Pinto

Pinto has its own version on Thai: a touch of nouveau. Not your hole- in-the-wall Thai joint; Pinto breaks away from the traditional and touts its own creativity while abiding to its Thai roots, as well as advocating on going green. The restaurant is narrow, dark but not too dark, diners will find themselves elbowing their neighbors, involuntarily. Space is limited but decor is sleek and modern.

On the grub:

Let’s start off with the Pinto thai iced tea kit—yes, there is a kit. Diners are given a set of ingredients to concoct their own thai iced drink; supplied with a serving tray, a glass filled with tea flavored iced cubes, a beaker of sweetened brewed tea, a serving of milk and lemongrass and a stirrer, and you do the mixing. Kudos on the flavored iced cubes.

Pad thai with a choice of free range chicken; grass fed beef; tiger scrimp or organic tofu (10). The beef pad thai had a red hue, a bold beefy flavor resonated in the entire dish; sweet robust in flavor. Did not see any bean spouts on my pad— I was missing that crunch to pad thai, but I think it was omitted to keep the dish as savory as possible so that it would compliment the beef. The noodles were overcooked but the dish came through; by rejecting your typical pad thai-greasy-stir fry, and replacing it as a hearty taste of beefy and ragu influenced pasta— minus the al dente factor. The dish had everything from a traditional pad thai except the spouts and lime/lemon—which makes up a third of the native dish.

Next dish, the crab fried rice: with jasmine rice, egg and crab meat baked in whole young coconut. Not usual on a Thai menu. The meal was in a coconut, as it was baked. As impressive as the presentation was, I was not impressed by the level of complexity of flavor in the dish. The flavor was not as strong as I’d expected it to be, a little on the bland side. I understand, perhaps the chef wanted to keep the integrity of the crab meat’s natural taste thus the deficient flavor but when cooking with rice, one needs to add aromatic seasonings to enhance the base. Also the flesh of fresh coconut is very mild (as oppose to the dried) which the cautiousness on seasoning reeked the dish to mellowness. I like the combination: very nouveau, very bold but not in flavor. Perhaps some more salt would have made this review less critical. The taste of the dish was safe yet not inspiring.

Pinto 118 Christopher St New York, NY 10014 (212) 366-5455