An exceptional Thai restaurant has slipped into a sleepy block of Carroll Gardens. UnTable, opened by the talented thirty-nine-year-old chef Aun Kampimarn, in September, in a charming tin-ceilinged room, exudes cheerful, unpretentious vibes, while serving elegant, modern iterations of classic Thai combinations. The restaurant’s earnest intention can be found both in its name—“Un,” a variation of Aun, signals the chef’s unconventional approach to Thai cuisine—and in a poem on Instagram by Meen Srisopa, a co-owner, that ties the cricket sounds of Kampimarn’s childhood to a Chilean-sea-bass recipe that incorporates a tomato sauce reminiscent of his grandmother’s.
Kampimarn—who grew up in Udon Thani, in northeast Thailand, and came to the U.S. thirteen years ago—once cooked at the highly praised Somtum Der, in Red Hook, but it was with the pre-service family meals that he auditioned his recipes; these became the basis for the menu at UnTable. The appetizer Yum Samgler, which evokes a jaunty fruit ceviche, is more poignant with a primer: Yum refers to cold salad, in this case a refreshing medley of cherry tomato, grapes, fig, strawberry, and avocado, and Samgler alludes to a group of three friends which wouldn’t be the same without any one member, nodding here to the cilantro, garlic, and black pepper in the bright lime dressing—and also, as Srisopa told me, to the restaurant’s three original partners. A shrimp appetizer wouldn’t normally quicken the pulse, but for Goong Lui Saun four poached tiger shrimp, shell-on, are doused in a zippy lime-and-fish-sauce dressing that highlights thick coins of fresh lemongrass, large chunks of raw garlic and ginger, Thai chili, whole fried cashews, triangles of lime, peel included, and micro-cilantro. It’s hot, sweet, bitter, and, with all that raw garlic, a thrilling shock.
Seared scallops and enoki mushrooms grace a gorgeously creamy Tom Kha chowder, a December special, derived from a paste of galangal, lime leaves, and lemongrass slow-cooked with coconut milk. Crab croquettes, under a wig of frizzled lemongrass and lime leaf, are a lovely prelude to that Chilean sea bass, E-San Style, lavish with moons of kabocha squash. For the spice-curious, the must-order dish is the WHAT THE HELL!! fried rice, labelled, on the menu, with twelve chili peppers. Upon its arrival to my table, not one but two gracious servers instructed us to first try the rice mounded in the center, already laden with some very spicy Thai chilies, before mixing in more chilies, along with bits of rolled egg, fried onion, sweet sautéed pork, mango, and green beans. Without the extra chili, it was more of a What the Heck experience; crank up the heat at your own risk. The sole dessert, a vivacious yuzu-basil sorbet, is a fitting précis of Kampimarn’s food—bracing and comforting at once. (Dishes $14-$38.) ♦
