Gaw Gai
“This place is a hole in the wall with limited hours cash only no exceptions….”
“They have a few tables, but it's tiny, so do takeout or order delivery and eat it at your leisure.”
“Cute, clean restaurant with nice staff and solid Thai food in LIC (tie with Tuk Tuk).”
Gaw Gai
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$ Price range Under $10
8 reviews
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This off the beaten path Thai fast food joint is great! I've been here couple of times and even ordered dinner from them, and its always great. I do think you get a semi bigger portion when you dine-in, but they seriously give you enough food.
Ordered the Yellow Curry noodle Shrimp with flat egg noodles with side of Sticky rice. This was authentically spicy and not toned down for the gaiw-lo's. The noodles were stucked together when it arrived to my apt, but no matter, I had planned to eat the curry with the sticky rice anyways. The shrimps were giant, fresh and crunchy. The curry based was sweet but it was the right amount of spicy, YUM!
Another day, I was craving fried calamari and saw they had it as appetizer, so dropped by for a quick bite. It was $4.95, and it totally quenched my craving.
Coming back next time for their Roti Massaman!
Gaw Gai is a ca$h only Thai restaurant right outside of the Court Sq stop on the 7/G train.
We came here on a Sunday for a quick bite to eat. The AC was pumping so it was nice to get out of the summer heat. It's cash only, so we had to empty out pockets to get the right amount, but it was worth it. The food is fresh and incredibly tasty and the prices are reasonable. We tried the lychee lemonade and it overly sweet that we had to water it down. The salads are delicious and the peanut sauce that comes with it is awesome. Quick service and a good place to pick up food or sit down.
Gaw Gai is a good option for Thai in the Court Square area. The place is tiny – there are only a few tables, and it's usually so crowded with people waiting to order/waiting for their food that I wouldn't recommend sitting anyway.
The food is decent and it's usually ready pretty quick. They accept cash only, which boggles my mind in this day and age, but what can ya do? Plenty of ATMs nearby.
When I first moved to LIC, I just assumed that Gaw Gai was the basic, poor substitute for Tuk Tuk. Not long after move-in, Tuk Tuk shortened their delivery radius and I was left without their blessed roti.
I started ordering Gaw Gai more and more, and now find them to be a very reliable substitute. First – their pad see ew is quite wonderful. I am not a huge fan of Chinese broccoli but I happily devour every piece in that dish. We also really love their specialty rices – the Thai basil in particular is packed with flavor.
If I have any complaint, it's that their curries could use refinement. While the flavor of the base is often great, the vegetables are often in gigantic chunks that make it hard to eat and less cohesive than one might want. For example, I like their massaman flavor a lot, but I will never want to eat a banana-sized slice of onion.
That being said, they usually deliver very quickly and dishes have been even better in recent orders.
Decent Thai take-out with option to dine-in. Food came out relatively quick considering we stopped by for lunch around 2pm. As it was cash only, we stopped by an ATM outside. The attitude as noted by other yelpers is quite appalling. The two staff members did not budge from the register. The young male was too busy counting money to notice a line forming with customers. And, another young female that shot you dirty looks if you ask questions or make any comments. While the food is decent and spicy, it's true that there are other Thai spots in the area. Portion wise is not bad for the price. They fill a plate full when you dine-in. The place is a bit small and extremely regulated. Note the door sign and postings all over the place. A lot of No's and not a whole lotta service. If you are in the area, this is a good spot for a quick lunch.
Curry puffs tasty… wish the portion was more than 2 though. Chicken satay was good. Cute and simple little restaurant. Would return.
Be warned: service SUCKS! The lady at the counter is kind of a b—-. She will likely ignore you for the first 5 minutes or so after you enter even if you're the only one there. She will likely be on the phone but the simple courtesy of a smile and/or hand gesture is not that difficult when you are in customer service…instead, she avoids eye contact and makes no effort to acknowledge your presence.
I was ( ) close to walking out and leaving but glad I didn't cause a) I was starving and b) the food was amazingly delicious
The food is so spicy & flavorful. Love it–one of the best pad kee mao (aka drunken man noodle) dishes I've ever had despite the fact that they don't have soft/steamed tofu (who the hell likes fried tofu anymore–it is so heavy, unhealthy and not even tasty enough to warrant the calories). I order this dish at pretty much every Thai restaurant I go to and this is definitely in my top 3 (I must have tried 20 – 30 by now in NYC, Vegas, Florida, Taiwan, etc.) Papaya salad was delish too, had a slight kick to it as well.
So don't expect anything fancy like table service or real plates and forks here and you're good.
Came here while on my way to 5ptz and after leaving LIC Market's ridiculously long line for a 3pm lunch. This being LIC, there weren't many other options in terms of food. The restaurant was completely empty and we had to order at the counter. This place definitely seems like the kind of place that primarily survives on take-out and delivery orders. We got our dishes on plastic plates atop a tray and ate with plastic forks.
Surprisingly though, the food was really good. I ordered the pad see ew with fried tofu which is normally not too flavorful, but this dish was. In fact- dare I say it- it might be the best pad see ew I've ever had. My companion was also taken aback by how delicious it was.
If you're in LIC and you're looking for a quick bit, nothing fancy, then this might be the place for you!