Auttharos
“Too bad parking is inconvenient, however conveniently located right on E,F,R and M train lines.”
“At this time they only open for dinner from around 5 to 2-3 AM, but the owner told me they will open for lunch soon.”
“A compact patty of rice (ha, ha) meant to accompany whatever else you've ordered is delivered to your table in a plastic baggie, no joke.”
Auttharos
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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So sad! Tried this place again and sadly I can't improve on the ratings. Although service is ok, food portions are sadly small! I def prefer ayada or chao Thai over this place.
Small restaurant and it gets busy! We ordered a bunch of plates to share- prepare your mouth and stomach for the spice because shit is spicyyyy.
The papaya salad numbed my mouth, but I couldn't stop eating it! Though…I couldn't really taste a difference from Ayada's or even Sriprapai's…I just really like papaya salad!
We had the duck larb, marinated chicken, the sautéed morning glory, crab fried rice, pig neck, and the grilled chicken hearts.
Everything had a very homey feel to it which I appreciated. Loved most of the dishes except for the pig neck and duck larb, which is what a lot of people recommend but I can't see why!
This is pretty much the only good thai spot in this area full of Indian and Nepalese food! Don't skip a chance to have dinner here!
This is a traditional Laotian dishes of Northeastern Thai fare. I'm a big fan of Thai cuisine except Hub can handle the spicy factor compared to me. It only made sense to opt for something different as we tried many Thai spots already. We shared the Thai papaya salad, sauteed Chinese broccoli with crispy pork, and Thai fried rice with crab. The fried rice had real chunks of crab meat unlike other places that throws in either imitation crab meat or itty bitty pieces. This is the real deal here. The crispy pork was quite tasty with the rice. If you like savory and salty dish, this is def a top pick. The papaya salad was very spicy and plentiful. I only took a small portion and the heat was no joke. Most Thai spots tend to make the larb and papaya salad really spicy. I believe that is the authenticity of the Thai fare. Natives prefer their dishes to be spicy. Staff was prompt and attentive. Also, be mindful that some local customers may not appear as friendly esp to outsiders. Aside from that factor, the food was great. Def will return to try other dishes!
Partying on a Monday Night (Part 3/3)
It is 11:30 pm. I am definitely drunk. As we left Judy & Punch (see Part 2/3 below), Ben L. asked if anyone was hungry. Drunk = munchies = YES. So, being the good Thai boy he is, he drove my and Roger H.'s drunk butts to Jackson Heights for some late night authentic northern Thai cuisine at Zabb Elee.
And BOY was it authentic. You won't find any kind of pad thai here, no siree. You also won't find the kind of spicy that Americanized Thai restaurants do spicy. If it weren't for Ben, I probably would never have known to come here because it's pretty intimidating for a non-Thai person. Rewind to a conversation with Ben about four hours prior:
Ben: "Do you like spicy food?"
Me: "………I can't believe you just asked me that."
Ben: "Is that a yes?"
Me: "Duh! Do you not know me at all??"
Back to the present:
Me: "Holy fudge, my tongue is dying!" *chugs water*
Ben: *face palm*
This is LEGIT spicy. Just a few bites of any dish set my mouth on fire. It was torturous but amazing at the same time. (I guess that makes me a masochist?) Also, having grown up in a Viet household, I am accustomed to and love sour sauces. Everything we got here, from the salads to the curry, had some kind of sour flavor, and it was AWESOME. I liked every single dish we had, but if I had to rank them:
1) Pork neck salad: it was amazing how tender the pork was, and the dressing was reminiscent to Vietnamese fish sauce.
2) Spare rib mushroom soup: it's similar to tom yum, only even more sour and spicy. I LOVED the lemongrass flavor. Even though it was pork spare ribs in the soup, it reminded me of chicken broth for some reason.
3) Green papaya salad: julienned green papaya, crushed peanuts, fried pork skin, another even more sour and spicy dressing…what's not to love…besides the occasional chili pepper that gets in your mouth and sets it on fire for the rest of dinner.
3) Sour bamboo curry with shrimp: yes, this is a tie with the green papaya salad. Although the rest of my table wasn't impressed with this dish, the presence of the sour bamboo brought back so many childhood memories of when my mother would make sour bamboo soup. It was my first time having a sour curry, but it worked for my weird taste buds.
Zabb Elee may be too spicy for newbies trying to break out of the Americanized Thai bubble, but I think it's a great place to get a lesson on true authentic northern Thai food. (Also, I think you can ask for the spiciness to be toned down a little?) I would definitely come back here to try some new dishes…maybe one day even come here without a Thai person! *gasp* (LOL just kidding, Ben.) Either way, it was a great way to end (and sober up from) a drunken Monday night. Thanks to all the water I chugged in my futile attempts to douse the fire in my mouth, I woke up the next morning with no hangover and no burning bathroom situation. Yay unintended benefits!
Noooo…. Zabb Elee is closing for renovations starting Feb 29, 2016. When they will open again they do not know! I'll be missing their delicious papaya salads and noodle soups for the time being 🙁
I was expecting bold and spicy flavors but I got more bitterness. The larb was very lime-y – too much that it was overwhelming. The papaya salad also had too much lime juice. It made everything taste sour. These two dishes were ordered mild and it came out just that. Other reviews said mild=medium but ours were perfectly mild. The grilled beef was not what I expected. I thought it would be slices of beef on skewers grilled on a flame. Instead, it was pieces of beef that looked like it was steamed instead. It was very chewy and unappetizing. The spicy chili sauce on the side was very good though. I guess Northern Thai/Isan cuisine is not for me.
Great Thai place steps from the jackson heights station and the little tibet area. Much better than the Manhattan branch which looks like a nightclub. Many things are slightly better at other places but zabb elee is a great all rounder. When it is cold, I like to order their soups, like the special beef noodle soup (containing blood in the soup) and hot pot style soups like the tom zabb with pork spare ribs. The latter can easily be shared with a group and has a great strong flavor. Additionally, I would try their pork neck and their seafood is really nice too.
Follow them on facebook to learn about the special dishes they will feature for a week or two at a time. And, if you don't feel like Thai, check out their new izakaya downstairs (which I have reviewed also.)
My favorite Thai spot. Too bad parking is inconvenient, however conveniently located right on E,F,R and M train lines. I suggest family style approach to eating. Layout of menu in addition to the dish names confuses the hell out of me. Usually just order a dish from each section to have your bases covered.
The larb dishes are my favorite thing here. Ground meat of your choice stir fried with a ton of fresh herbs and lime. Really an explosion of flavor. Get it really spicy, great with rice.
The lemon grass soup is also a pretty unique dish. Really refreshing. Tried a few, prefer the chicken one the most. Something about chicken and soup works. Any other meat works better in a stew imo.
The grilled meats here are as good as all the better ones you've tried in other restaurants. Nothing extraordinary, but a solid choice to up protein intake if you're fearing muscle atrophy.
Crispy pilot fish is fried really well here. Really really deep fry. I mean you can eat the whole damn fish if you want. I particularly enjoy fried food so maybe I'm a bit biased.
Even the generic pad Thai is delicious here, they work in the peanuts. Adds a nice crunchy texture.
Try the raw sausage salad. Not entirely raw, but kind of pickled. Found it disgusting at first but it grew on me. Something that you can't really describe but it's definitely an acquired taste.