Arunee Thai

6/21/2017

• 1 check-in

Arunee's Pad See Ew is the best I ever had!!! Special thanks to Sensei Ben L. for bringing me here!

I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of Thai food. I do like the flavors but the cuisine itself isn't my go-to. My party and I shared dinner here one evening.

We got Yum Sam Krob, a salad with crispy pork and fish maw. This was a really refreshing appetizer to start with! We also got the Fish in the Garden, a fried fish with lime dressing, strings of green mango, lemongrass, and cashews. Little fish filet are cut up and fried until crispy. The flavors of the garnish went very well with it. I did wish that the fish filet was a bit more crispier because it was a bit moist by the time we got it. Pad See Ew with Pork, this was my highlight and favorite dish of the night! The flat noodles are perfectly stir-fried and a nice mixture of the dark and light soy sauce flavors. Loved it!

I'm a fan!

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  Fried Fish

  Fried Fish
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  Time to eat!

  Time to eat!
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  Let's eat!

  Let's eat!
• See all photos from Cynthia D. for Arunee Thai

6/16/2017

• 1 check-in

I am not going to waste my energy to write a review to explain how bad my experience was at Arunee.

My friend's daughter was craving some Thai barbecue pork skewers (Moo Ping), plus it's been a while for us since we had Thai food last. We ordered some appetizers such as Papaya Salad, Frog Legs with Garlic and Black Pepper, Issan Sausages, Moo Ping, Mussel Pancake, and 3 entrées; Seafood Sour Soup, Basil Sauce Fried Rice and Stir Fried Chinese Broccoli with Salted Fish.

One thing I noticed and would encourage you to stop cuz it is very bad for a restaurant business. Entrées which are already on a pricey side (~$13), don't come with a bowl of steamed rice. You have to pay $1.50 extra for that. Secondly, you cannot order your stir fried spicy cuz the kitchen won't make it spicy for you. Hmm. So long my Thai food.

Issan Sausages were bland and not sour enough. Mussel Pancake was a little oily. On the other hand, the Papaya Salad and Frog Legs were good and were the highlight of this meal. The entrées came out as we're still working on our appetizers. And they were trying to shove everything on our table.

I was very upset with my order of Stir Fried Chinese Broccoli with Salted Fish. The stir fried was very soupy. I had to drain all of the sauce out. THERE WERE ONLY A FEW PIECES OF SALTED FISH IN THERE. THE AMOUNT WAS LIKE A TEASPOONFUL OF IT COMPARED TO HALF A POUND OF GREENS. I complained to our waitress, who ignored us for the whole course anyway, about the amount of salted fish. She said, "Look, there were some chunk of it in there" -- I musta been blind. She also said she would inform the kitchen who apparently didn't give two sh*ts about it. Well, $13 down the drain!

Thanks for ruining my dinner. I'd feel so embarrassed to recommend anyone to your restaurant. Where's your integrity? I'm sure you open a restaurant just to save up some money and go back to Thailand. It shows! This is sad. I'm sorry.

6/16/2017

• 1 check-in

Always enjoy the food here. The restaurant originally was at the end of 79th st corner of Roosevelt. I knew the owner's daughter as we are all neighbors and went to the same schools.

Now they are updated, more modern with full bar and own/managed by my friend and her husband. I like to support local businesses.

Food is yummy. Great taste and presentation. Service is quick and friendly. Food always hot. Never disappoint me and no compliments. Prices a bit higher than expected but same as other thai restaurants in  midtown or even brooklyn.

I always get: chicken panang curry and chive dumplings. Yum. Will be back again.

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  Lunch special comes with side salad. I also ordered chive dumplings (some places call it chive pancakes).

  Lunch special comes with side salad. I also ordered chive dumplings (some places call it chive pancakes).
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  Chicken panang curry

  Chicken panang curry
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  Side salad

  Side salad
• See all photos from Sherry W. for Arunee Thai

1/30/2017

• 2 check-ins

Spacious and modern-looking Thai restaurant with your reliable staples and then some. Saturday evening was a little busy but got a table in a few minutes.

Noticed they had some interesting cocktail choices. Had to get the Dirty Thai Tea ($9) - your regular Thai iced tea spiked with vodka and Bailey's. Actually a very good combination, though they put more Bailey's than anything else. For my meal, ordered the Udon Noodle Soup ($10) - a large bowl of udon noodles with chicken, beef and shrimp. Extremely bland with no taste in any of the ingredients; highly disappointed in the dish. Asked for some hot sauce to get some sort of kick - added a few spoons of chili paste, didn't settle well. On the other hand, I had a taste of one of the curry dishes which had a lot more flavor.

Service here is okay (had to flag down waitress to get hot sauce and for the check though food came out fast). Might try again for a curry dish.

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  Udon (bland)

  Udon (bland)
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  Cocktail menu

  Cocktail menu
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  Cake fee

  Cake fee

7/28/2017 Updated review

• 1 check-in

Came back a year later and they still have it. Best tofu salad with lime flavor that is complemented by coconut shreds and cashews. Also loved how the Pad See Ew has a slightly charred flavor. Coconut rice is very sweet. Thai Iced Tea is perfect on a hot day. Definitely my favorite Thai restaurant in the city!

10/23/2016

• 1 check-in

So the price here for their lunch menu is very inexpensive, the place is big, clean and looks really modern. The staff and waiters were friendly.

PANANG CHICKEN lunch box is what I ordered. It comes with miso soup, salad, fried tofu, rice and a piece of pineapple. Everything came in small portions. Miso soup was really good. Vegetable was fresh and broth was really good as well. The panang was very spicy but was missing taste.
PAD THAI SHRIMP lunch box. Only had 2 shrimps and the Pad Thai was very bland. I was disappointed.

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  Pad Thai shrimp

  Pad Thai shrimp
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  Panang chicken curry.

  Panang chicken curry.
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  Miso soup.

  Miso soup.

5/31/2017 Updated review

• 2 check-ins

Cute space, high food quality, broad ranging menu and hip local vibe.  Great value for money and will be a local haunt of ours now that we've moved from
Manhattan to JH.  Hope to see you here.

7/13/2016

• 3 check-ins

• Listed in Reviews: 2016!, In Purgatory, Fall from Grace

Arunee, you broke my heart a little bit today.

I've been going to Arunee since it was in the old shack on 79th and Roosevelt. Seriously, I practically grew up there. The food was always perfect: tasted great, presented well, and consistent.

After the move, I came here a couple times and had the basics (you know, pad se ew, pad thai). Not bad. The last time I visited, I ordered a lot: hoi jor (crabmeat dumplings- an old time favorite), som tum, kee mao, yum woon sen. I was hungry. And yes, I ordered in Thai.

Everything but the hoi jor and kee mao had some sort of issue with it. The som tum was completely imbalanced in flavors (too much salt, not enough sour, no sweetness at all), the yum woon sen tasted like someone spilled fish sauce in it and decided to let it get served. I was so disappointed... almost unforgivably disappointed.

One day, I'll come back.

6/3/2017

• 2 check-ins

This is my go to local Thai place. It's solid and always delivers a good meal. It's more on the traditional and American-iced side, but that is easily off-set by the cool decor, friendly service and staff, and vibe-y music.  My go to dishes are the steamed dumplings, chicken satay, papaya salad, chicken larb (order spicy at your own risk), and several of the traditional dishes.

6/22/2016

• 1 check-in

• Listed in Asian in Queens

As a person who generally avoids Thai cuisine, I have to give my friend props for showing me what authentic Thai food really is. None of that disgusting overly sweet Americanized pad thai and curries. My friend, Ben L., who has a Hainanese ancestry but a Thai background, did all the ordering. Thank you for showing me the food of your people. It was delicious!!!!

The tasty food I had that night:
Guay Tieow Nuea, Namtok - Thai Beef Noodle soup with cow blood. Get this dish with cow blood for an extra dollar for an even heartier soup. This was my favorite thing I had that night. The cow blood made the soup so incredibly rich and warming. It was chock full of tender pieces of beef and tendon. I like they use broad flat rice noodles. Dare I say it...I think I like this Thai version of beef noodle soup better than Taiwanese beef noodle soup. And this huge bowl was only $10.

Fish in the Garden (Fried whole red snapper topped w/ green mango, lemongrass, lime leaf, cashew nuts, scallions, and onions mixed w/ a lime and chili dressing) - I loved the tart mango slaw on top and cashews throughout. The whole dish was really flavorful from the lemongrass, lime leaf, and dressing. The fried fish really needed the dressing. I like how they fried even the bones so you can eat those too. Don't forget the large, tasty eyeballs.

Yum Sam Krob (Crispy pork and fish maw salad mixed w/ celery, cashew nuts, lime juice, and Thai herbs) - The fried pork belly and fish maw should be eaten together with the greens and nuts. Tasty salad with a lot of textures and tangy from the dressing.

Moo Ping (Pork skewers marinated in Thai herbs served w/ Jeaw sauce) - The pork skewers were the only thing I didn't love. They were tender, but kind of unmemorable. The meat definitely needed the spicy chili sauce that came with it.

This was also my first time having Thai iced tea and Thai iced coffee. We ordered it less sweet but it was still incredibly sweet to me. Apparently those drinks are supposed to be sweet like that. I don't really like coffee, but the Thai iced coffee was so refreshing. The slight bitterness cut some of the sweetness.

Can't wait for round 2 of that beef noodle soup with cow blood! Thanks again to my friend for showing me what real Thai food is. Number of Thai restaurants I would willingly go to has now increased from 0 to 1!

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  Moo Ping - Pork Skewers

  Moo Ping - Pork Skewers
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  Yum Sam Krob - Crispy pork and fish maw salad

  Yum Sam Krob - Crispy pork and fish maw salad
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  Thai Iced Tea and Thai Iced Coffee

  Thai Iced Tea and Thai Iced Coffee
• See all photos from Jocelyn K. for Arunee Thai

1/6/2017

• 1 check-in

This place has great food with generous portions! I'm only giving it 4 stars, because every time you order take out, the food doesn't taste the same as it does in the restaurant. It tastes very bland when its being ordered and its less food. I've ordered 3 times and sadly its not the same.

But, at the restaurant, it's much! The guay kee mao is really good, thai iced tea, and chive dumplings are really good!

1/25/2017

I would rate Arunee three and a half stars.

I shared shrimp pad thai, angel hair noodles with chicken, fried squid, and chive dumplings. My favorite dish was the shrimp pad thai. It was on the sweet side, but it was still delicious. The chive dumplings were an interesting dish too.

2/6/2017

• 1 check-in

Even though their music selection is not the greatest i love the food there, it is a little spocy so watch out for that. But the ambiance and the thai coffe just keepes me making want to come back.

6/18/2017

• Ordered Online with Yelp

I ordered s delivery on a rainy day, the driver was nice and delivered on time. Basil fried rice was good, but fried calamari wasn't that good though.

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  Basil fried rice and fried calamari.

  Basil fried rice and fried calamari.

12/7/2016

I came to Arunee Thai with a group of 7, and we were seated immediately (on a Saturday evening without a reservation). The lightening is dim, and I loved the wall decor (took some nice pictures too!). I was seated near the door area but I didn't smell anything funky (referring to the previous comments made).

The Thai iced tea is a must here for $3.00 in a mason cup and fresh cold taste.

I ordered from the noodles section which was around 14 dollars, and the meal was enormous! To be specific, I ordered drunken noodles called Guay Tieow Kee Maow *spicy with shrimp (additional 3 dollars if you get shrimp or beef).

It was hard to finish but with tomatoes sliced and large jumbo shrimp with flat noodles, I accomplished the impossible!

I will def go back again with friends! Plus, our tall, male waiter was a gentleman! Loved their service as well as willing to kindly charge my friend's iPhone.

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  From the left you see my order (specified in my post) with shrimp, basil soup and beef fried rice. Also orders of Thai iced tea.

  From the left you see my order (specified in my post) with shrimp, basil soup and beef fried rice. Also orders of Thai iced tea.

7/25/2017

Pretty standard on the outside but once you walk in, the ambiance is nice, waiters are welcoming, service is fast and the food is amazing. I've been there three times already and everything I have ordered I can safely recommend. Pad Thai, salmon curry and pineapple rice are my 3 favorite. Definitely coming back!

5/28/2017

• Ordered Online with Yelp

I just ordered take it .. It came so fast!!! So I ordered the Kha Moo with two servings of rice .. It's a Hugh order and it OMG amazing!!!! Enough to bring for lunch tomorrow. Also Guay Tieow Kee Mao and Pad Woonsen for friends .. We are Happy Happy Campers!!!

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  Took a bite before I remembered to take a pic lol

  Took a bite before I remembered to take a pic lol

11/8/2016

• 1 check-in

Stop by a random place and decided to go in to eat. Nice ambiance and clean restaurant

I think the food here is pretty authentic. Very nice spice and freshness I got from the noodles and fish
The mango salad isn't super acidic like most of the ones I've had and it was actually enjoyable lol
The fried fish was very tastey

4/22/2017

• Ordered Online with Yelp

I absolutely love their pad thai and its a great place for dinner dates and get togethers.

Staff is really friendly, attentive, and the food is always reasonably priced, and delicious, making you want more.

It's my favorite thai restaurant and would highly recommend it to anyone.

5/8/2016

Arunee Thai is the kind of restaurant you take your visiting friends, family members, dates, etc. to when you want them to get the more gentrifying impression of Jackson Heights. In a neighborhood that is heavily populated with lots of down-to-earth, hole-in-the-wall, amazing cheap eats, I know this because this was one of the first places my friends here took me to when I was curious about what it would be like to live in JH about two years ago. So it was my surprise when they texted me "we're sitting by the bar," when I got off the train.

From what I've read and been told, Arunee Thai is one of the few local small businesses that relocated, expanded, and renovated to incorporate a gorgeous and expansive interior, and of course, mason jars for cups.

Lots of reviewers here comment about the space of Arunee Thai and it for sure has one of the most impressive, beautiful, non-cramped vibes in the area and decent music. The staff are nice and I've never had any issues or bad vibes save for a rare instance of feeling rushed (but during the dinner rush).

During the weekends, it can draw quite a crowd - even a line at times, especially when they reopened - with families enjoying what is essentially "adequate," yet unmemorable Thai food. I have been here for lunch and dinner several times and I hesitate to be critical because I keep returning (see first sentence) and I live near here among the newer gentrifiers myself. The food I've had and my guests have had isn't something we'd write home about, but that's okay, I don't get the sense that that's what their spending most of their energy on.