Chow: Banana Roti At Rhong-Tiam
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
Thai food delivery in Manhattan is often unimpressive, but at Rhong-Tiam, near Union Square, they are making a great khao soi and a wonderful banana roti dessert. CHOW.com Contributing Editor Alex Van Buren filed the following report. If you work in Manhattan, getting a bite to eat for lunch can be tough. Sometimes there’s a long line at your favorite truck, and sometimes maybe you just can’t leave your desk.
Delivery can obviously be a good solution to these problems. And on Chowhound, a user called "chompchomp" was raving about this place on East 21st Street called Rhong-Tiam.
This chowhound loved the khao soi, a coconut-based soup with noodles, so I ordered it. It took only 20 minutes to arrive to Madison Square Park. Not bad.
The khao soi was really good; it came packed in different containers so nothing got mushy, and it was very satisfying.
But I what I really loved was the dessert, banana roti with condensed milk. According to owner Andy Yang, who was born in Bangkok, this dessert is a common street food in Thailand.
His line cook makes the roti, which is a flatbread, with flour, condensed milk, water and butter. He flips it in the air like a pizza, drizzles it with butter, folds it, puts in on a hot griddle, and covers it with a layer of egg and thinly sliced banana.
He flips it again, folds it again, cooks it on both sides, sprinkles it with salt and sugar, and drizzles it with condensed milk.
The result is somewhere between a crepe and French toast. The banana dissolves into the dish, so there’s no banana texture. It’s sweet and a little salty and has that great condensed milk flavor.
It’s $8, a little pricey, but totally worth sharing -- and if your co-workers see you eating it, they will probably demand a bite.
Rhong-Tiam is at 31 East 21st Street between Broadway and Park. For more dining recommendations, visit chow.com.