DISH OF THE WEEK: Pad Mhee Ko Rad at TONG

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

I like pad thai, I really do. But if I don’t ever have to eat another dish of it at a Thai restaurant, I’d be ok.

And not because I don’t crave the sweet/sour combination of the stir fry. It’s just so commonplace at this point and I know Thai cuisine has so much more to offer.

At the acclaimed Thai restaurant Tong on a side street in Bushwick, I thankfully didn’t see pad thai on the menu. Instead, I ordered something that looked almost identical to the ubiquitous dish, but had a very unique taste.

Pad Mhee Ko Rad is very much not Pad Thai, but I wish it was as commonplace because every casual Thai food lover needs to try this.

Before I got to the main course, I tried one of Tong’s small plates that was advertised as a Thai after school favorite.

It was a grilled octopus tentacle served with chili and lime. If this is what kids eat after school in Thailand, I went to school in the wrong place. I was stuck with Twinkies.

The Pad Mhee Ko Rad really was a doppelgänger for Pad Thai. But there was definitely a difference in flavor.

Here the rice noodles are slicked with a sauce made from soybean paste (tao-chip) whose sweet, earthy umami notes made up the bulk of the flavor. It also had a bit more heat that played beautifully with the soybean paste.

Plump, meaty shrimp were plentiful, sweet pickled radishes, bean sprouts, and a squeeze of lime help showcase the distinct balance in Thai cuisine.

It was so exciting to eat a dish that looked like Pad Thai but was not actually Pad Thai. I do wish more Thai restaurants were serving this noodle dish, although if it ended up on every menu, I’d probably be looking for something else to order at this point. Price: $18