A Fish Cheeks In Brooklyn: The Iconic Thai Eatery's New Location
For Thai cuisine in New York, it feels like there are two eras: Before Fish Cheeks and After Fish Cheeks. Before, menus at Thai restaurants were pretty interchangeable: Pad Thai, Massaman curry, satay and the like. Fish Cheeks, founded in 2016, blew that template up, with its emphasis on traditional seafood dishes, inventive cocktails, and conspicuous lack of standard Thai-merican dishes. It created a sensation when it opened in NoHo in 2016, and the lines out the door are still a nightly fixture almost a decade later.
It seems a little overdue for Fish Cheeks to finally be opening its second location, in Williamsburg, as of May 13. But better late than never, right? All the old favorites — the coconut crab curry, the Zaab wings, and the whole fried fish, to name a few — are making the migration, but there are a few new exclusive eats and drinks that will make an A-B comparison between the original and the sequel worth traveling for.
The very swanky looking bar at Fish Cheeks Williamsburg.
Photo by Connie Zhou
The old favorites from the original Fish Cheeks have been thoroughly fawned over elsewhere, so I won't focus on them here (although, seriously, if you haven't tried the coconut crab curry, put it on the to-do list immediately). The new eats and drinks I tried are worth the trek even if you live around the corner from the NoHo location. The difference between the two menus can, I think, be summed up in one cocktail. The Spicy Mango in NoHo is made with tequila, mango juice, lime, and a chili tincture; the sweetness of the juice balances out the heat of the tincture. It's a terrific drink. But the Spicy Mango 2.0, dreamed up by beverage director Nannawat Bunphet and available in Williamsburg, uses mezcal as the base spirit. It employs, from what I can tell, less juice. It's spicier and smokier and more bracing. Is it better than the original? I don't know. But it seems more... exciting?
The other new cocktail I tried, the Plara-tini, is said to be a Thai-influenced take on a dirty martini. And yeah, I can see that, but I generally hate dirty martinis and yet I loved this drink, featuring anchovy brine (!) and papaya salad dressing (!!). It's savory and salty but, despite the description, not too briny, and super-duper flavorful where many dirty 'tinis are one-dimensional. I can't vouch for the Something Banana, with dill, pineapple, tomato, and a ginger-banana foam, since I didn't try it, but it certainly sounds interesting.
On the left, Spicy Mango 2.0. On the right, the original Spicy Mango.
Photo by Tony Sachs
A pair of dishes are making their debut on the Williamsburg food menu. The one that stood out to me is marinated raw blue crab cured in lime juice, fish sauce, Thai chili, and shallot. It's bright and spicy and citrusy and fresh and altogether wonderful... and very raw. Fish Cheeks patrons hardly seem like the squeamish type, but I was curious about whether executive chef Dustin Everett foresaw any negative reactions to a dish that's outside the typical sensibilities of an American diner — even when that American is a New Yorker. 'I don't see the crab dish as pushing boundaries,' he replied. 'It's about honoring the authenticity of Thai cuisine and the cultural context behind the flavors.... It's less about being provocative and more about inviting guests to expand their palates and experience the richness of Thai food.' Having tried said crabs, I can vouch that the tenderness of the meat and the complexity of the flavors was worth the until-very-recently-alive qualities of the crabs.
The other newbie is Tom Yum Noodles, a comfort-foody dish that's firmly in the tradition of eating noodles to symbolize long life around Songkran, or New Year. 'In Thailand, this dish is often made with instant ramen,' Everett told me. 'It's a late-night staple for students and has this nostalgic, comforting feel.' Fish Cheeks upgraded to ramen made by Sun Noodle, which Everett describes as 'the gold standard here in New York — they bring the texture, freshness, and consistency that elevate the dish while keeping it true to its roots.' The spicy-sour soup, which aside from the thin noodles is studded with pork, egg yolk, mussels and other seafood, is stupendous — I wouldn't quite pick it over the coconut crab curry, but I certainly wouldn't mind inhaling the two together, carb overload aside.
Between the old classics and the new classics-to-be, plus the snazzy look of the place, the new Fish Cheeks gives Brooklynites a reason to celebrate — and eat out. And for Manhattanites... well, it gives us another reason to get on the L Train. (661 Driggs Ave., Williamsburg)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
19 minutes ago
- Washington Post
It's finally time to bid farewell to the ‘face of the NBA'
The question persists, oblivious to the NBA's new countermovement. Who will be the next face of the league? Everyone wants to know; no one wants to claim it. LeBron James, whose kingly mug has dominated attention for two decades, got in his feelings earlier this season and downplayed the importance of a line of succession. 'Why do you want to be the face of a league when all the people that cover and talk about our game on a day-to-day basis s--- on everybody?' James wondered. 'To have that responsibility is just weird. It's weird energy.' His frustration is reasonable, actually, even though James has benefited from being the superstar of all superstars far more than he has suffered. The league has grown to a point at which the unofficial role should be outdated. It had long come with savior vibes, dating from when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson boosted the NBA's popularity and Michael Jordan took it to a new stratosphere of cultural resonance. Today, the fate of the sport doesn't sit on the shoulders of any single, transcendent star. All 30 franchises are estimated to be worth more than $3 billion. In March, the Boston Celtics' sale came with a record $6.1 billion valuation. The face of the NBA is a title with diminished meaning and murky criteria that punishes candidates as much as it promotes them. There won't be another rivalry as significant as Bird vs. Magic. Changes to marketing and celebrity culture ensure no icon will enjoy a journey as dramatic and intoxicating as Jordan's. There is no template to be like James or Stephen Curry, either. Who's the new face of the NBA? The question is in conflict with where the league is headed. It's a facile concern as the Finals begin with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers — both among the league's 10 smallest markets — providing the most compelling evidence to date that the sport functions like never before. If parity is the expectation, if the size or prestige of a city matters less than ever, the assumption of individual dominance must be reconsidered as well. After the Pacers defeated the New York Knicks in six games in the Eastern Conference finals, center Myles Turner celebrated the new day. 'It's a new blueprint for the league, man,' he said. James, who plays for the high-profile Los Angeles Lakers, couldn't get out of the first round despite playing with 26-year-old savant Luka Doncic. Curry, who's trying to extend the Golden State Warriors' dynasty, couldn't get out of the second round after injuring his hamstring. Kevin Durant, the third signature star of this era, missed the playoffs with a Phoenix Suns roster that includes Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. The younger megastars suffered, too. Nikola Jokic, the best player in the game and a 2023 champion with the Denver Nuggets, went home in the second round. Anthony Edwards, the legend-killing young marvel for the Minnesota Timberwolves, lost in the conference finals for the second straight season. Jayson Tatum, the franchise player on a star-studded Celtics roster with multi-championship potential, ruptured his Achilles' tendon trying to defend Boston's 2024 title. That NBA face card keeps declining. 'The years of the super teams and stacking [talent] is not as effective as it once was,' Turner said. 'Since I've been in the league, this NBA is very trendy. It just shifts. But the new trend now is just what we're doing. OKC does the same thing. The young guys get out and run, defend and use the power of friendship.' The power of influence used to control the league. Before the NBA introduced a parity-enforcing business model, it was easier for great players to get what they wanted. And because they usually wanted to play for the most glamorous franchises, it led to a decade — starting with James's infamous decision to join the Miami Heat in 2010 — in which the imbalance became exaggerated. The NBA had always been a league of dynasties because, in five-on-five basketball, one dominant player has an outsize impact on the game. Give a giant a gigantic ally, and it's game over. In 2023, new rules were implemented to tax both the bank accounts and team-building tactics of franchises that hope to stack stars. It's almost impossible to build a complete team through free agency now. And even if you build a great squad through the draft, retention becomes a chore. One consequence, perhaps unintended, is that it will be difficult for one star to stand above the rest. Face of the NBA is a cumbersome aspiration, especially when it means different things to different people. In general, the title comes with an expectation of a clean image, multiple championships, consistent MVP-caliber performances, a level of charisma and marketability that transcends basketball and the confidence to be a league spokesman. In an age of distraction, who can command that much attention? In a sport dictating balance, who will win enough to get the chance? Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just won his first MVP award at 26, and if Oklahoma City finishes its historically dominant season with a championship, he will vault into that conversation. But similar to Tatum, SGA isn't a big personality. And similar to the Celtics, money and the league's two-apron tax system will pose as much of a threat to a potential Thunder dynasty as the other 29 teams. Regardless of the Finals outcome, the NBA will crown its seventh different champion in seven seasons. If the Thunder wins, Gilgeous-Alexander will be the first MVP since Curry in 2015 to capture the regular season honor and hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy in the same season. Ten years is a long drought for MVPs. In the NBA's first 69 seasons, 14 MVPs ended their remarkable runs with a parade. Because several of them did it multiple times, there have been 23 instances in which the MVP winner captured the most coveted prize. In other words, one-third of the time the MVP went home satisfied through 2015. In the decade since, the award has culminated in postseason chatter about that superstar's shortcomings. Even though Jokic (a three-time MVP) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (twice the MVP) eventually won titles, they endured plenty of criticism about their worthiness because they didn't have great playoff results during their MVP seasons. Joel Embiid, the oft-injured 2023 MVP, still hears it. There are fewer guarantees in the NBA, but current superstars are judged by a standard that the league has all but destroyed. That's the 'weird energy' that James referenced in his gripe. The NBA is different, lucrative, stable now. It doesn't want a face anymore. It wants more teams to have an opportunity. The transition will be uncomfortable. The television ratings for the 2025 Finals seem certain to reflect that. There will be as much talk about a Greek Freak trade as dissection of the Thunder's defense. That's sad, but it will make clear how much work remains for the league and its television partners to sell this newfound parity. If the dynasty era is over, so are the days of the savior. But until the kingdom completes its rebranding, some will always pine for a king.
New York Times
32 minutes ago
- New York Times
Cole Palmer handed Mykhailo Mudryk's No. 10 shirt number at Chelsea
Chelsea have confirmed that Cole Palmer has been given the No. 10 shirt and will wear it at the Club World Cup starting later this month. Palmer has worn No. 20 since joining from Manchester City in September 2023 but makes the switch with immediate effect. Chelsea kick off their campaign in FIFA's newly-expanded tournament against Los Angeles FC in Atlanta on June 16. Advertisement Mykhailo Mudryk had previously worn the No. 10 shirt at Stamford Bridge. The 24-year-old has not played for Chelsea since being provisionally suspended by the Football Association (FA) in December after testing positive for meldonium, a banned substance. The Ukraine international's last appearance for the club came in the Conference League away at Heidenheim on November 28, scoring in the 2-0 win, and he has not been pictured at a Chelsea game since his provisional suspension. 🧊🔟 — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) June 5, 2025 Chelsea also confirmed on Thursday that new signing Liam Delap has been handed the No. 9 jersey following his transfer from Ipswich Town. The 22-year-old completed his £30million ($40m) move on Wednesday, signing a six-year deal. Chelsea's No. 9 has been vacant since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's departure Marseille in the summer of 2023. Romelu Lukaku and Tammy Abraham previously wore the No. 9. Chelsea say the full list of squad numbers for the 2025-26 season will be finalised once the summer transfer window has shut. ()
Vogue
33 minutes ago
- Vogue
Susan Choi on the Sprawling Stories Behind Her New Novel, Flashlight
Susan Choi is known for writing novels that mine enormous richness from highly specific settings, whether a high school-level theater program in 2019's Trust Exercise, a sexually charged campus environment in 2013's My Education, or a life on the run from the FBI in 2003's American Woman. But her latest book, Flashlight—out now from Macmillan Publishers—is perhaps her most ambitious effort yet. In Flashlight, a Korean national named Serk (formerly Seok) leaves the Japan of his youth to build a new life in the United States. What follows is a chronicle of four generations' worth of his family life—the precision and emotional resonance of Choi's sentences proving endlessly dazzling. This week, Vogue spoke to Choi about how winning the National Book Award in 2019 affected (or didn't affect, as the case may be) the process of writing Flashlight, digging into historical research about Korean-Japanese relations, and her preoccupation with abduction stories. The conversation has been edited and condensed. Vogue: What did the craft process of writing this book look like for you? Susan Choi: Oh, gosh, the process was so…I don't want to say chaotic, because I think that that gives an impression of a lot of energy and movement and this was much more slow, meandering, confused, you know, like a blindfolded person trying to navigate a very complicated obstacle course. I mean, I really struggled with this book. I feel like it evolved in a lot of disconnected bursts of writing that then required me to go back and go in circles. It was a composition process kind of like no other. Honestly, it was more like the first book I ever wrote than my sixth book. I just felt like I'd never written a book before. How did it feel to embark on a new project after winning the 2019 National Book Award in Fiction for Trust Exercise? I have to say, it wasn't really on my mind, and I'm so grateful for that. I definitely am someone who I would have thought would be really prone to finding that really stressful, but it was very hard to even connect those two facts in my mind. It feels so strange to say this, but it was partly thanks to COVID; like, COVID was such a huge rupture in our shared reality and in my individual reality, and this book really kind of grew out of COVID. I published the short story that now forms the very opening pages of the book during COVID—that was something that I had been working on during quarantine in 2020—and then started growing the rest of the book out of that. I just wasn't really thinking much about 2019, or the National Book Award, or the fact that this book, if it even ever came to exist, would follow the previous book. There was a big gap that separated those two realities, and I think it wasn't until this book was really close to being finished that I was like, Oh, this is the follow-up to that, and in the experience of any outsider to my life, this will be the next thing that comes after that other thing. I'm really glad I didn't think about that much before, because it feels very strange. I don't want to preoccupy myself about: Is this a good follow-up? Is it a weird follow-up? Is it a bad follow-up? It just is, and I can't change it now.
