Dine & Dash: A taste of two (newer) Thai spots 🍽
Mini reviews of Heng Heng Thai Co. and Camin Thai Cuisine
Heng Heng Thai Co.
We find Heng Heng outside of Goat Patch Brewing at the Lincoln Center one recent Saturday evening. I chat with the truck’s lovely owners, Khem Phongsamon and Jaruwan Stiwaranon, learning that the business will turn a year old on July 4. The truck offers event catering, and appears regularly at other taprooms around town, such as Lost Friend and Black Forest brewing companies. (Check their Facebook page, linked above, for upcoming programming.)
When I share some pics on my Side Dish instagram page — which I know you’re following, ahem — Lost Friend commented to say “This is our favorite Thai food in the whole city. And they are the sweetest family.” BC’s Barbecue, a Lost Friend staple themselves, added “We ❤️ them so much.” Another commenter on Side Dish’s Facebook page — yes, I know you’re following that too, ahem — said, “They’re so good!” (See, I pay attention to my community; you all matter!)
Anyway, when I ask the owners if they’re representing a particular Thai region with their cuisine, they tell me that Heng Heng serves Bangkok-area eats. The truck conveniently has a photo menu posted next to the order window, with dish descriptions and pricing (quite reasonable). With a cold wind blowing that day, we decide we need a hot soup, so we go for the tom kra chicken, which puts chewy chicken hunks and tomatoes in a coconut milk broth laced with kaffir lime leaf and lemongrass and garnished with fresh cilantro and scallions. It’s warming, rich, herbaceous and lightly sour-sweet. It pairs beautifully with Goat Patch’s Hibiscus Pale Ale, complementing the tart and hoppy notes.
We also sip on Thai iced tea and coffee because the owners insist on gifting me both after we’ve been speaking for several minutes. They’re expectedly sweet and caffeine-buzz-inducing for me (I always get zippy off these drinks), and of course a treat, but more importantly they help cool our mouths off. I’ve ordered the Pad Thai as well, a medium-hot, closer to the hot side, I told them. And they’ve delivered it searingly to spec, perfectly balanced between heat and flavor. The tangy, faintly pungent tamarind and fish sauce bases again play well with the beer, too, and the noodles also exude a pleasing, toasty wok hay essence.
What I want to try next time I see them: their spicy basil and garlic pepper dishes. (Ah, who am I kidding … I want to eat it all!)
Camin Thai Cuisine
Camin Thai opened around seven months ago in the former Asian Cookery space at 6760 N Academy Blvd. We’re told the chef cooks in more of a Northern Thai style, and cooked in New York City for a time. The dining room is simply appointed with thin wood-stick paneling decorating the walls and wide space between the perimeter booths, such that in time they could add whole rows of tables to fill the empty space should they choose.
A note on the menu explains that “Camin” is the word for “turmeric” in Thai. Said menu’s fairly expansive, with a dozen appetizers, salads, soups, both fried rice and stir-fried lists, a noodles and curries page, as well as nearly another dozen “chef’s specials” and handy, breakout gluten-free and vegan sheets for ease of identifying and ordering. We decide to go with the khua gai bacon and Spicy Chicken Turmeric plates.
This is the moment while writing this when I suddenly realize I have ordered all chicken items between these two Thai spots and perhaps my headline should have been “a taste of four chickens.” Silly me; I assure you it happened organically, or mindlessly if that’s more accurate.
Anyway, the reason we order the khua gai bacon is when do you see bacon on a Thai menu usually? We had to find out. Turns out it’s more of soft, thick-cut pork belly slices than crispy bacon bits you might first associate with the word. And you won’t be wrong to get kind of a Carbonara pasta vibe from this Thai noodle dish, with the salty pork playing a similar supporting role. But here again there’s a nice, browned wok hay essence permeating from the oily (bacon fat-coated), wide noodles, with bits of chicken, egg, bean sprouts and scallions. The only slight disconnect for us is a side ramekin presented with the dish who’s bright red sauce tastes like some mix between cocktail sauce, ketchup and sweet n’ sour sauce. It’s not very spicy, not bad on the noodles, but also not wowing for us; we equally happy with not using it.
Next up, we order the Spicy Chicken Turmeric from the chef’s specials page, partly because it seems you should order something with turmeric in it from a place who names itself after the healthful, potent spice. Plus, it reads like an interesting fusion dish to us.
It arrives with tender chicken threads jaundiced in complexion from the turmeric and bright with tri-colored bell peppers, which add their stark, juicy vegetal essence to the medley of spicy and herbal flavors. There’s lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf for citrusy accents and chile pastes and jalapeño coins for bite. (We order a medium this time, so the spice level lands far from intense.) Somewhere in there I suspect the chef’s tossed some sugar in to balance the turmeric bitterness, as bites finish with a hint of sweetness on the palate.
We devour it all with brown rice, as we were given an option between white or brown at no extra cost. As with Heng Heng, there’s a lot left undiscovered for us on Camin’s menu, making me want to return sometime — perhaps for one of the three duck dishes on the chef’s menu or a simple vegan ginger soup. Our interest is piqued thus far.