Restaurant in New York City, United States

Soothr

Name: Soothr
Address: 204 E 13th St, New York, NY 10003, New York City, US
Telephone: (212) 844-9789

300Pearl Points

Bold regional Thai; go with a group.

About Soothr

Soothr is the East Village Thai restaurant that has earned Opinionated About Dining Casual North America recognition three years in a row (2023–2025), and it rewards repeat visits more than first ones. Come with a group of three or four to cover a wide, regionally specific menu, consider the bar for solo visits — the cocktail program is genuinely worth your time. Booking ahead for dinner is advisable; the room fills consistently.

Should You Go Back to Soothr? Yes — and the Second Visit Is Better Than the First

If you went to Soothr once and liked it, go again. The kitchen at 204 E 13th St in the East Village has been earning its stripes consistently enough to rank on the Opinionated About Dining Casual in North America list three years running — Recommended in 2023, #277 in 2024, #281 in 2025. That kind of sustained recognition tells you this is not a flash-in-the-pan opening. What changes on a return visit is your confidence to order wider and deeper into a menu that rewards exactly that.

What Soothr Is

Chef Nate Lingwan runs a regional Thai kitchen that takes the cuisine seriously without turning the room into a lecture. The interior reads warm and lived-in: weathered wood beams, tufted red leather booths, lanterns, a back garden that pulls its weight in the warmer months. There is also a bar fitted with an antique telephone, a detail that signals the room has a personality. The back garden, in particular, is worth requesting if you are visiting in season.

The OAD citation points to bold, zippy seasoning across the board. Roasted eggplant salad is flagged as a strong opener; grilled pork salad arrives in a spicy lime and chili dressing that is described as turbocharged. The menu is sizeable, which is a practical consideration: come with a group of three or four if you want to cover real ground. Solo or two-leading visits are fine, but you will leave aware that you missed a third of the menu.

The Bar and Counter Experience

The bar at Soothr is not a waiting area, it is a legitimate place to eat. The cocktail program is noted as thoughtful in the OAD record, which means this is a room where drinks have been given actual consideration rather than assembled as an afterthought. If you are a solo diner or a pair who wants a more casual entry point into the food, the bar is the right seat. You get the full kitchen output, a more spontaneous pace, a better sightline to the room's character. For groups, the booths and garden anchor the experience. But for an explorer who wants to order a few dishes across the menu and let the meal breathe, the bar counter is the move.

Antique telephone behind the bar is a useful orientation marker, sit near it and you are in the social center of the room, not tucked into a corner.

How Soothr Compares in NYC Thai

Within the New York City Thai category, Soothr operates at a different register than many competitors. Fish Cheeks in Nolita focuses on Thai seafood with a more contemporary presentation. Ayada in Elmhurst is the value standard-bearer for regional Thai in the outer boroughs. Bangkok Supper Club leans into a more modern, event-driven format. Chalong and Eim Khao Mun Kai each occupy narrower lanes. Soothr's advantage is the combination of a broad regional menu, a genuine room with character, three consecutive years of OAD recognition, that is a more durable case for a repeat booking than novelty alone.

If your interest in Thai food extends beyond New York, Nahm in Bangkok and Samrub Samrub Thai in Bangkok represent the source-country benchmark for the kind of regional depth Soothr is working toward. Knowing those rooms makes Soothr's ambition clearer.

Practical Details

Reservations: Booking difficulty is rated Easy on Pearl, but the OAD record notes the room fills fast, book ahead for weekend dinner rather than relying on walk-in availability. Hours: Monday through Thursday and Sunday 12–3:30 pm and 5–10 pm; Friday and Saturday 12–3:30 pm and 5–11 pm. Location: 204 E 13th St, East Village, New York, NY 10003. Group size: Three to four people is the format that gets the most out of the menu; solo and two-leading visits work well at the bar.

Pearl Picks, Explore Further

Our full New York City restaurants guide
Our full New York City hotels guide
Our full New York City bars guide
Our full New York City wineries guide
Our full New York City experiences guide
Fish Cheeks, Thai seafood in Nolita
Ayada, regional Thai in Elmhurst
Bangkok Supper Club
Chalong
Eim Khao Mun Kai
Nahm, Thai in Bangkok
Samrub Samrub Thai, Bangkok
Emeril's in New Orleans
Lazy Bear in San Francisco
Alinea in Chicago
Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg
The French Laundry in Napa
Providence in Los Angeles

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a first-timer know about Soothr?

Come with at least three people. The menu is large and built around regional Thai specialties — the OAD record specifically calls out dishes like roasted eggplant salad, grilled pork salad, chicken khao soi, pork blood soup as highlights worth ordering across the table. Chef Nate Lingwan's kitchen runs best when you're covering ground, not ordering one or two dishes solo. Book ahead; Pearl rates the booking difficulty as Easy, but OAD notes the room fills fast, especially on weekends.

Can I eat at the bar at Soothr?

Yes, it's a real option, not a fallback. The bar at 204 E 13th St is fitted out with an antique telephone and anchors the main room — it's a deliberate design choice, not a waiting area. The cocktail program is noted as thoughtful in Soothr's OAD record, so pairing bar seats with a few dishes from the regional menu is a workable plan, particularly if you're dining as a pair and couldn't get a booth.

Does Soothr handle dietary restrictions?

Soothr's menu leans heavily on meat, seafood, fermented ingredients that are standard in regional Thai cooking — which means vegetarians and those avoiding shellfish-based seasonings should ask specifically before ordering. The menu is sizeable enough that there are options to work, but this is not a kitchen that leads with dietary accommodation. If vegetarian Thai is the priority, Fish Cheeks in Nolita has more explicit flexibility on that front.

What is Soothr known for?

Soothr is primarily known for Thai in New York City.

Location

204 E 13th St, New York, NY 10003

New York City, United States

Compare Soothr

Worth the Price? Soothr vs. Peers

Venue	Price
Soothr
Le Bernardin	$$$$
Atomix	$$$$
Eleven Madison Park	$$$$
Masa	$$$$
Per Se	$$$$

What to weigh when choosing between Soothr and alternatives.

Also Consider

Le Bernardin, French, Seafood, $$$$
Atomix, Modern Korean, Korean, $$$$
Eleven Madison Park, French, Vegan, $$$$
Masa, Sushi, Japanese, $$$$
Per Se, French, Contemporary, $$$$

How Soothr Compares

If you are comparing Soothr against New York's most decorated restaurant tables, you are looking at a different category entirely. Le Bernardin, Atomix, Eleven Madison Park, Masa, and Per Se are all $$$$ tasting-menu or high-ticket operations where the booking process is itself a commitment and per-head spend runs well into three figures. Soothr operates on a different axis: it is a casual, walk-in-accessible neighborhood restaurant with a broad a la carte menu, three consecutive years of OAD Casual North America recognition. These are not competing for the same occasion.

The practical comparison is this: if you want a high-investment, high-ceremony dinner where the kitchen is driving every decision, one of the $$$$ options above is your booking. If you want a genuinely good regional Thai meal in a room with personality, where you control the pace, order widely, spend significantly less, Soothr is the stronger choice. For the explorer who wants depth and range in the Thai category specifically, Soothr outpaces most of its Manhattan peers on the combination of menu breadth and award-backed consistency.

For value-driven diners, Soothr is the easier yes in this comparison set. Booking is rated Easy on Pearl, the hours cover both lunch and dinner seven days a week, you are not committing to a fixed menu or a long lead time. The $$$$ venues listed here require weeks or months of advance planning and a much higher floor spend. Know what kind of evening you are building, the decision makes itself.