Photo: QueensPost
Aug. 4, 2014 By Christian Murray
A restaurant focusing on Asian bistro is opening on Queens Boulevard in two weeks.
Blu Orchid, which will be located at 45-04 Queens Blvd, will be offering an assortment of Asian menu items—from tuna noodles to Pad-Thai.
The restaurant, which is taking over the space formerly occupied by Nodus, will be owned by three Queens residents who all have a long history in the Thai food business.
Salang Niphitkumthong, who previously worked at Topaz in Manhattan for more than a decade, said that the restaurant will be offering a mixture of Thai, Japanese, French and even Spanish dishes.
“There is already Dee Thai, Yum Yum and I am Thai in the neighborhood and we don’t want to compete with them,” Niphitkumthong said.
He said his plan is to open a high-end Asian fusion restaurant that will be on a similar level as Salt & Fat and Venturo. He said his aim will be to attract local residents as well as people from outside the neighborhood.
Niphitkumthong and his partners decided to open in Sunnyside claiming the neighborhood is on an upswing. “This area is getting more popular,” he said. “People are moving to Astoria and Sunnyside,” he said.
Prame Sakul Clanuwat, a Woodside resident who is also a partner in the business, also comes with a deep background in the Thai restaurant business. He has managed Sea Thai, a popular Thai restaurant in Brooklyn, for several years.
The restaurant has hired Sakul Clanwat’s aunt to be the chef. She is presently a chef at Kittichai, a well-known Thai restaurant in Soho.
The third partner owns a Thai restaurant in Coney Island called Lotus.
The restaurant, which has room for about 30 diners, will offer items such as:
Chicken lollipop, fried calamari, rock shrimp, BBQ ribs, corn soup, salads, Pad Thai, duck confit, hanger steak, grilled salmon and tiger prawns.
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30 Comments
Hey Hipsters are dirty and moronic, not sure if you realized this but most of these so-called “Asian” restaurants are frequented by more non-Asians in the neighborhood. Such a stupid comment. Replace Asian with white or European and see if you would say the same thing about a so-called white or European restaurant.
Beenhere25yearandImajerk,
I’m really impressed (not) that you’ve been here so so soooo long. Guess what? We haven’t, but what we all have in common is that we’re interested in the community and hope to see Sunnyside and its businesses prosper and NOT crash and burn after a few months. Look around you, there are a lot of empty store fronts. As a resident, I would love to stick around the hood for great entertainment/food and not have to commute into Manhattan or BK, and I have a feeling from the other posters that they probably feel the same way from looking at the comments. So your comments about us being ‘idiots’, shows how ignorant you are. If you don’t like Sunnyside post, exit stage left.
Buh bye.
Asian people generally like to eat food that hasn’t been watered down, a la Elmhurst.
Thank a hipster if your a homeowner? Has to be one of the stupidest things I’ve heard. How about thanking all the people that have careers in the six digit income category moving to the neighborhood and contributing to the census polls.
It wouldn’t have anything to do with the high Asian population living in the area that contributes to the opening of this restaurant?
YOU’RE WELCOME!! 🙂
signs a neighborhood is getting better – more thai places
signs its heading south fast – pollo ala brasa
signs you should really cut your losses and move out – polla ala brasa, two or more on one block with specials hand written on fluorescent paper. oh man, the kiss of death…
if your a homeowner in Sunnyside show your appreciation, thank a hipster today that we are seeing thai
No. That wasn’t funny. Try again.
Pretty soon they’re gonna have to name Sunnyside, AsianBistroside! mmmright? cmon…who’s with me??
anybody?
Did Sunnyside post post the financial statements for modus? There are many reasons for a business owner to decide to close a business, some of which have nothing to do with financial failure.
I think this neighborhood needs a Dumb Starbucks.
I’ve lived here for over 40 years and I welcome anyone who tries to improve this neighborhood. You will not please everyone all the time. We just don’t need any more 99 cent stores, cell phone stores, pawn shops, nail salons, and all the other crappy stores. They bring the neighborhood down.
@Beenhere25years – I love Sunnyside Post. It’s very informative and entertaining with the comments from the “idiots in the neighborhood”. I like to know what other people think.
whats with thai people? after one fails they open up more in the same location. Greenpoint an 42nd had like 3 in a row that failed, now its bbq hut.
I would like to see the Sunnyside Post go away. I didn’t think there were this many idiots in the neighborhood until I read this rag.
Venturo rocks Anonymous is one of the old farts who needs to go away!!!!
I didn’t see any permits, what’s going on???
I’ll give it a try.
I hope they take down the TVs Nodus inexplicably put up. My husband and I ate at Nodus a lot (the food was pretty good there), and it really annoyed us when they put up the TVs. Even when you want to pay attention to the people you’re eating with, your eye keeps getting drawn to the moving images on the wall your facing, and it turns meal time in to a more difficult social experience.
@Flores65 – Weren’t you young and trendy once?
Venturo sucks, went there for brunch once and the food was a huge disappointment. No idea where any of the hype comes from.
thai don’t know how many more of these restaurants we need.
Don’t we already have a place like this? There is one on 50-19 Skillman Ave.
“He said his plan is to open a high-end Asian fusion restaurant that will be on a similar level as Salt & Fat and Venturo.”
Can we please not make this place into one of those young trendy places? Does it really have to be high-end? I will still visit though.
NY Eats is awful ate there once never went back too many LOUD aNNOYING PARENTA AND THERE DEMON SPWAN.
Good luck to the owners. It sounds like they know what they are doing.
I wish the owner best of luck, I hope this one stays open longer than others, I wish them the success of the restaurant next door (NY Style Eats). It’s just that these Asian places haven’t had the success probably due to higher than normal Asian food prices, but if they are decent enough and just gets going with food that appeals to everyone not just Asians, they will succeed!
Yeh, that’s what would make Sunnyside complete an Ethiopian restaurant!
Stop complaining. No matter what they would open you would complain.
Sigh… I’m sure this new restaurant will be nice, however we need something different. We are over populated with Asian restaurants, dollars stores and shady cell phone places. IF there’s going to be another Asian restaurant, why not a ramen, pho or dumpling place? Korean food? How about a healthy sit-down option? Ethiopian? Anything! Anyway no disrespect to the new restaurant or it’s owners. Just griping.
Looks like it’ll be dimly lit and relaxing – excellent! Look forward to trying it! Glad to see more non-fast food / takeout options in the neighborhood.
empty storefront in 10-12 months. has the proprietor not looked down the block, across the street, and around the corner?