Malai Kitchen Surprises with Decent Thai Food

Pad Woon Sen- Stir fried glass noodles with chicken

I haven’t been back to Malai Kitchen since it opened years ago in West Village. My first impression then was not a great one. I thought it was overpriced, faux-vietnamese cuisine and at $12 for a bowl for pho…totally whack.

This time, I skipped anything wanna-be Vietnamese and went for the Thai food. The glass stir fried noodles with chicken or Pad Woon Sen was delicious. It wasn’t too sweet or too tangy. You can also sub out for shrimp at no extra cost. I definitely like it enough to come back again. Soon.

Drunken Noodles with Shrimp

My friend got the drunken noodles with shrimp which I also really liked. A bit on the salty side, but it didn’t bother me too much. I hear their brunch is something to check out. Since West Village is saturated with so much Tex-Mex, Malai was a nice reprieve.