Raan Thai opens 2nd spot on Long Island, in Huntington Station
Spicy beef salad from Raan Thai in Huntington Station. Credit: Newsday/Marie Elena Martinez
The Smithtown-based Raan Thai has spent the last five years curating a following for dependable Thai food in western Suffolk. Huntington Station now gets to experience Yunaa Jantamongkol’s native cuisine as Raan Thai expands.
A bright, sunny eat-in space anchors the new Raan Thai. A mural exclaiming "Real Thai Taste" depicts colorful portions of dumplings, soup, noodles and rice along one of the dining room walls, with the other wall tastefully mirrored above blond-wood benches and tables backed by white subway tile. Although Raan Thai draws a takeout business, the spotless space is equally worth a visit for a full-service meal.
The new Raan Thai in Huntington Station. Credit: Newsday/Marie Elena Martinez
With a team of Thai chefs in the kitchen, the menu is dotted with familiar classics like tom yum goong soup ($8.25) with its spicy lemongrass and chili-based broth, and som tom, or tangy papaya salad ($11.25). But the winner is the tamarind chili salad with beef (which also comes with duck, $17.25), spiced to preference. Move onto grilled satay with peanut sauce ($11.25), noodles made various ways ($15.95) — pad Thai, pad see ew (flat noodles), pad ki mao (drunken noodles) — fried rice dishes — with pineapple, basil or sausage, and red or green curried — and protein-based stir fries ($15.95) and curries ($16.95), all spiced to preference. A new dish for the Huntington Station location is rad na, or crispy noodles with carrot and Chinese broccoli over a thick bone broth, Jantamongkol said. And although "most dishes are not very spicy," if you are in the market for a five-alarm mouth fire, try the kua kling duck ($27.95), a lacquered leg quarter on a bed of green beans and bell peppers that packs serious heat.
The Huntington Station spot is a solo venture for the Lake Grove resident who, after five years in Smithtown, was "ready for the next business opportunity." The first shop opened just after the pandemic, around the same time Jantamongkol immigrated to the States.
Raan Thai, 209 Walt Whitman Rd., Huntington Station, 631-223-2904, raanthainy.com; Open Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 12 Noon to 9:30 p.m.
A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.
