The Bottom Line
Once a local hole-in-the-wall, Sripraphai became a more welcoming Ikea-decorated space thanks to a 2004 renovation. The food didn't lose any of its luster (or spice), but you can now enjoy your fried watercress salad and cold beer in a sunny backyard garden.
- Exceptional Thai food. Unusual, authentic taste
- Very affordable prices, extensive menu
- Outdoor garden seating
- A "foodie" destination restaurant in Queens
- Golden Apple award from NYC Department of Health (as of 2/08)
- Often crowded. 10-20 minute wait on weekends.
- Closed Wednesdays
- Hard to know what's what in the unusual dessert case
- Not many obvious vegetarian choices
- No reservations
Description
- Sripraphai Address - 64-13 39th Avenue, Woodside, NY
- Phone - 718-899-9599
- Subway - 7 train to 61st Street - Woodside.
- Sripraphai is closed on Wednesdays.
- Come early for dinner on weekends unless you don't mind standing outside while waiting for a table.
- Dinner is very reasonably priced. Expect to pay less than $15 per person for a full dinner.
- No BYOB anymore at Sripraphai
Guide Review - Sripraphai Thai Restaurant in Woodside - Restaurant Review
So what do you order at Sripraphai? You could get lost in the maybe 100 items on the menu.
Fried watercress salad - The "Crispy Chinese Watercress Salad with shrimp, squid, and chicken" is unlike anything I've tasted elsewhere. Picture salad deep-fried. The fried catfish salad is at least as delicious.
Meat salads - BBQ beef spiked with chili, mint, and lemon juice makes your mouth come alive with heat, sweet, and sour.
Pork leg with mustard greens - I'm a sucker for filling meats. This one isn't loaded with chiles or any extreme flavor, but nice and pleasing pork. The mustard greens are toothsome and nicely sour.
Panang curry - Compared to regular Thai eateries, the curries at Sripraphai are more like soups, except for the panang. It's a thick coconut milk paste with basil and cilantro swaddling each morsel of beef. Each bite tastes of all the herbs even as a heat builds in the back of the throat. I wouldn't say curries are the reason to visit Sripraphai, but the panang is hard to resist.
Noodles - Noodles are really the house specialty. Drunken noodles are a long-time favorite. Sometimes on the specials menu, Northern-style curry with noodles on the special menu is a must. It's like a Thai pasta with meat sauce. It's not just okay, but good to order the pad thai. Sripraphai's version is wetter and more fragrant than its more tamed kin at other Thai restaurants.
But don't stop there. The menu is huge and the prices reasonable (less than $10 for most). Go forth and eat.
For dessert, you can be rewarded by some effort at Sripraphai's dessert fridge. Ask the staff for guidance, or else go for a milky custard.
