Chada Thai Cuisine

Muey Saechao does most of the cooking at Chada Thai Cuisine (1624 Broadway), but the restaurant’s a Saechao family affair. Muey’s husband, Chee-Pou, helps cook, and the kids assist, too, when they aren’t cramming for finals at university. The Saechaos, who came to the United States via the U.N. refugee program after the “secret war” in Laos, are lu Mien, so their Thai cuisine’s unique. Try the kang pah—a curry with vegetables and choice of meat, fish, tofu or poultry—but heed this warning: The traditional dish, served without coconut milk, features scorching Thai chili peppers, which Muey grinds into the red curry paste. Amateurs need not apply.