In Midtown, Twin Tails Is the Maximalist Sibling to Bad Roman | Eater NY
"Chef Craig Koketsu — who with partner Michael Stillman has opened all manner of restaurants for the Quality Branded group, from straightforward Italian and “unhinged” Italian to steakhouses, Eastern Mediterranean and modern American — has for the first time created a Southeast Asian restaurant. The 300-seat space is unapologetically big and bold: a massive menu (including three-tiered trays of roast duck), a private dining room with a six-foot-tall Mirabelle panther made from disco ball tiles, a speakeasy shaped like a genie’s bottle tucked in the entry hall, and big brass doors that create a Narnia-like entrance and an escape from the mall’s fluorescent-lit corridors. Around 6:30–7 p.m. the room reads like a fancy supper club, with smoked mirror-paneled walls, a breezy rattan ceiling, glossy rosewood tables, dining chairs wrapped in green leather, deep velvet banquettes in crushed gold, and amber glass chandeliers that lend a bewitched vibe. The cuisine is a fusion of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos that emphasizes acidity and spice, freshness and fragrance; the vast menu (raw, satays, rolls, fish, steak, pork, fowl) is meant for a crowd and matches the high-end address — expect about $400 for two, with dishes from $22 for an appetizer-sized hamachi to $48 for a steamed sea bass and $175 for a beef shank. Salads like the tart, textured Emerald Goddess — a mix of jicama, honeydew, cucumber, apple, taro root, chrysanthemum, and watercress dressed in tamarind on an avocado purée punched up with cilantro, Thai basil, and chiles — are described as an interplay of sweet and sour: "It is everything, everywhere, all at once." The hamachi is praised as spot-on, though the fluke with watermelon radish is the standout; among rolls, the Netted Chicken ones are wrapped in a tempura crepe lattice for crunch. Larger plates impress: a garlic shrimp, presented as an ode to the dish made famous by Lotus of Siam off the Strip in Vegas, arrives plump, crispy and flash-fried — "so good you’ll be plucking them off the plate and eating them with your hands." A cured pork shank is bathed in chile vinegar and soy, deep-fried to a crust while the meat falls off in big pieces into aromatic turmeric-and-garlic rice. The Cho Lon Duck is a showstopper that "takes nearly three days to get the whole duck ready," with air-drying and roasting yielding tiers of thinly sliced duck breast, crispy-skinned legs and thighs, atypical sauces (Mekong salsa verde, hoisin, red curry) and add-ins like cucumber, pineapple, scallions and cilantro. Desserts by pastry chef Lucy Blanche "deserve their own column": she does four different soufflés a night (you’re encouraged to lock one in before dessert), and the red curry soufflé — despite sounding unconventional — is likened to "Weird Barbie: It’s the best." The rainbow sherbet cake (guava, makrut lime, and pineapple sherbet layered Carvel-style with chile-cashew-graham-cracker crunchies) is also singled out — the reviewer notes, "I ate an entire slice of her rainbow sherbet cake... after protesting several times that I could not eat another thing." Practical tips: Bryan Schneider’s salted lychee martini — served in a fluted coup and taking a cue from a margarita — is "tart and sweet and a little salty," the passion-fruit hot sauce is a standout condiment worth asking about, and if reservations are full the genie-in-the-bottle speakeasy in the entry hall accepts walk-ins and serves the full menu." - Andrea Strong
