Fish Cheeks

Fish cheeks is fantastic! Likely not news to most of this sub but I finally got around to it. This is probably my new favorite Thai. I always loved Thai but I haven’t tried too many places (grew up eating at Joya in Brooklyn and I recently really liked Ayada in Elmhurst). And I typically keep it simple with spicy noodles or pad see ew. I know this is a mostly seafood take on Thai but if you love seafood and haven’t been please please come. I went to Kalaya in Philly a few months back after hearing about online and this is so much better than Kalaya sorry to say.

I know the sub recommends the wings, the coconut curry, the whole fish (steamed and fried), the pork cheeks, and the shrimp in 3. I wanted to get everything but there’s only 2 of us and we didn’t have enough room of course. But what we had was some of the best versions of the dish.

Zabb wings – crunchy, juicy large wings. Seasoned all over. My boyfriend described as a better lemon pepper and he’s right. Citrusy, salty, peppery. 5 full wings as an app so they don’t skimp. I want all my fried chicken to taste like this.

Pork cheeks – first time having pork cheeks, best cut of pork I never knew about. I love pork, one of pork’s biggest fans but I don’t usually love the texture of pork chops. It tends to be a bit dry and tough. This was great because it was so flavorful and firm but also juicy and tender. This was probably my favorite thing I ate.

Crab fried rice – I’ve had a few iterations of this and it’s always good but the green sauce they served it with really took it over the top. Crab was sweet and the portion was large unlike some places. Loved this.

While steamed fish – how fish should be. Seasoned in and out. I find sometimes you order whole fish at places and the seasoning is only in the outside. Not here it tasted marinated and citrusy and bright. Love the flavors. Presentation was great.

Small dislikes: whole fish did not come with rice. We are spending 40 dollars on a whole fish. A small bowl of white rice should be served alongside, came off a bit cheap to me. We had the crab fried rice so it was not necessary but would have been nice to have.

Cocktails were pretty forgettable to me. Especially for 19 dollars each. Looked nice but tasted whatever. I would try the n/a lemonade or Thai iced tea/coffee instead next time.

They just opened up their Williamsburg location and I noticed they were pretty accommodating to walk ins if you’re not picky about sitting inside or out. Make your way over now!