Coco

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.