Today marks the first day of your Super Bowl–free life.
Also known as Monday.
So you need to focus on the little things, like getting lunch. In a hut. With 13 of your closest friends.
Meet Malai, a neighborhood Thai and Vietnamese kitchen in the West Village, open now.
This spot feels like a Vietnamese hut with large wooden beams on the ceiling, a bar made from bamboo and walls made of polonia wood. You’ll want to start at the bar, with cocktails like the Ginger Bird Margarita, made with muddled ginger, Thai chilies and (we believe) no birds.
Now, you could come here for a lunch of forkless sticky rice with a few oil tycoons. Or drop by for a casual dinner and have some Frozen Vietnamese Limeades (green tea vodka, lime, palm sugar, Thai basil).
But when your party is a little bigger (the Mavs girls hate eating alone), you’ll bypass the red banquettes and settle into a massive hot-tub-like booth underneath a wooden cage of mirrors. Here, you’ll start with small plates like Lemongrass Mussels or Drunken Noodles. Then, to get a taste of their housemade curry, you’ll go with the seared Red Duck Curry.
And come spring, you’ll want to take your curry to the wicker-furniture-filled patio.
Duck always tastes better on wicker.
Also known as Monday.
So you need to focus on the little things, like getting lunch. In a hut. With 13 of your closest friends.
Meet Malai, a neighborhood Thai and Vietnamese kitchen in the West Village, open now.
This spot feels like a Vietnamese hut with large wooden beams on the ceiling, a bar made from bamboo and walls made of polonia wood. You’ll want to start at the bar, with cocktails like the Ginger Bird Margarita, made with muddled ginger, Thai chilies and (we believe) no birds.
Now, you could come here for a lunch of forkless sticky rice with a few oil tycoons. Or drop by for a casual dinner and have some Frozen Vietnamese Limeades (green tea vodka, lime, palm sugar, Thai basil).
But when your party is a little bigger (the Mavs girls hate eating alone), you’ll bypass the red banquettes and settle into a massive hot-tub-like booth underneath a wooden cage of mirrors. Here, you’ll start with small plates like Lemongrass Mussels or Drunken Noodles. Then, to get a taste of their housemade curry, you’ll go with the seared Red Duck Curry.
And come spring, you’ll want to take your curry to the wicker-furniture-filled patio.
Duck always tastes better on wicker.
