Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Food
New Bushwick Spot Tong Features Bold Flavors From All Over Thailand
By
Scott Lynch
Published Sep 10, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 9
By
Scott Lynch
Published Sep 10, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
One of the best dishes I ate this summer was inspired by an after-school snack. When Prasneeya “Pat” Praditpoj — one of the owners of Tong, a terrific new Thai restaurant in Bushwick — was growing up in Thailand, her favorite street treat to grab on the way home from school was chili-lime roasted squid, or Pla Muk Yang. At Tong, chef Chetkangwan “Jade” Thipruetree's preferred cephalopod for the dish is octopus, which he chars to an impossibly soft texture, and suffuses in a sharp, fiery sauce. It's delicious.
There are many other good things to eat here as well, and because the format is mostly small plates (really more like medium-sized plates), you have the opportunity to try a whole bunch of them at one meal.
“We were thinking of how we eat in Thailand when we go out drinking," Praditpoj said about the Tong experience. “We like to have a good time with friends and share small dishes, or kub klaem.” Which sounds like a quaintly pre-pandemic notion.
Pad Mhee Ko Rad ($16)
Whether your're sharing or not, get the Naem Khluk, a spectacular dish combining the deep funk of fermented pork sausage with loads of high notes from chilis, lime leaf, ginger, and scallions, all mixed in with chunks of crispy rice. Another of Chef Jade's signature dishes, Goi Neu, is almost as good, a mound of fiery, Isaan-style beef tartare that you can wrap into bitter leaves (which is how Praditpoj's family does it) or scoop up with taro crisps.
Chef Jade has company in the kitchen, too. Sunisa "Susan" Nitmai, the talent behind the acclaimed Pata Cafe in Elmhurst, brings her famous Mum—dry cured beef and beef liver sausage—to Bushwick, as well as Pad Mhee Ko Rad, a plate of wok fried noodles run through with Thai soybean paste, and punctuated by fat, whole shrimp and sweet pickled radish.
I stuffed myself silly and barely made a dent in the menu. Among the other 35 or so dishes I haven't gotten to yet: Yum Pla Duk Fu, starring "crispy and fluffy" fried catfish; Krapow Gai Sub, which features a mound of minced chicken sauteed with Thai bird chilis and served with rice; Khao Moo Krob, or pork belly with sweet chili sauce and winter melon soup; and Kha Nom Jeen Nam Ya Poo, crab curry ladled over vermicelli with bitter melon, long bean, and preserved mustard greens.
And although the partners had drinking in their mind when they conceived of Tong way back when (it was actually ready to open last summer, but they had to wait an entire year for National Grid to turn on their gas) they are still waiting on their liquor license. You are invited, however, to duck around the corner and grab a bottle from Starr Wines and bring it back to your table.
Tong did luck out with their outdoor dining situation, because although the restaurant sits directly in front of a fire hydrant, the storefront nextdoor is empty, so they could set up a curbside space a few feet away. It's also worth noting that this stretch of Starr Street is just far enough removed from the party scene down near the Jefferson L station to ease any worries you may have about overcrowding.
Tong is located at 321 Starr Street, between Cyprus and St Nicholas Avenues, and is currently open daily from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on weeknights, and until 10:30 on Friday and Saturday (718-366-0586; tongbrooklyn.com)
Tagged
Tong
brooklyn
bushwick
Scott Lynch
Photojournalist, food writer, preschool receptionist. Love NYC.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE food
North African restaurants are rare in NYC. These 10 are the best.
Egyptian, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian food is delicious but underrepresented in the city.
By
Robert Sietsema
Published Oct 10, 2026
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
The global dish is shapeshifting and ubiquitous.
By
Robert Sietsema
Food
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
The global dish is shapeshifting and ubiquitous.
By
Robert Sietsema
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
By
Sonia Rao
5 NYC banana puddings as good as Magnolia's
By
Hannah Frishberg
Where to eat in Greenpoint, Brooklyn right now, from Polish to Sichuan to Iberian
By
Robert Sietsema
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .