I'd like to give this place 5 stars for their friendly service, variety of dishes, and intimate, modern space, but the spiciness of many of the dishes prevent me from knowing the menu too well.
That being said, their shrimp papaya salad is fantastic. Rich, bitter, sweet, spicy, and fishy flavors blended perfectly with the fresh crunch of the shredded papaya.
The curries I've sampled, red and jungle, have both been really spicy, even though I asked for less spicy. It's really my problem, not theirs.
Great ambience with Thai waitstaff, Thai clientele, and Thai karaoke videos play on the TVs.
At their reasonable prices, I'll continue to go back, sampling new things
Just got the pad kee mao again. I ordered it with its usual level of spice this time to better gauge its flavor and it doesn't have much. Won't be coming back here unless a friend really wants to. Service was still awesome though.
The curry puff wasn't too bad though, and 2 for $5 is a nice little deal.
I was sent to this restaurant through a recommendation of a thai acquaintance. THIS PLACE IS 100000% LEGIT. This is the most authentic thai food i've ever had. I highly recommend coming here for a taste of authentic northern thai cuisine. The crab noodles blew my mind, and i am craving it as i type. They have two menus, one is the normal menu. There is a second menu that is only in Thai with additional items. if you dont see what you want on the normal menu, ask your server and they would probably make it for you. They are not scared to make things spicy, if you're the type that wants to sweat while you eat. I personally dont like things too spicy and i did just fine. Im that nerd that always says 'mild please", so if i can handle, im sure anyone can. The crab salad was pretty bomb too.
If you're feeling brave or you want to play fear factor you can order the Red Ant larvae dish, or some fried grasshoppers.
oh yea...CASH ONLY. but worth it.
Playground might be a little too loud since it is a karaoke place literally. However, if you are looking for an authentic Thai place, this is the jewel in the crown of Thai restaurants in Queens. Their papaya salad is to die for. The Thai seafood Sukiyaki is so good and yummy. Definitely worth the money.
Review Source:Wanted Thai food, but didn't feel like making a special trip for it, so we decided to give this place a try since it's close to the train station. We contemplated between Playground and the place right next to it. The other place was practically empty, so we went with Playground. We ordered thai iced tea, green papaya salad, thai wings, beef pad see eiw, and chicken basil fried rice.
Thai iced tea is always very sweet, so it was definitely way sweet here. Green papaya salad was mediocre. The papaya was not crisp like it should be so that kills the entire salad. Thai wings were very good, no complaints there. Beef pad see eiw also good, maybe just a touch too sweet. Here comes the complaint: the basil chicken fried rice. You know how most menus in America has some kind of indicator next to the item if it's spicy, like a chili or asterisk? Well, this place does not. Unless you read the description of the item thoroughly, you will be sorry. I skimmed through the description, and didn't notice anything about spice for this dish, so I ordered it. I was gonna ask the server if it's spicy, but decided not to. It was the last thing that came out, and we were excited to dig in. My husband dug in and immediately downed his glass of water. I thought maybe he caught a piece of chili or something. I looked at the rice and saw a lot of chili flakes all over. I took a bite and my tongue was immediately on fire. A few more bites and my nose was runny. Now, I'm no wimp when it comes to spice. I'm from Southeast Asia and I can tolerate a pretty good level of spicyness. But this is intolerable for most human beings. It was pretty much inedible, so I decided to ask the server because I didn't see anything about spice on the menu. She brings the menu and shows me that in the description it does say spicy sauce...the last two words. This is beyond spicy. This is fiery hot! Anyway, she just kinda does nothing about it. Tells me the other fried rice are not spicy. This is totally unacceptable. It's not like I decided to order something that's obviously spicy...has 3 chilis next to it. If your patron is telling you that it's so spicy that it's inedible, you should do something about it. Either take it off the check, or offer to make one that is less or not spicy. The cost of fried rice is what? $2, probably less. I would be happy to return based on all the other things we ordered. We would've probably been regulars. But because of the horrendous customer service, we will not step foot in here again. This is how you lose business.
I love both the decor- dark walls, but bright enough lights so it's not too dim and you can't see your food- and the service- they were attentive, everytime I looked in their direction, even accidentally, they were looking over as well, assessing our table, and they came over multiple times asking how we were, refilling our water consistently. They were on the ball!
The big downside for me was that it was Cash only, because I like to order a lot of food in one sitting and don't always have enough cash on me, and I prefer charging it.
As for the food, I always liked their chicken pad thai, but it was overly saucy, therefore too sweet, but hey, I would still come here and order this dish. I enjoyed their pineapple fried rice  as well. Both dishes were very hot, fresh from the kitchen.
It doesn't get too crowded in here, at least not for the two times I've gone here. It does open late, since it's a Karaoke bar as well, although not sure how that would work out as it is a small place, kind of narrow, if anyone stood up to do karaoke. I Â imagine I would get annoyed if that were to happen, trying to fight a crowd to go to the bathroom or leave the place, since that's where the TV's are strategically placed.
This is a good place, the food is good, but not sure I'd come here often, unless I was already in the area.
Ordered take out from here and tried the staple drunken noodles. The noodles were thick and delicious and the greens were very lush. However, when I ordered I didn't tell them how spicy I wanted it nor did they ask! I do enjoy spicy food, but this was too many pepper seeds for my liking. Will try again but will remember to ask for mild next time!
Review Source:i tried them on a recommendation of a Thai friend, after being dissapointed by all the so-called "authentic" Thai spots, i have found the one that tastes most authentic to me.
Extensive menu, all affordable. I ordered the Drunken noodles with crispy pork, i requested Medium and it was still Very spicy, Very tasteful.
Quality Thai food!
Playground came on the recommendation of a Thai friend i have FROM Thailand. Â Listen, there is a LOT of hype around the "white" boys cooking Thai food right now and they are doing a good job, but you dont have to wait 2 hours in the blazing sun and pay 30 for 1 friend chicken wing. Â Go to Queens and yes, you'll miss the hipstermatic vibe and the wait and the cost but you'll get DELICIOUS thai food and it will be NOTHING you've ever seen before...i'll not go on and on but i had the Red Ant egg salad. Â I was thinking when i ordered it...as most in NYC do...how is this egg going to be prepared...its not "AN" egg...its EXACTLY what it said...it is Red Ant Eggs sprinkled over a salad...yep ant larvae...they pop in your mouth..not for the faint of heart but for the adventurous! Â you WONT be disappointed
Review Source:Our friends bought us here. We are first in the whole place and then 10 minutes later, no seats. Our friends also took care of ordering. All foods landed us with 5 stars approval except Pad Thai (or should I call SWEEEEEEEET Pad Thai).
All and all. We have a great experience with this place. We will be back soon.
Being a frequent visitor at Zabb Elee for quite some time, I just found another gem right next door to it. Playground offers a lot of Nor'eastern Thai food, and they're all great and authentic.
Let's go through what I ordered one by one:
Fried Calamari was nice with a different kind of (spicier) sweet chili sauce. Soft Shell Crab with Mango Salad had some nice savory taste to it. Ant Larvae Salad was one of their best delicacies here. Imagine you popping those larvae in our mouth, yum! The highlight of the meal was The Fried Seasoned Rice Ball with Cure Pork Salad topped with Fried Chilis. It hit you in the right spot. I died! I even asked for more fried chilis. A total must-try! We ended the ride with dry noodle with fish balls and redden pork. It was okay IMO.
I heard they are great on spicy soup. I have to go back there and try more.
Pardon the menu. It was like autocorrect gone wild. They really need major corrections on the menu. Suppurate & tambourine? Who the F put those in food? How vile and inedible that is!
It's totally worth a diarrhea the next day.
Awesome Thai food. This is our second time, we wanted to try their authentic food this time ,so nice and cosy ambience. Crews are really welcoming.Hidden gem! Don't forget to order their Tomyum soup, it's a mothers home cooked styled recipe!! You guys rock. I definitely recommend this place.Sewa de Khrap!!:)
Review Source:I'm late doing this. My husband did his the night we actually went.
This seems like a small, but quality Thai place to me. The wait staff were very friendly and did their best to be helpful. It wasn't busy at all, which was odd to me, but the karaoke was on for the kids a couple tables over. (I think Rhianna lyrics are a tad mature for kids under age 13, but I didn't speak up to the mom with them since they aren't MY kids.) The waitresses were smiling and encouraging the kids to sing and have fun which I thought was good. Happy kids don't really throw random tantrums after all...
I am not really adventurous about what foods I eat most nights. (Years of aggressive tummy issues...) My normal Thai Iced Coffee (small) and shrimp Pad Thai. Despite the fact that I had gastric bypass years ago and therefore all portions at restaurants seem massive to me; Thai places out-do most places by far. These plates would reasonably feed three people a respectable amount. (That said, it's normally a portion and a half for my husband.)
The curry puffs were FRESH out of the cooker. There was a lack of soy sauce, but the 8 types of hot sauce made up for it. (Spice isn't my thing b/c of other issues I have, but the assortment is something my husband and dad enjoy at meals.) Yes, the waitress did politely remind Sam that a very little goes a very long way and to portion it accordingly.
It is CASH only (which we discovered when trying to pay with a card) but the prices are reasonably enough. ($33 + tip for two adults, drinks included)
I chose to sit on the seat stools (for reasons I still can't name) and regretted that quite quickly. I'd caution anyone with any degree of back pains/issues/concerns to AVOID the stool seats!
Beyond that, this was a good meal and a good evening with my hubby. :)
Playground
We saw Playground and another Thai place we'd never been to next door on our way over to Woodside for a haircut. So on our way back, we checked it out.
Playground is a Thai resturant/karaoke bar. Now, we don't participate much with the karaoke, especially not me. Instead we left it up to the other patrons -- a lady with a trio of young kids (6-8 yo maybe) singing Rhianna songs. Even though it was squarely within the regular dinner hour, Playground was nearly empty. I gather there's another more private karoake space downstairs (?)
And yet, it was pretty damned excellent. I had the Playground Noodle with chicken ($8). It's not on this take out menu I got, so I can't tell you exactly what was in it. Broad rice noodles, scallions, egg, hot sauce, I think. I was asked if I wanted hot sauce. I said yes. Eight containers of different sauces and peppers were brought over, it took two trips. Alas, none of them were really appealing to my palate, and besides, there was already hot sauce in the dish. I asked for soy sauce and surprisingly it had to be brought from the kitchen in a small ramekin, I guess this is somehow not something people often ask for.
My wife got the Pad Thai with shrimp ($10), which she found delicious. As usual, both dishes were great but large portions, so they've had to come home with us. We also split the Chicken Curry Puff appetizer ($5), which was good but very hot temperature-wise.
Of course we got two dishes we're very used to from a menu filled with some very unusual (to us) items like Fried Grasshoppers and Fried Gizzard. Maybe...maybe next time?
We found it odd that drinks are not printed on the actual menu. Playground staff, if you're reading this, please print up some drink menus. In any case, I had a Singha and she had the Thai Iced Coffee. Also of note is that, at least as of now, it's cash only. My wife was also unhappy the seats not along the wall had no backs to them.
The staff was really pleasant and fun, especially the lady who brought over the hot sauces and reminded me (quite correctly) not to use too much of it.
Anyway go have fun at the Playground, kids!
This place is small but well decorated. The owner designed and did all the construction. Very impressed.
I went there for dinner with my Friends who were visiting NYC from Thailand. They said the food are better than they have in some Thai restaurants in Bangkok. I totally agree with them. We ordered Papaya Salad with crabs, Bamboo Salad, Beef Salad, Grilled chicken, Seafood soup, Grilled pork, Esarn sausage and we were not disappointed at all. Everyone enjoyed all dishes and we ate like there's no tomorrow as the food was so yummy.  The owners, Sompoch and Sood are  so lovely and kind..... They gave us dessert (Lord Chong with coconut milk) for free. I will definitely come back.
Thanks to Playground.
Stumbled here due to Sriprapai being closed on a Wednesday but glad I ended up here since the Thai people from the market i was at prior recommended this place. I went in and WOW it already reminded me of a typical Thonglor restaurant setup - kind dark and turns into a karaoke place later in the night.
I must say this place is so legit that they have fried grasshoppers - for those of you that haven't tried it in your life please do and they have it here! not on the menu of course. The fried chicken knuckles was on the menu as well which goes perfectly with Thai beer!
So, despite the trek from the city on a Wednesday night, this place was worth every bite. They had tons of dishes you can't find in the city. I wanted to order everything but after the 4th dish the waitress was like 'umm you must be really hungry'. Again, basing this off portions we get in the city right. i didn't know what I was getting myself into for $9 a dish and $5-7 for apps. yeah when I say typical portion of Thai apps in the city would be 4 pieces of chicken wings max but here - Â 8!! I ordered the friend chicken wings because I knew it would be marinated pretty good and plus I got sticky rice to go with it. Second app was the larb - i told them to do crispy pork belly and throw in some minced pork too - oh so amazing!! So the dish I haven't found much on the menus in the city was the Thai basil fried rice. I remember those days ordering this back in Bangkok on the streets and they throw in a fried egg on top. This def was one of their highlighted dishes and again portions are huge here! Last dish i got was the pad kee mao which again was really good but was somewhat soggy. i took a bunch of leftovers home and ate it for another 2 meals! Bill came out so cheap and so worth the trek out there. Next time I'll bring ton of friends so we can order up a storm, sing some Thai songs and above all the service here is quite good and waitresses are very friendly.
This is one of those rare occasions where I managed to order the one thing on the menu that sucks. Â I hate to be so matter of fact about it, but it's true. Â I can safely say I that I would probably have been happy with any non-soup choice on the menu as I managed to have the good fortune to nibble at some of the other delights. Â
Yes, beware of the "Po-Tak" soup, which is one of the most expensive items on the menu at a commanding $12. Â It was billed as being a spicy basil soup with shrimp, squid, mussels, and mushrooms. Â Further, the menu advertises a lemongrass broth. Â I suppose the description is true, but what arrived was quite a bit different than what I expected. Â The serving vessel was basically a 1 burner stove with a large metal pot on it. Â It was filled with a mostly clear broth with plenty of sliced white mushrooms floating on top. Â I am not sure why anyone bothers using white mushrooms as they are almost flavorless. Â The broth wasn't spicy in any generous sense of measure. Â It was sour though, which was unpleasant. Â The squid was nicely rendered, and I thought the texture was perfect. Â The shrimp were few and far between, and the mussels proved to be even scarcer. Â Definitely not a good value based on the protein count. Â Worse, the flavors, where present, were just bad. Â Avoid this dish. Â
With that said, do try some of the other dishes. Â Our very large group managed to try most of the menu, with many of the results being pretty pleasing. Â Also, the space is really nice with a great modern decor. Â It is a very comfortable place to hang out and relax. Â The front of the house staff was pretty likable as well. Â All in all, they are probably a 3-star restaurant, my 1-star meal aside.
Playground is the *new* thai place near UFC in the Jackson Heights area. Â A few friends and I stopped by on a Saturday for drinks, so we didn't try the food yet.
Drinks - if I remember correctly were $3 beers and $5 well drinks (house) for Happy Hour which was 5PM to 9PM. Â Don't quote me... I had quite a bit to drink!
There is also a Karaoke area downstairs... however, when we went, there was a private party, so didn't get to check it out.
Hours:
Open 7 Days (5PM to 4AM)
Delivery (5PM to 1AM) - minimum $10
Pictures (part of the dining room):
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/SZQqAil4kuXhNCLR7_6khg?select=AQNd7zma_0WH3wv3bZFweA">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/SZQqAil4kuXhNCLR7_6khg?select=CJ55-Musgj5KegXV-FbbfQ">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
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