SUKH — Restaurant in New York

If you love Thai food in New York but miss the real-deal flavors from Thailand, this place is something special. The very first bite feels like taking a vacation back to Thailand — Food intense, vibrant, and layered with so many flavors in one mouthful. The atmosphere is warm, the service is lovely, and it’s the kind of meal you can really sit back and enjoy.

One thing that definitely stands out: the Southern Thai milk tea (from Songkhla) — smooth, rich, and aromatic. Personally, I think it’s even better than what I usually find at Thai spots around here.

As for my favorite dishes today: Khao Ka-Yum Pu totally blew me away. A perfect balance of sour, sweet, spicy, creamy, and just a hint of salt — topped with crab meat and soft-shell crab, tossed in spicy seafood sauce. It’s beautifully done.

Then there’s Khao Kai Ra-Bert — the fiery one. Packed with herbs and serious heat. If you’re not great with spice (or only handle medium), this might not be for you. But if you’re into bold, intense flavors, this dish is 🔥.

Now for something on the milder side, I really recommend the Gaeng Hung Lay Nuar. It was new to me, and honestly? The beef was so tender it just melted in my mouth. Comforting, rich, and pairs perfectly with jasmine rice.

The Pla Tod Samun Prai (crispy herb-fried fish) was another hit. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, served with a classic fish sauce dip and seafood sauce, topped with basil and fresh green peppercorns. Golden, flavorful, and unforgettable.

And finally, Kang Pu. I’ll be honest — I usually don’t like coconut milk in food. Like, really don’t. But this dish totally surprised me. I don’t even know what they did to it, but it was so good I forgot there was coconut milk at all.

As for the desserts and appetizers… I honestly can’t even begin to review them properly. Everything was so good I’m just sitting here hungrier than before. Help. Send help. Or maybe just send more...

Thai restaurants are a dime a dozen these days, each hawking a supposed “specialty” dish that is unique and a “must get”.

Off the bat I was a bit put off by the fact that the server continued to try to suggest dishes after we finished ordering, unprompted. Maybe she felt like we didn’t order enough, meanwhile we had ordered 5 entrees for 5 people. It felt awkward that she would suggest the Branzino after we said no, nothing else, and then suggested appetizers and we had to say no again.

The food arrived quite quickly - my favorite was the crab fried rice ($30) which (knock on wood) is difficult to mess up! They definitely display the crab pieces on top, with very few pieces within the rice. The pad see ew with shrimp ($22) was a bit small but tasty, again, difficult to mess up. My brother liked the Sukh Pad Thai which was again good but the portion is a crime for the price ($27).

I make a point to try the khao soi ($26) at Thai restaurants and while this one was good, there wasn’t much to it. It was a tad spicy and the curry was goodbut there was barely any noodles. The ped toon is a braised duck dish that was way way too fatty. ($30) They blanched the greens but overall the duck just was too fatty.

Overall it’s a decent place that is overhyped on social media. It’s good but expensive for the portion. The decor is cute - with a train theme but again nothing super special, a bit cramped honestly.

There’s a 5% cash discount but it was a bit awkward because they didn’t bring back any change when my dad gave them the cash. They also do auto gratuity of 20% on large parties, which restaurants don’t really disclose, maybe they thought we were tipping extra. Service was pretty mediocre generally speaking - they seemed hesitant to bring containers for leftovers.

Probably...

So like the commenter a few days back stated I also had a horrible experience with the hostess and I am a woman of color. I waited nearly 2 hours after being told a 30-45 min wait and being skipped over. I did reach out to the team via email and they were able to take care of me another night. Now I don’t want to say someone should be fired but I don’t think hostess is the position for her. Would not recommend walking in to this restaurant.

With that being said, as far as the food goes it was quite good. We ordered the papaya salad, crab 3 ways special, kapraw moo, fried branzino, and short rib curry. This was my first time having papaya salad so I cannot compare but it was quite good. Crunchy, acidic, delicious. The crab 3 ways was also quite good with the sauce provided. The sauce may have been the best part of the meal. The fried fish unfortunately lacked flavor on its own but went great with the sauce. The texture was quite good though. The short rib curry was excellent, I’ve also never had Thai curry and it’s a bit sweet compared to what I’m used to but I really enjoyed. The kaprow moo was a miss to me but I kind of knew it would be. My companion insisted on ordering it but I would not recommend the minced pork.

To drink we had the southern line, The song cocktail and a Thai iced tea. The southern line was strong but smooth if that’s what you’re looking for. Was too much for me personally. The song was citrusy and refreshing. The Thai iced tea was classic and delicious as well.

If I were to return I’d be interested in trying some of their noodle dishes but with the competitive food scene in nyc especially Thai food scene I likely won’t return back due to that first experience. The interior was nice so ONLY if you have a reservation would I recommend...