NYCReview
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
Wayla
Included In
During your meal at Wayla, you’ll probably be distracted by its coolness. You’ll be focused on who’s drinking which cocktail at the bar, and the imminent possibility of a swimwear photoshoot on the patio. It won’t be until later that night, when you find yourself texting your dinner partners things like “noodle-wrapped meatballs” that you realize the food here is incredible. Give it a few days and you’ll be at a party referencing the sen chan pad lobster to anyone who’s digested food before. And, after a week or so, when you’re absent-mindedly doodling Thai sausages at work, you’ll realize that Wayla is a place you should keep going back to you again and again.
In some ways, this restaurant is a manifestation of the neighborhood it’s in. It’s an attractive Lower East Side dungeon at the bottom of a steep staircase on Forsyth Street that you’ll have trouble finding no matter how many times you’ve been down it. The inside has two narrow dining rooms and a bar with a mirror so antique, you can barely see your reflection. Out back, there’s an idyllic patio full of rubber plants, oversized wire and wicker chairs, and outdoor rugs. If we were the sort of people who sat around with parasols, this is exactly where we’d want to twirl them. All of this will temporarily take your attention away from the plates of food in front of you, which tend to arrive quickly and all at once.
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
But later, certain dishes will resurface in your mind. Consider these Wayla’s contributions to the Billboard Hot 100. First, the pork meatballs wrapped in crispy noodles that look like crunchy yarn balls. They’re individually handwoven with knitting needles, and are the most impressive spherical appetizers you’ll ever eat. Another dish you’ll maniacally overanalyze later is the fried branzino. It comes presented as a whole fish, but the middle has already been cut and fried in perfect chunks. The result is like a Picasso fever dream, or, at the very least, a Cubist sculpture trying to impersonate a Picasso fever dream. These, the homemade Thai sausage, the lobster noodles, and the green beans with tofu will stick a landing in a way only a child who spent the summer at gymnastics camp knows how.
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
The food at Wayla is mostly excellent. But, like a lot of great things built and operated by humans, there are some misses. The daily curry is one. We love the actual curry (which is supposed to rotate, although it’s often a sweet, yellow vegetable base), but the vegetables in the curry are fairly flavorless. The Hat Yai fried chicken is another. It’s the chicken version of someone who married their boring high school sweetheart and now lives in the suburbs (only with some good green sauce to dip in). These small faults aside, the great stuff will be what you remember about this restaurant.
Even if (hypothetically) your friends primarily describe you as “quiet” and “super nice,” spend two minutes at Wayla and you’ll chameleon into a Lower East Side person who confidently hails cabs. In other words, Wayla is cool. But unlike many cool restaurants, this place has substance. It’s where you’ll find some of the city's great Thai food. You’ll just have to go home, change into your pajamas, and dream about noodle-wrapped meatballs to fully know it.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
Moo Sarong
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
Sai Oua
Larb Pla Tod
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
Sen Chan Pad Lobster
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
Kua Kling Kung
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
Tua Pad Prik Khing
photo credit: Noah Devereaux
Som Tum Thai
photo credit: Noah Devereaux