ELMHURST, QUEENS
Ayada Thai
A Woodside Avenue anchor since 2008 — raw shrimp salad, sour kang som curry and crispy duck panang.
Ayada opened on Woodside Avenue in 2008, when this stretch was only beginning to look like a Thai town, and it has been one of the anchors of the block ever since. The menu is long, and the kitchen will let you choose the protein and set the heat — which makes it a good first table for a mixed group. A second branch has run in Chelsea Market since 2019, but the original is where the full menu lives.
The heat comes through in the salads: raw shrimp dressed in lime, chili and garlic, and a seafood salad tossed with green mango. Kang som, the sour, fiery curry of the south, is worth ordering for anyone who thinks of Thai curry as coconut and sugar. Crispy duck in panang curry and rib-eye over drunken noodles are the two plates regulars build around.
Editor’s tip
Order one of the raw salads and the kang som, and say how hot you want them before the kitchen decides for you.
Also in the neighborhood
ELMHURST, QUEENS
Sumatera
A rare Sumatran kitchen in Elmhurst — Padang-style rendang, nasi ayam kapau and tongue satay by the LIRR tracks.
Indonesian · Hidden Gem · $
ELMHURST, QUEENS
Zaab Zaab
Fiery Isan cooking from northeast Thailand — duck larb, som tum and crying tiger — at its Elmhurst original.
Thai · Hidden Gem · $$
Editorial draft — core details last reviewed October 13, 2026. Confirm practical details with the official site before you go.