Pok Pok Owner Opens Thai Whiskey Soda Lounge

NEW YORK—If you haven’t checked out Pok Pok owner Andy Ricker ’s latest Thai restaurant triumph, you’re missing out on savory, yet affordable, Thai delights. 

Whiskey Soda Lounge opened in Brooklyn on Aug. 19. 

The menu is thoughtfully divided into “Food Ready to Eat,” and “Food That Takes a While.”

For those who need to immediately satiate hunger, they can order appetizers such as “Chicken Three Ways,” an old school Thai drinking food with a mysterious name. It’s a mixture of chicken with chopped lemongrass, peanuts, and shallots ($3). There’s also deep-fried anchovies with Shark sriracha sauce ($3), and ¼-pound red peanuts house-roasted with lime leaf, garlic, chilies and sea salt ($5.50).

“Food that Takes a While” includes charcoal toasted dried large Thai cuttlefish, passed through the squid press and served with sweet or hot dipping sauce ($8); spicy poached fresh squid salad with chile, garlic, tomatoes, Chinese celery, green onions, mint and cilantro ($12); and five spice stewed pork chitlins, fried crisp and served with a sweet black vinegar dipping sauce ($8). 

Cocktails are all $12, and include exotic selections such as Tamarind Whiskey Sour made with tamarind, fresh lime juice, palm sugar, and bourbon on the rooks; Salted Lime Vodka Collins made with Thai salted lime, vodka, fresh lemon juice and soda on the rocks; and of course their Pok Pok gin and tonic made with house-infused Kaffir Lime gin served tall with tonic. 

They also have a rich whiskey list centered on bourbon, some scotches, and Irish whiskeys. 

Whiskey Soda Lounge 
115 Columbia St. (at Kane St.), 
Brooklyn
718-797-4120 

Hours
Daily from 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.