Kaew Jao Jorm 9.5/10
Written across the banner on Kaew Jao Jorm’s website is “You Deserve The Best Curry.” And as someone who appreciates that they get that about me, I concur. On that note and many others, they delivered. Kaew Jao Jorm sits right at the exit of the Grand Street L station in Williamsburg. It’s further down the list of recognizable names in NYC Thai, keep scrolling on this hypothetical list past Thep Thai, Thai Diner, and Soothr, but Kaew Jao Jorm is quietly batting in that league.
On a Saturday night in September my party of 4 walked into Kaew Jao Jorm, and I noticed that the inside of the restaurant seemed tiny. But we were led down a small hallway out into the back patio, decorated with stunning drapes and decor dripping from all corners. We were seated in the back corner of the patio, where we could hear music coming from Bar Nico next door, which gave the experience a fun night-out feel and only added to the already buzzing energy of the place.
It’s the kind of place where you can’t help but notice what everyone else has on their tables before you’ve even looked at the menu to confirm each piece exists in print. Yuzu cocktails with foam on top, massive bowls of curry served up in formal bowls, every plate adorned artfully with flowers, basil, or cilantro. Upon finally consulting the menu, I felt lucky to be there with a party of 4, meaning we could try more dishes. We started with Royal Thai pomelo salad ($20), Tung Thong pork and shrimp wontons ($16). The Pomelo salad arrived and I learned for the first time that the inside of the grapefruit-like Pomelo fruit looks like sweet, translucent corn. Topped with tomatoes, onions, shallots, mint, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and a stunningly fresh and distinct chili lime dressing, the sweetness and acidity came together to light up our palates and kick off the evening.
Entrees arrived, and suddenly our table was filled with Gaeng Pu softshell crab curry ($36), Chicken Green Curry ($26), Panang Neua beef curry ($28) , and Seafood Pad Kea Mao ($32). Most of the curry bowls are served “up,” reminding me of formal affair serving bowls that most millennials don’t have space for in our NYC kitchens. Rice, rather than arriving in a separate side bowl, is scooped out generously onto your plate from a steaming hot larger bowl.
As promised by Kaew Jao Jorm, the curries stood out. The best dishes of the night were the softshell crab curry and the beef panag curry. The beef panang was sweet, tender, and swimming in curry. The softshell crab tasted like it contained some of every flavor in the entire kitchen, somehow all exploding perfectly together. The crab was indeed soft, and perfectly cooked. It was almost hard to distinguish when I had a bite of crab from when I had a bite of curry without it because of how seamlessly it all flowed together in the dish. The seafood pad kea mao was generous with the seafood, including large shrimp, mussels, and calamari. The basil was present, the spice was present, and the noodles were there but honestly the least interesting part of the dish due to everything else it had going on above them. The only dish that lacked much was the green curry chicken, which is the only curry served down in a glass bowl, and felt mild and shy. It’s possible that it could have stood on its own as a pleasant curry, but amongst all the stimulation of the rest of the dishes, it was overpowered and was a bit lost on me.
The service was completely on point, more rice was scooped without needing to ask or flag someone down, putting no delay in our momentum. Cocktails and water were replenished with attention. The service felt truly kind, like they really wanted us to have the best dining experience possible, and meant it. Everyone at Kaew Jao Jorm seems to take great pride in the restaurant, the experience, and the food, and they should be proud. This experience was above all, distinctly memorable. And we may not have had any food leftover to take home for tomorrow, but we’ll take that with us.
