Bangkok Center Grocery Store

Bangkok Center Grocery Store is the best Thai Grocery Store in New York. Not that I have taken an exhaustive survey, but I've been to the one in Queens near SriPraPhai Thai Restaurant (considered by many to be the most authentic Thai in the City) and it was good but not as good as Bangkok Center.

I went yesterday to get ingredients to make Red Curry Paste and they had everything I needed.  Fresh wild lime (more commonly known as Keffir lime, a term I have read is not to be used as it is a racist slur so instead I call them Wild Lime as is suggested by Naomi Duguid And Jeffrey Alford in their brilliant and essential book Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet - but then when I say Wild Lime no one knows what I'm talking about....but hey, now you all know!), galangal, hot peppers, lime leaves (which are for something else, not the paste) a new steaming basket for my sticky rice maker ($5).  The people who work there are always so sweet and helpful and suffer through my speaking bad Thai to them.

 

This is Mosco street in Chinatown.  It's this weird little back-alley type street on a little hill, so it feels more like Hong Kong then NYC.

Here's the window of the store.  Those metal things on the top shelve are Sticky Rice steamers.  They also sell great mortar and pestles and Green Papaya Salad makers (basically a large clay mortar and pestle looking thing).  In addition they sell lots of frozen food ready to re-heat and eat and some of it is locally homemade, so if you haven't been you have to go and if you are in town visiting check it out when you go to China Town.