of culinary cool. The span of blocks surrounding Metropolitan Avenue and Havemeryer Street has slowly been gaining occupants with serious food cred (Saltie, the Commodore, Fette Sau), and now its status as hot spot is solidified by the reveal of Momofuku Milk Bar’s commercial kitchen and retail window. Should you crave something lighter after your crack pie, crunchy tae baek radish proves the makings of a mean kimchee. And Rob and Robin also bring news of chef Hemant Mathur’s first solo venture, Tulsi, a regional-Indian restaurant with innovative offerings like a chaat cart, and “tandoori tofu with tomatillo relish.”

Platt Considers Lotus of Siam; Rob and Robin on Williamsburg’s New Grub