Giving Pure another try

This past week, my dad was in town for vacation, so many delicious meals were eaten, and many Broadway shows were seen (Book of Mormon = Best. Show. Ever). The first of said delicious meals was pre-theater, which always makes for a curious conundrum-- it's gotta be relatively quick, something yummy but not too fussy. For some reason, I steered us toward Pure Thai Shophouse.

Now, I know things hadn't gone so well the last time, but I'd had a craving for their dumplings (which I knew were the same as the ones at Land) for a while, so on we went. We were perched at a semi-communal table in the back on the same uncomfortable backless stools; peppy emo-rock blared all around us. It took a while for the server to take our order, but once she did, the food arrived quite quickly.

They had the same awesome crushed ice in their drinks. It's just a really cool touch, I think.

Extra nice with crushed ice

And then, the food: Dad got chicken pad thai, which he really enjoyed. It's a well-sized portion, too: not too large, but not so small that you're still hungry at the end.

Pretty pad thai

We shared an order of the vegetable dumplings. They're exactly as I remember them, and damn, those dumplings are good. Though I ordered an extra cup of dipping sauce, I still would have liked more sauce, but even with the sauce rationed the dumplings were their same peanutty, hearty, mushy-in-a-good-way vegetabley selves.

Hello again!

And I got the papaya salad, vegetarian-style, once again. I noted on the receipt that they actually make it without fish sauce-- not just without the shrimp-- when you request it vegetarian, which is really thoughtful. And again, the salad was decent but not stellar, and again it was mouth-searingly spicy despite my request for mild. It actually hurt to eat this. Hurt so good? Kind of.

Crazy spicy

And there we were. I'd say that we had more success this time-- those dumplings really elevate Pure's game. This past visit converted me from a Pure skeptic to one who appreciates having Land-style dumplings a little closer to home.

Pure Thai Shophouse
766 Ninth Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets
212-581-0999