DISH OF THE WEEK: Kang Kao Peuak (Taro Samosa) at SALA THAI

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

There are so many wonderful neighborhood restaurants across NYC that just don’t get the attention they deserve. And so may I introduce to you Sala Thai.

This slender Thai restaurant sits at the mouth of the Upper West Side and it seems like the locals have discovered it because it was jam packed (both inside and out) on a recent Sunday night.

We managed to get a table and we are so happy we did because the Thai dishes were deeply flavorful and not your typical options.

We did try an excellent Massamun curry (only rivaled by the one I had at Thai Diner), papaya salad, and my son was very impressed by their plain rice noodles with soy sauce (he’s five!!)

But I took a risk and ordered two appetizers I was unfamiliar with and they featured flavors that I was not expecting. Both are listed under their section called Sum Rub, which refers to a variety of tasting bites that comprise a set meal. So I must have known what I was doing by ordering them as my meal.

The first were minced marinated chicken meatballs wrapped in pandan leaves and deep fried. They required some unwrapping, but were herbal, and spicy served with a sticky, sweet dipping sauce.

I was more surprised with the deep flavors located within the taro puffs known as Kung Kao Peuak. I don’t normally order fried Thai appetizers like this, but these were dense yet delicate and happily greaseless.

The supple dough gave way to a very interesting taro mixture that also featured chopped shrimp, sweetened roasted coconut flakes, herbal makrut lime leaves, and a touch of white pepper. They were sweet, spicy, herbal all in one bite.

And to think I would have never tried these truly delicious Thai discoveries if I hadn’t taken a chance on a little neighborhood discovery that amazingly flies super under the radar. Price: $12