Hell's Kitchen: With as many as 40 restaurants along Ninth Avenue between 34th and 57th streets

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at their height a few years ago, Hell's Kitchen has long been a hub for Thai cafes. The menus were generally

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similar in the past and centred on basil stir-fries, satays in sweet sauces, and a variety of curries. Then,

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in 2001, Pam Real Thai Food descended upon the area like a tonne of bricks. Years after it originally appeared

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in Elmhurst, it was the first restaurant along the strip to emphasise Isan cuisine. We were

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immediately won over by the menu's selection of specialty noodle meals, kaeng som sour curries, and

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dried catfish salads. Pam Real Thai, named after its founder Pam Panyasiri, closed before the epidemic,

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but there's good news: a new Thai restaurant has lately taken its place, extending the neighborhood's options.

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The small, two-room facility on West 49th Street was converted by LumLum (Northern Thai slang for "delicious")

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from strictly functional to colourful and tropical with bamboo walls, basket lampshades, potted

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jungle plants, and vintage advertising posters. Find a bar with a good selection of drinks so you

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can relax and enjoy a drink like the Pha Ngan Full Moon ($15), a creamy lavender concoction made with rum.

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