I have been a fan of the Marigny location so I was excited to hear that Sukothai had taken over the old Savvy Gourmet space on Magazine a block on the uptown side of Napoleon. My daughter and I decided to venture out in the rain last night and try it. I had never been to SG so can't compare, but my daughter had been there and said it didn't look too different: lots of bare brick, hardwood floors, sleek lines and light fixtures that look like inverted Thai umbrellas. Service has issues, as you might expect. I won't detail the various faux pas, but bring a little dose of patience with you lest the vaunted Thai serenity elude you. The scene was sort of typical upscale Uptown - some student types, single girlfriends out for the night, old farts like me and several of what you young people call 'hipsters', I believe. They were packed - I finally figured out Tulane graduation was this weekend. The older guy next to me was obviously there with his wife and newly minted Tulane grad daughter, no doubt wondering where that $200K went and was it all worth it while he waited the better part of an hour between apps and entrees.
We got the sampler tray of apps - ahi tuna with spring rolls and shrimp fried in the little phyllo sacks. These were all pretty tasty and nicely presented. I had a bowl of Tom Yun Gung, the spicy shrimp soup you can get in any Thai place. Their rendition was pretty good, but could stand some tweaking. Daughter had the glass noodles for an entree. They have several different options for vegetarians like her so that was a plus for our family. I had the triple flavor crispy fried whole fish which was a red snapper and it was great, but was only lukewarm by the time it hit the table, which is a peeve of mine. Had they not been so slammed I would have sent it back but we'd already waited about 45 minutes for entrees so I ditched that idea. We got a take out dessert for Ms. G, who is a sticky rice fiend. The black rice pudding with fruit atop it was very good.
It's been a while since I've been to the Marigny location, but I think prices have inflated quite a bit with the voyage uptown. They are still BYOB, at least for now, 0.50 per beer and $5 for wine. Frankly, I find the idea of not being able to have a cold Singha from the bar with my Penang curry an abomination, so I hope this policy changes.
I assume service and kitchen issues will get worked out in time. I think this place is going to be very popular. As with the nearest competitor, La Thai, parking is an issue. We had to park near Cadiz and Camp and the sidewalk was pitch-black walking back, a concern for an evolving invalid like myself whose night vision isn't what it used to be.
Also, across the street, there is a new cafe around where Tee-Eva's used to be. Anyone know the scoop?