Authentic Thai at NYC's Sappe
Good food — but some challenges
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To say that I love Thai food is an understatement. My affection started many years ago at spots like Sukhothai in my native Toronto (long gone, much missed), but it expanded when I visited Thailand. Truth be told, I learned that my tastebuds were milquetoasts by spicy Thai standards, but that only made me more curious about trying authentic food — especially Ping-Yang, or “street bites.” (One of my discoveries on that trip was that many apartments around Bangkok didn’t have full kitchens, because people had such long commutes to and from school that they relied on street bites.)
That longstanding affection led me to Sappe (pronounced “Sep”) recently. Located on West 14th street between a tattoo parlor and a liquor store, it’s a bustling spot that specializes in both Ping-Yang and cuisine from Thailand’s Isan region. That Saturday night, it was a scene, and the person who checked my husband and I in for our reservation told us we’d only get 90 minutes at our table. Her warning was still in my head 20 minutes later, when no server had stopped by our table or even brought water.
To be fair, the surrounding scene was chaotic. Sappe isn’t a fancy restaurant, but it felt like there were multiple celebrations happening at once. I’d looked at the menu at home before going, and that turned out to be a good thing, because Sappe uses QR codes instead of printed menus. What I hadn’t counted on was how challenging it would be to cross-reference the allergen information with the menu. It’s pretty easy to see Sappe’s menu on your phone; the allergen info, not so much. It goes on for pages and it’s really easy to lose track of which column is gluten free versus the shellfish, dairy, egg, peanuts, sesame, fish, mushroom, garlic, soy, and other columns (13 in total).
Fortunately, when our server finally appeared, she was amazing, pulling out her own phone and cross-referencing gluten-free menu options. I was ready to order the chicken skewers — traditional Ping-Yang — since they were marked as gluten-free. But our server cautioned that because the same grill was used for other things that there was a risk of cross-contamination. Instead, she guided me to safer choices, which included the Laab Ped Udon (crispy fat-fried duck with fresh veggies, served into lettuce leaves as a DIY wrap), and the Tum Thai Kai Kem (a green papaya salad with tomatoes, long beans, lime, peanuts, and creamy salted egg — don’t be fooled, it is FIERY). I had the Sonsri cocktail, a frozen confection of pureed guava, tequila, cointreau, spicy plum, and lime zest, and it was sweet counterpoint.
Overall, it was a great meal — and the restaurant let us stay at our table for a lot longer than the stated 90 minutes. But if you go, I’d suggest seriously studying the allergen chart first, and making sure your server understands that you need to avoid cross contamination.