It's almost been a year since Sappe (the sister restaurant of Soothr) opened in the West Village and has quickly made a name for itself in the city that captures the not-as-much-highlighted playful nature of Isan Thai cuisine in the city. The restaurant has an impressive cocktail program that features $18 drinks inspired by Thai movie stars. If you’re looking for something to ogle at while you eat, you can’t go wrong with the Somsri, a tequila-based frozen guava cocktail with spicy salted plum powder but my go-to is the Riam that is made with an in-house sticky rice-fermented vodka.
At the heart of the menu is Thai Ping Yang, a nod to Northern Thailand’s charcoal-grilled skewers. These skewers—four for $20—are the perfect drinking snack and come in twelve different flavors. My ideal lineup is the lin wua ping (beef tongue), koong yang (tiger prawn), nung gai ping (chicken skin), and sai moo ping (pork intestines), but there are twelve different skewers to choose from and you really can't go wrong.