Montien Thai Restaurant

Description:

• You could pass modest Montien a thousand times and think it's just another Thai restaurant. In fact, it's home to perhaps the best som tam (green papaya salad) in Manhattan. Order a side of sticky rice to sop up the leftover juice. Garlicky Thai sausage is wrapped in a spinach leaf with peanuts, diced lime, fresh ginger and peppers, and delivers the four cornerstone flavors of Thai cuisine in each bite: salty, spicy, sweet and sour. Talay (seafood grill) is a feast. Instead of the usual fried-banana finisher, ask for the juicy mango slices, which come with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and a side of coconut-laden sticky rice (TONY 2003).