Hero Thai & Izakaya — Restaurant in New York

Came here for lunch with 2 people. I arrived early and they were able to seat me. They had no issues with me waiting for my friend to show up. They even served me water while I waited. They were extremely nice about it.

We ordered the mango salad for appetizer and pad thai and crispy duck with rice for our main courses.

To me, the presentation of the mango salad was uninspiring. Felt like it was all put together as an after thought. What I did like about the dish were the mangoes. They gave a lot and they were sweet. However, the overall dish was really bland. They over drenched it with fish sauce. It was very one note. The salad needed some spice to it. I think the choice of salad didn't match with the rest of the dish. Either cut it more thinly or change the vegetable. Also, the peanuts should have been crushed up. I think if they crushed up the peanuts and spread it all over, it would have been a better dish. The dish needed citrus and a little more sourness to it and possibly white pepper. Flavors were very muddled. One good thing about the dish is that it's enough to share with 2 people.

The crispy duck with rice was alright. When I tasted the bbq sauce, I immediately though of my own cooking and using Lee Kum Kee spare rib sauce. They could have done better. The duck was cooked properly and the skin was crunchy but the dish was too sweet and flavors were not bold at all. It again needed spice. What I ended up doing was dipping my duck into the mango salad fish sauce. It made the dish much much better. Maybe they want to incorporate something into that dish.

The pad thai was okay. It was drenched in sauce and no eggs in it. The noodles were over cooked probably because of the sauce. I thought the thickness of the noodles were fine but wasn't al dente enough. They do give a good amount of portion though.

Service was good. The waitress came over and kept refilling our cups of water. It never went below half. I gave this place 3 stars because we sat at the restaurant talking for a long time and they didn't give us a dirty look or tried to rush us out of the place. However, being a fusion restaurant, it really lacked the bold flavors and it was very muddled. I would say price is good. I will have to try the neighboring thai places but I can't whole heartedly recommend this place for now.

Side note, we also saw a fried rice dish come out being served to a patron next to us and it looked mushy/soggy. I would be hesitant in...

I always opt for delivery from here when I’m in the mood for Thai food. Their delivery service is fast, and the packaging is always secure.

On July 4th, I finally had the chance to dine in with friend. The atmosphere was pleasantly relaxed, and the restaurant wasn’t too busy. I loved the unique decor, which featured old Thai film posters alongside Japanese elements.

Now, let’s talk about the food. We started with the Tako Wasabi, which had just the right amount of wasabi spice to clear our nose —delicious!

Next, we tried the Takoyaki, deep-fried chicken gizzards, and fried squid legs. All were fantastic.

My personal favorite was the mango salad with avocado, served medium spicy and perfectly sour—just what I had been craving.

For the entrée, our server recommended the Broadway steak with spicy Pad Cha sauce, which was superb. The beef was tender and paired wonderfully with the sauce.

The steamed fish with spicy lime dressing, served on a hot pan, was another highlight. The spice level was perfect, and the fish was fresh and flavorful.

We also enjoyed the pasta with spicy garlic sauce and bacon.

Mango sticky rice was delightful. The sweet sticky rice complemented the fresh mango perfectly.

They offer happy hour from 4-7 pm every day, which is a fantastic deal.

Our servers, May and PK, were exceptionally friendly, attentive, and helpful, ensuring we had a great dining experience.

I highly recommend this place if you find...

Had lunch here a few days ago. I was the only customer dining in there at the time. The waitress, a young lady, was nice when she took my order and delivered the check. Food was bland to decent. What completely ruined the experience for me was the downright despicable behavior of another staff member (a woman in a blue dress) who brought my food to the table. My food was carelessly placed on the other side of table with zero explanation of what the dish was or acknowledgement of any kind. I couldn’t get the woman, who walked away in a rush, to come back to the table as I needed some condiments. When the rude woman in the blue dress finally came over she seemed absolutely annoyed by my request and proceeded to slam the condiment container she brought against the table without uttering a word and walked away furiously, when I told her the container had no chili sauce she took another one from a table and carelessly dropped it on the table in a noisy way. I remained calm and polite throughout but left with a profound indignation and disappointment. Tactless, careless service and subpar food. They were also out of Singha, the quintessential Thai beer 🤷🏻‍♂️

Not coming back ever, going to the other Thai places...