Hug Esan

"This has been my go to Thai spot for years. It’s a really small restaurant and fits around 15 or so diners, so if you come for dinner you may need to wait for your seat. Pro tip - go for lunch or early dinner. My family and I recently dined here on a weeknight and got there around 6pm. By the time we were leaving, the place was packed. My favorite thing to order is their Pla Pao set ($60) - which includes their grilled fish, choice of papaya salad, and another side. I always get their regular Tum Thai papaya salad, and customize it to extra sour, less sugar, and 3 chilis. Another pro tip - every restaurant has their own scale of mild, medium, spicy hot so just tell them exact number of chili! Hug Esan is the probably only restaurant I can think about that is able to make papaya salad to my taste. The fish obviously is the star of the show - very fresh, perfectly cooked and flaky. I love eating it with their tangy red-orange sauce. We also ordered their Gai Yang - recently it isn’t as good as I remembered and price was increased to $18. Spring rolls is always a hit here - it comes with a sweet sauce and a side of lettuce, mint, and cilantro to wrap it up for a healthy twist. They also cut it up into bite size pieces so it’s easily shareable in a group. Cash only establishment!"

"Food are extremely delicious and authentic flavors however the atmosphere and space is extremely tiny; it’s very small space inside to the point you’ll elbow to elbow with other customers beside you."

"Extremely flavorful dishes, very nice service, and cozy atmosphere. We had the papaya salad & the sour sausage crispy rice (nam khao tod), which did not disappoint. I haven’t had such a combination of tang and spice in a while. Definitely will be back again!"

"A unassuming northern Thai restaurant that looks like a reaidence from the outside. The flavora are bold, unique and unlike most Thai places in the city. Frog legs were meaty with dipping sauce. Crispy fish, pork, tender beef all with good amount of heat. Great authentic food, good portions, must try!"

"5 of us came here on a holiday (Memorial Day) and got a lot of dishes to share! We got two types of papaya salad and enjoyed both. The steamed fish was definitely a highlight! The fish was so fresh and the sauces that came with it was amazing. The service was wonderful and the owner (I think) talked to us about the food and how to enjoy the food properly. We did wait for about 30 minutes for a table but the place is quite small. Though, this is one of those places that is worth the wait if you want authentic Thai food!"