Tyrynda Thai: What's New and What's Popular

Tyrynda Thai Restaurant's is out with a new menu but "not many changes in the old menu have been made," Sunny Soncharoen, co-founder, told Patch.

Sunny and Darunee Soncharoen opened Tyrynda Thai Restaurant on March 28, 2009 at the same street corner location in Sleepy Hollow previously occupied by Thai Garden Restaurant. This is the first restaurant ownership venture for the husband-and-wife team who live in Sleepy Hollow.

Sunny has been in the restaurant business for 40 years; he was previously with Captain's Table in Greenwich Village and La Reserve in Rockefeller Center. For many years, Darunee operated florist shops in Queens. 

To run the kitchen they recruited Sunny's youngest brother Tichai Soncharoen from Thailand where he worked as a chef. Tichai is one of Sunny's 12 siblings (six brothers and six sisters). Sunny is the oldest of the boys.

Many of the specialties on the menu are dishes Tichai cooked at Thailand restaurants but others reflect the influences of Middle Eastern and Italian cuisines.

What's new?

The newly updated menu adds the following items:

1. Lad Na (stir-fried flat rice noddles and Chinese broccoli in Thai lightly peppered gravy)
2. Beef stew with rice noodles, bean sprouts and scallions in beef broth
3. Duck soup with rice noodles, bean sprouts and scallions in duck broth
4. Dishes served with sweet and sour sauces made with tomato, cucumber, onions, scallions, bell peppers, carrots and pineapple

A newly introduced "frozen" beverage is scrumptious. "It's a nonalcoholic mocha cappuccino frappé you can drink or eat with a spoon," Sunny said.

Dishes no longer on the menu include Moo Shu duck, Goong Grob shrimp, Pong Pang Talay mixed seafood and Three Lovers (shrimp, chicken and pork).

What's popular?

At dinner, the most popular appetizers, Sunny said, are:

1. Lump crab cake with fried, marinated crabmeat, onions and mayonnaise honey sauce
2. Duck roll (two portions per order) with duck, cucumber and scallion firmly wrapped in Moo Shu duck skin with tamarind hoisin sauce on the side.
3. Thai crepes (dumplings with ground peanuts and tasty turnips wrapped in rice flour crepes)

The dinner entree menu is quite extensive and house specialties abound. Highly recommended are: Tiger Cries (grilled sliced flank steak over vegetables), called a treat in "Restaurant Review - Tyrunda Thai" (Tarrytown-Sleepy Hollow Patch, Jan.6, 2010); Gai Yang (marinated sliced chicken breast with a pair of delicious dipping sauces); and an attractive plate of four succulent Bankok jumbo shrimp coated with chopped scallops and shallots, and served over a large bed of tasty spinach.

Dishes can be as spicy as you like. Duck however is always crispy.

The dinnertime entrees most frequently ordered, Sunny revealed, include:

1. Short ribs Massaman curry, slow cooked, with potatoes and onions
2. Fried soft-shell crab over mixed vegetables with choice of sauce including garlic and green
3. Very crispy duck served boneless with spicy Thai sauce
4. Jumbo Phrig Pao with bell peppers, onions, cashews and pineapple in mild chili shrimp paste

The best selling beverages, Sunny told us, are the lychee martini (made with lychee juice), Singha beer (a Thailand brew), Bass ale, Black Guinness beer, Thai iced tea and wine by the glass or carafe). White wine comes with chilled glasses.

Popular dessert choices include ice cream, fried banana, coconut sticky rice and Crème Brûlée (coffee or tea flavored).

Worthy of special praise are a bevy of attractively priced lunch specials, offered on Tuesday through Friday. Starting at $8.95, they include a main beef, chicken or vegetable selection, a spring roll, and a salad with either peanut sauce or ginger miso dressing or soup (chicken wonton or vegetable tofu).
 
Tyrynda Thai Restaurant has an attentive wait staff, a cheerful and tasteful decor including soft lime-green walls lined with colorful art and a fresh-water, tropical fish tank. However, the Buddha sculpture is gone.

The restaurant is open on Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 9 p.m.; on Friday and Saturday from noon to 10 p.m.; and on Sunday from noon to 9 p.m. It is closed on Monday. Delivery is free for orders over $15 to Sleepy Hollow, Tarrytown, Briarcliff Manor and Irvington.

Located at 128 Cortlandt St., Sleepy Hollow, Tyrynda Thai Restaurant has 24 tables and a parking lot in back (enter the lot from College Ave., and use the Cortlandt St. entrance for restaurant). Both free and metered parking are nearby. 914-524-5003, www.tyryndathai.com.