GC IV: A Little Room Service in Chelsea

The Greeshma countdown continues!  (I am sorry I am such a slow counter.)

One sweet Saturday, we all gathered together at Room Service to celebrate Swarna's birthday. 

Greeshma and Swarna, looking fresh and lovely

Thai restaurants are really plentiful in Manhattan, so it's hard to know which are seriously good or authentic since most serve the standard fare (i.e., pad thai), though Thanan tells me that real Thai people don't even eat pad thai  (I seriously had no idea!).  Swarna's choice in dining looked promising though as Room Service looked a tad different, with clean decor, interrupted by a large, crystal chandelier that emerges from a red pool in the ceiling.  Totally fun.

Room Service chandelier.  I want one.

We all ordered a variety of appetizers among the group of us.  Here were the few that were placed next to me:

Vegetable deep-fried spring rolls (a.k.a. egg rolls)

Spinach and vegetable dumplinz

Curry puffs filled with ground chicken, corn, potatoes, green pea paste and yellow curry sauce

Curry puff innie.  The outer layer was crispy and flaky and the inside was a sweet mushy mess.  Nice curry flavor but a bit too sweet for my taste.

And then the entrees!

The pad chili: asparagus, kaffir lime leaves and basil sauteed in this thickish, red chili sauce.  It also appeared to be drizzled with some coconut milk.  I mean.  I seriously hope it was coconut milk.

I find myself thinking about this dish a lot lately, because it was so delicious.  They used nice strips of white chicken meat, and the sauce was such a hot, rich, dirty number.  I mushed my rice into it, savored the spicy heat that warmed my mouth while still allowing me to taste the food.  I haven't been able to find this dish on other Thai menus, so I think another visit is in order here soon.  (Another bonus: the dish is a bargain at $8.90!)

Greeshma's soft shell crab in green curry sauce that you find under their "Eat like a Bangkokian" part of the menu.  The soft shell crab was GIANT and it had the most meat I have ever seen in a soft shell crab.  Huge chunks of crabby flesh, which was a far cry from the meatless one we had had at Momofuku earlier.  Greeshma polished off the whole thing like any seafood champ would.

Jane came later that eve and ordered pineapple fried rice.  The dish looked like it had been shaped using one of those cone party hats.  It was huge and filled with giant shrimp and pineapple chunks.  Jane also finished this whole dish like a true Asian champ would.

Jane also ordered this amazing looking Thai iced tea.  Tall glasses just make everything look so good.

We surprised Swarna with some birthday cake!  Having the adorably cute Asian boy with stereotypical, squarish, black-rimmed Asian glasses and the tiniest bowtie serve the cake was a huge bonus.

I'll be back.

Then we headed to K-town to party it up on the La Quinta Inn rooftop bar, Me Bar, which gives you a view of the Empire State Building, but nothing else.  It's probably not the best bar to go to, unless you're staying at the La Quinta Inn, and you do not want to walk outside to the other millions of Korean bars on the same street (Han recommendation: walk outside to the millions of other Korean bars.  Please!).

So, we moved the party a few spots down to Maru, which boasts super modern and trendy, clinically white decor and karaoke.  We didn't do karaoke though - we lounged in their back room and pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.

Greeshma, so adorable !

Jane with her drink, the First Kiss

The awesome looking antiqued bell that hangs in the middle of the room.  We all posed by it later and found out, disappointingly, that the entire bell is FAKE.  Like made out of paper mache.  Tragic, really.

Maru was neat, but far too fancy for me.  The music was so great, but no dance floor !  I do hope to break into an exclusive Korean dance club with Jane one day.  One day, indeed.

Room Service

166 8th Avenue

New York, NY 10011-1603

(212) 691-0299

 

Me Bar

17 West 32nd Street, New York, NY‎

(212) 290-2460‎

 

Maru

11 West 32nd Street

New York, NY 10001

(212) 273-3413