Pure Thai Shophouse Review

Hell's Kitchen is so saturated with Thai restaurants that you'd almost begin to wonder if this was a mini Thai town. So the opening of yet another one should elicit nothing more than a groan. But Pure Thai Shophouse has attracted a bit of attention. It belongs to the same owners of Upper West Side restaurants, Recipe and Land Thai. The menu seems to offer several dishes that are a little different from your tired Pad Thai or Massaman curry options.

There's also a board with daily specials and a small assortment of groceries for sale up front.

For my first visit, I chose the signature Ratchaburi crab and pork dry noodle ($7) that I had read about. Lunch prices are slightly cheaper than at dinner. I hope that that also means a slightly bigger portion because this lunch portion didn't come close to filling me, though I admit I have an appetite that might be larger than most. The homemade egg noodles were swirling with Thai flavor despite the addition of Chinese roast pork and its visual resemblance to Chinese food. The portion of lump crab meat was a bit meager for a dish that features the ingredient in its title and the noodles did get a bit gloopy as takeout. Though there were some drawbacks, Pure Thai Shophouse still seems to offer more than your average Thai place and there are definitely several other dishes I'd like to go back to sample.