Room Service

166 8th Ave
In a dramatically renovated space formerly occupied by Cuban-Chinese hybrid La Chinita Linda, Room Service aims to create the clever Chelsea-Thai hybrid, with a sleek interior mixing standard Thai fare with a few entrees not normally found on the Man... more

In a dramatically renovated space formerly occupied by Cuban-Chinese hybrid La Chinita Linda, Room Service aims to create the clever Chelsea-Thai hybrid, with a sleek interior mixing standard Thai fare with a few entrees not normally found on the Manhattan Thai menus: Isaan-style catfish, pandan leaves chicken, espresso duck, and a rather clever weekend brunch menu. The 60's lucite bubble chair near the entrance suggests all manner of licensed licentiousness, but not exactly what the menu proposes: "We hope our food provokes the delight of eating local food on the cracked sidewalks of Bangkok." (For that we'd need to see those beloved deep-fried giant crickets in all their glory, along with 95% relative humidity and mismatched chairs while dining roadside on Rama IV Road.) Nevertheless, Room Service has great style and flair to match its clever dishes.


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Chelsea Description

Room Service is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Once a mixed, low-income neighborhood on the West Side, Chelsea has become a focal point for artists and galleries. It has a wide reputation as Manhattan's gay mecca, and while that has historically been true, rising acceptance of the gay lifestyle—and soaring rents—has led to a dissipation of the community in the neighborhood. These days, Chelsea is, very simply, a bastion of affluence more than any other social status, with the conversion of many apartment buildings to condos and co-ops and the on-rush of multimillion-dollar brownstones and lofts. In the ever-northward shift of Manhattan's masses, the high prices of Greenwich Village and Christopher Street area (which has boasted a large LGBT community since the 1960s) led many to head north to Chelsea in the late 1980s. In that migration, many have already moved on from Chelsea to the northern climes of Hell's Kitchen and Washington Heights, or east to Brooklyn. While Eighth Avenue between 14th and 23rd Streets formerly had one of New York’s highest concentrations of gay-operated restaurants, stores, cafes, the population transfer changed the demographics once again—you'll find much higher concentrations in Hell's Kitchen nowadays. The Chelsea art scene blossomed thanks to the conversion of garages and warehouses between Tenth and Twelfth Avenues, and likely will become a victim of its own success. What SoHo and the 57th Street area lost in stature has been Chelsea’s gain, and almost all the well-established flagship galleries make Chelsea their base. How did it all begin? In 1987, the Dia Center for the Arts—later known as Dia: Chelsea—became one of the pioneers in the area, establishing its main exhibition facility on West 22nd Street. Ironically, after opening its flagship museum Dia: Beacon upstate, it was left without a Manhattan presence. Plans to move down to Greenwich Village and abut the new High Line elevated park were scuttled, and the Whitney instead grabbed the valuable tract that once appealed to Dia. Of course, the High Line further increased property values, thus begetting additional high-rises between Tenth Avenue and West Street, which in turn brought in starchitects like Frank Gehry and Jean Nouvel, whose creations can be seen soaring from the earth along West Street. You can learn more about these in our new architecture of Manhattan walking tour. While the ethnic diversity of Chelsea was once truly enviable, the neighborhood still remains one of only a few places where housing ranges from high-rise public housing projects to single-family brownstones to new glass condominiums—even on the same block! Some of Manhattan’s most affordable rent-stabilized apartments can be found between Seventh and Ninth Avenues. The historic district has some fine examples of nineteenth-century city dwellings, and small gardens and flowering trees abound. If you think the grounds of General Theological Seminary (440 West 21st Street) look familiar, that's because it is frequently functions as a set for the TV show Law & Order! Even seminaries have to make money, and thus G.T.S. (as it's known) demolished its former entrance on Ninth Avenue to make way for (what else?) luxury condominiums. At its Tenth Avenue entrance, G.T.S. created one of Manhattan's most charming niche hotels, the Desmond Tutu Center, named after the great South African archbishop. Speaking of hotels, Chelsea has no shortage of great places to stay and to eat. On Tenth Avenue you'll find the renowned tapas of Tia Pol and its offshoot El Quinto Pino just two blocks away. There's the upscale Cookshop nearby, and further south on Tenth Avenue you'll find the Iron Chef's Morimoto at the great Chelsea Market, also home to Buddakan on the Ninth Avenue side.

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Info

166 8th Ave
New York, NY 10011
(212) 691-0299
Website

Editorial Rating

Category

Thai

Price

$$$$$

Ambience

Casual

Payment

All Major

This Week's Hours

Mon-Thu: 11:00am-11:30pm
Friday: 11:00am-1:00am
Saturday: 10:00am-1:00am
Sunday: 10:00am-11:00pm

Nearby Subway

  • to 18th St -- 0.1

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