It’s Bangkok by way of SoHo at
Manayunk’s stylish new Thai spot

In the Philadelphia area, Thai restaurants tend to stay on the conservative side: earnestly prepared dishes of pad thai and curry on the table, a few standard-issue Buddhas slapped up by way of decor. Not for Nongyao “Moon” Krapugthon, who studied photography at art school in New York. Krapugthon has just followed up her first stylish restaurant, Manayunk’s Chabaa Bistro, with MangoMoon, a new sake bar and dinner spot just down Main Street specializing in Thai small plates. Call it Thapas—or don’t—but it’s a decidedly new (or at least New York) take on Thai dining.

The tri-level space features several contributions by Moon’s artist friends: a glowing photographic mural draped from the ceiling; a prayer scrawled in Thai script written in tens of thousands of copper nails hammered into one wall; a copper-colored disk suspended in the stairwell to revolve with the changing air currents. “When we started out,” says Krapugthon, “I said, ‘No Buddhas’ [in the décor].” She did end up with a few, but the end result is anything but kitschy.

And the dishes that come out of the tiny open kitchen are no less intriguing. Thai fare, influenced by pan-Asian cuisines along with whatever’s fresh at the markets in Chinatown and on Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia, comes in a variety of dishes perfect for sharing. Krapugthon, a self-taught cook, says her dishes are inspired by Bangkok street food more than anything. “Small” dishes ($5-$9) include raw blue-point oysters with chili-lime sauce; sea cucumber and tofu soup; and Northern Thai-style pork sausage made with galangal, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, shrimp paste and curry. “Medium” plates ($12-$25) are more like substantial entrees: think grilled filet mignon rubbed with herbs and spices and served with sautéed spinach and spicy aged soy sauce.

We stopped by on a recent evening for an early meal, starting with crispy shrimp rice crackers and the cups of hot, sugary ginger infusion that MangoMoon serves instead of ordinary tea. We tried Vietnamese mint leaf wraps stuffed with roasted, shredded coconut and sun-dried rock shrimp, mixed with minced ginger, kaffir lime leaves, shallots and a palm sugar sauce for an explosion of sweet, salty and herbal flavors. We also tasted the fruit salad, a surprisingly savory take on a mix of guava, mango, apple and Asian pear, with sun-dried rock shrimp and a palm sugar and tamarind sauce.

From the menu of larger offerings, we sampled the fillet of cobia sautéed in spicy red curry, fish sauce and coconut milk, with French string beans, red and yellow bell peppers, carrots and a bowl of steamed jasmine rice. The kick of the curry was wonderfully complemented by the light, delicate fish.

MangoMoon offers a range of signature martinis, Thai and domestic beers and sake. But along with our lotus-infused “cool down” drinks, Krapugthon’s husband, Pat, brought us tiny sake cups filled with a special, off-menu ginger-infused gin that packed a major punch.

The hint of ginger in a shot of gin, of fried scallions atop a creamy yellow bean and mung bean dessert, or of dried shrimp and tamarind in a fruit salad—these are the twists that set MangoMoon apart, that smack of faraway culinary origins.

That, says Krapugthon, is the point: “It’s an adventure. It’s experimental in such a way that I take you on a journey with me.”

MANGOMOON: 4161 Main St., Manayunk, 215-487-1230, mymangomoon.com, dinner only, $$$