Kaew Jao Jorm

Out in East Williamsburg, a few steps from the Grand Street L, Kaew Jao Jorm cooks Thai royal cuisine — dishes drawn from the cookbooks of the Siamese court in the late nineteenth century, the era of King Rama V. It is gentler and often sweeter than the street food most New Yorkers know, and more ornate: food meant to be looked at before it is eaten.

Start with chor muang, flower-shaped dumplings filled with chicken and dusted with peanut, and hor mok pu, a steamed crab custard set with coconut milk. Gaeng ped phed yang, a roast duck red curry with lychee and pineapple, is the curry to share; run juan, a hotter green beef curry with lemongrass and basil, is the counterweight. Finish with mango ice cream over warm sticky rice.