Khao Nom - ร้านข้าวหนม — Restaurant in New York

I went to this Thai restaurant during a tough time in my life. I was seven weeks pregnant, and my doctor had just told me things weren’t progressing as they should. Hoping to distract myself and feel better, I decided to have a meal at a spot I used to like. Turns out, that was a big mistake—one I deeply regret.

When I walked in, I wanted to order something to-go for my husband before sitting down to eat. They had pre-cooked dishes displayed on the counter with price tags, so I picked one and told the girl that I was dining in, but the dish I picked was for my husband, and I wanted it packed to-go. I didn’t ask about the price since it was clearly marked next to the food. When the dish was ready, I noticed they served it on a plate instead of packing it up. I kindly reminded them it was supposed to be to-go. That’s when I saw the first eye-roll and heard some annoyed muttering as they repacked the dish.

After they finally packed it, I paid with my card and sat down to order my own food. While waiting for my meal, I happened to check the receipt and saw that they had charged me more than the price displayed on the counter. When I went back to ask about the difference, the girl said they charged me the dine-in price because they thought it was a dine-in order. Nobody mentioned a price difference before charging me, even though I’d made it clear from the start that it was to-go. Still, I didn’t want any drama—I was early in my pregnancy and just trying to stay calm. I simply said, “Oh, okay. I’m fine with the extra charge; I see you added more vegetables than what’s on display.” I thought that was the end of it.

But as I turned to go back to my table, the two staff members started yelling at me. They accused me of making the wrong order in the first place, raising their voices and throwing in some eye-rolls and smirks for good measure. I couldn’t believe it—I wasn’t even arguing with them! I’d already agreed to the price. I tried to explain, but they wouldn’t listen and kept yelling like mean girls straight out of a high school movie. I started shaking from the stress and anger.

I asked to speak to the manager, but one of the girls smugly told me she was the manager. At that point, I completely lost trust in the place. The argument dragged on for 15 exhausting minutes, during which they finally admitted they were just “defending themselves.” They offered a weak apology but kept smirking and rolling their eyes.

Eventually, another staff member came out of the kitchen to talk to me. She was more polite and apologized, saying, “They’re just young.” While I appreciated her effort, the damage was already done. I asked for the names of the two girls and the contact information for the owner, but I didn’t have much hope for any resolution after learning one of the rude girls was supposedly the manager.

A week later, I suffered a miscarriage. I will never know to what extent the emotional distress of that day contributed to the outcome, but the experience continues to haunt me. Even now, more than six months later, I find myself awake at 5 a.m., replaying the events in my mind. I didn’t contact the owner, though I’m surprised at myself for not doing so. I tried to chalk it up to young people making mistakes, but deeply in my heart I know I will never...

Everything we got was amazing!! Since it’s on the lane with so many other Thai restaurants Khao Nom still manages to stand out!! They specialize more in appetizers and rice dishes here as well as their dessert menu.

Tip: if windows are open and you’re sitting by there, don’t have your bag/ phone so close to it where someone can steal / run with it bc that happened to someone here before which the waitress was giving us this advice. Super helpful and thankful for her on the heads up!!

They also give you a wide range of home made Thai sauces which were also great but didn’t like that it was on the sweeter side of the spectrum

We got: crispy tofu skin 4.5/5: enjoyed this a lot, skin was perfectly crispy and very meaty, could’ve been a 5/5 if the sauced it paired with was more sour than sweet

corn fritters 4/5: not sure if this dish was always around but I’ve seen this at more Thai restaurants more often nowadays and if it was my first time eating it maybe i would’ve been more impressed. But fried corn fritters here were too fried and can taste the oil but the sauce makes it better. But still sweet here too

spring rolls 4.5/5: these were sooooo good, easily a 5/5 if the sauce was made better! Crispy, juicy, meaty, and flavorful!

pork belly and rice 4.5/5: soo good too, the pork belly here actually paired with the sauce very nicely!

Thai ice tea 5/5: perf milk to condense milk ratio

We were also so sad the pandan dessert was sold out!! Will def come back to try...

I’ve been ordering both dine in and delivery exactly the same dish (ka prow moo grob) for years (with instructions saved in the restaurant ordering system says NO BELL PEPPER) and there was one time they accidentally put bell pepper in my dish, the lady who took my order promptly apologised with a sincere voice and I got a replacement in a few. But today, another waitress was quite rude, I called back to let them know I got a bell pepper in my food again, she asked me, so, what do you want to do? She even awfully asked me to just take it out since they wouldn’t sub anything extra for not taking the peppers anyway. I told her I’m allergic to bell peppers, and need a new one. She said ok, with a voice like talking to her friend (we’re both Thai, so I know the way she talk is informal). Moreover, after few minutes, she called back telling me a delivery guy is on his lunch break, so I have to wait till he finish his meal (I feel bad for him though). Finally a food came and I returned the wrong one back to a delivery guy. I don’t understand how can a restaurant hire a person who has this attitude to work for them. It’s like she has never been trained about food safety at all. Asking customer so what? What you wanna do? Instead of offering a way out is definitely not professional. Things can escalate if I got so allergic and have to see a doctor. Hope the owner will train their employees to be more cautious and...