OBAO — Restaurant in New York

We were looking for a place by one of the local theaters so that a friend of mine could grab a bite with us and then head over to dinner. Obao appeared on the list of Yelp recommended locations, and I hadn't had Thai in a while. Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by the friendly staff and ordered a drink while we waited on a friend cabbing over. The cocktails were really yummy and had some creative combinations of tropical flavors. Some were sweet while others had a lightly spicy kick. My personal favorite was the Fig-A-Tini, but I also enjoyed the Flunk Flink!

The wait staff was attentive and the environment was absolutely gorgeous. The lamps downstairs had an incredible visual effect, especially coupled with the Thai statues against the back wall. The upstairs vibe was also very effective with thousands of little bells on the ceiling and the bamboo umbrella chandelier. My only negative comment was that the downstairs lamps could use a bit of a dusting. Outside of that, it was a super cool effect.

When our apps arrived, we shared to get a taste of everything. I was thrilled with my Steamed Dumplings (shrimp & pork) and the Crispy Vegetable Spring Rolls were very good -- slightly different from other places, with a soy dipping sauce instead of the typical sweet chile sauce, but good nonetheless. My friend's Tom Yum Soup was very good, but bordering on way too spicy for all three of us. Finally the papaya salad was very good and had just the right amount of kick without going overboard.

For my meal, I ordered Khao Soi (Chiang Mai Noodles), which is a northern Thai style crispy egg noodle curry, with chicken, pickled cabbage, red onion, and bean sprouts. It was absolutely delicious and I will definitely be looking for that in other restaurants moving forward. It was prepared like a coconut and yellow curry soup, had a small kick to it, and really blew my socks off. Great job Obao! I'll definitely be revisiting on my next...

Went here on a Sunday evening close to Christmas, so we did book a table for 8:15. Originally wanted to go at 7:30, so clearly a busy spot. First impressions were, as noted from a few previous reviews, tables were very close together, like I’m talking 10 inches away from each other, so do not look to have a private conversation in here, as there will be 3 tables in the area that will be able to comfortably hear everything you are saying. Other thing worth noting was, it was cold, I wondered why people were wearing hats and coats in there but after about 20 minutes I could tell why. Service was good, did take a well for my beer to come but the cocktail came very quickly. My personal opinion is, you need an appetiser to go away without feeling a little hungry, portions were decent but not enough to fill you up with just 1 main dish alone. Ribs were VERY good, I’m not a big rib kind of guy but these were superb. I ordered the drunken noodle and specified this to be hot as it comes out “medium” if not stated otherwise. It had a nice kick but was very bearable. Great dish just did wish there was a little more of it. Pad Thai that my partner ordered she said was good also. You can go here and get 2 main dishes and an app for $50, if you don’t order a drink and are happy with tap water or you can go the other way and easily spend $150-200 on a few cocktails and some of the more expensive dishes on the menu - so this really is a place for anyones budget. I’d summarise as great food for a very reasonable price in NYC but if claustrophobic, enter with caution. Pleased we went,...

When you enter this restaurant you're greeted by a very cozy looking bar and an inviting dining interior. This is all very well complimented by the superb flavors this restaurant hosts.

We started with the kimchi fries which were perfectly crispy and fluffy on the inside, complimented by the addicting sauce of which there was the perfect amount - not so much to drown them, but enough for each fry to be coated in just enough flavor to encourage a diner to enjoy another. This was followed by the braised rib, bun luc lac, and drunken noodles. The braised rib was sweet and savory and fall of the bone tender. The drunken noodles were flavorful and they definitely did not skimp on the chicken. The bun luc lac was genuinely one of the most delicious beef dishes I've had in my life. Every bite was juicy, beefy, and full of the smoky kind of flavor from an open grill.

I will also note, as someone who usually hates tomatoes, each tomato I had in each dish they came with was baseline delicious in addition to being cooked in such a way that they were simultaneously bursting with the flavors and sauces of their respective dishes.

Our wonderful food was paired with a wonderful server, Nate, who was very attentive and considered our tastes, party size, time of day, attire, and preference of family style dinner in order to recommend us the number and kind of dishes we should consume.

If I had one regret, it was that the food was smelled and looked so good we started eating before I could even consider...