Coco

"Out of the handful of Malaysian restaurants in Elmhurst, we go to Coco specifically for its comforting bowls of curry. You can get it with chicken, roti canai, as shrimp curry laksa, or in a hearty fish casserole—and each variation nails the perfect mix of sweet and spicy. The small restaurant is full-service, but it feels a bit like like a wooden-walled stall tucked into a larger market, so you can easily hide out there with your headphones, or have a quiet conversation over milky kopis. Check out the jade jewelry for sale in the back before you leave." - neha talreja, carina finn koeppicus, bryan kim

"At Coco, you get the curry. Everything else on the Thai-leaning menu is pretty solid too, but whenever we've made a beeline to the restaurant after New York City kicked our ass that day, it was for a comforting bowl of their Malaysian-style curry—with chicken or lamb, in a shrimp curry laksa, or with roti canai. The Elmhurst mainstay is also a useful hiding spot when you can’t handle human interaction. It’s a full-service, sit down restaurant, but the DIY-looking woodwork and a counter in the back selling jade jewelry make it feel more like a food stall tucked into a larger market. This is an ideal place to eat with your headphones in, or have a quiet conversation with a friend over sweet milky kopis." - Neha Talreja