Toronto Thai, Sourdough Mexican, and More

Three for the Weekend, April 18

NYC gets a taste of Toronto Thai

One of the most intriguing Thai restaurants to hit town lately also has an interesting etiology. Located at 51 East Eighth Street just off the NYU campus, Grandpa Thai is the first American branch of a Toronto chain that represents a Hong Kong take on Thai food, with a few purely Hong Kong dishes thrown in. This lends lots of twists and turns to the usual pan-regional Thai menu we are familiar with.

What other Thai restaurant in town offers “baked Thai red curry with cheese on crispy fries” ($12.99)? As the website proclaims, “Every bite is a testament to our love for authentic Thai cuisine with a modern Cantonese food edge.” It also claims to have the best Thai hot pot in town. I didn’t think Thai hot pot barbecues — known as mookata or moo kratha — were all that common, though Boon Dee in Hillcrest comes to mind.

Pork neck at Grandpa Thai

I’m afraid the place is a tad more expensive than you might like for a fast casual, but I went for the pork neck ($18.99), which was flame grilled and hence smoky and slightly rubbery: altogether delicious. It came with a mound of white rice wearing a fried egg like a skullcap. A thimble of sauce on the side was pleasantly tart, fishy, and slightly spicy, though it contains kernels of what was once frozen corn — another of the random elements that will make you scratch your head when you visit Grandpa Thai.

Sourdough from a Latin American perspective

Latin American pastries overshadow the breads at Masa Madre, including cream-filled conchas in the lower righthand corner.

Tucked away in Sunnyside, Masa Madre, at 47-55 46th Street, is a baker of excellent sourdough loaves, in a batard shape with a shiny, egg-brushed crust. The name means “mother dough,” referring to the starter, but the place is more of an all-purpose Latin bakery, offering pastries from Mexico and various South and Central American countries — plus French pastries in the croissant family, and frosted American donuts, too.