In Tokyo or San Francisco, this restaurant would be 3 stars ("A-OK"), but NYC is cursed with the worst Thai food in the world. We are the world's capital for bad Thai food. Most of our Thai food is cooked by Chinese chefs, so Thai...food here tends not to use Thai ingredients like Nam Pla, Galangal, Lemon Grass, Kaffir Lime Leaves, etc.
In terms of using real Thai ingredients and fresh food, Nine Thai is "As Good As It Gets" in NYC (except my kitchen. I make the best Thai food in NYC.)
The problem most people have with Nine Thai isn't the food. People tend to rant "Worst Thai food I have ever had" but then complain about the size of her drinks, the size of her calamari, and the portion size of her fried rice. Typical. You want good, fresh, REAL Thai food not cooked by a Chinese chef? Come here (or my kitchen).
Not to say that Nine Thai is flawless. They are slow. There were two girls -- one was really nice, the other was slightly curt. Neither knew how to wait tables well. The restaurant is slightly dirty. I could use MORE galangal, lemon grass, nam pla, and lime in my Thai food. But you know what? Making Thai food is a pain... I like the food here, and I'll keep coming back.
Chicken / Veggie Curry Puff: A-
This is homemade, not frozen. It's obvious that a human made these. Nicely fried, beautiful golden color. Nice filling-to-crust ratio. Delicious. Why not an A? I felt it wasn't curried enough. It could use more curry. Perfect for my 1.5y daughter.
Tom Yum Soup: B+
One of the better tom yum soups in NYC (hence B+). It's close to acceptable, but needs more lemon grass and nam pla. Needs more lemon and salty flavors; less sweet flavors. Slightly too spicy for my 1.5y old daughter.
Tom Kha Soup: B+
One of the better tom kha soups in NYC (hence B+). It's close to acceptable, but needs more kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and nam pla. Needs more lemon and salty flavors; less sweet flavors. My 1.5y daughter loved it.
Pad Thai: B+
Needs less ketchup (yes, there's ketchup in Pad Thai). I'd like more nam pla, shallots.and lime (It's not typical, but I prefer a wetter pad Thai).
Pad See Eew: B+
Nine Thai taught me the difference between chow-fun and pad see eew! Cool! Chow-fun (and most pad see eew cooked by Chinese chefs) is flavored more with garlic and peanut oil. Pad see eew uses the same kind of noodles, and similar ingredients, but concentrates less on garlic, has no peanut oil, and focuses more on sweet flavors. I never knew the difference between these two dishes!
Thai Fried Rice: A-
Obviously fresh. There's a LOT of chicken in this dish! Big chunks of it (almost too much?) Nice flavor. Not oily, and not overcooked, meaning it was cooked fresh (overdone fried rice indicates it's been frozen and reheated a few times.) A bit bland -- could use more basil, oyster sauce, nam pla and basil. As is, it was hard distinguishing it from freshly cooked Chinese fried rice.
Massaman Curry: A
A light-hearted brown-colored sweet curry. Not spicy in the slightest (flavor-wise, it reminds me of Japanese curry.) My 1.5y old daughter absolutely loved this curry -- she couldn't get enough!More