New York City: OBAO (September 2015)

My spouse and I dined at the Midtown East (53^rd Street between 2^nd and 3^rd Avenues) location of OBAO for lunch on a weekday afternoon in mid-September 2015. We had an appointment at nearby Sloan-Kettering, so we were looking for a casual lunch spot before our meeting. Additional outlets of OBAO is located in the Financial District as well as in Hell’s Kitchen. OBAO Midtown East opened in 2009, with the Financial District locale opening in 2011 and the Hell’s Kitchen location opening in 2015. OBAO’s sister restaurant is called Spot Dessert Bar.

 

The Midtown East location has a small street presence, yet the restaurant is long and narrow and can seat many customers. The restaurant can open the front windows in nice weather for a bit of an al fresco feel (it was a bit hot on the day that we visited, so the windows were closed.) Approximately four tables are located at the front of the restaurant area (with one wall of banquette seating), which leads into a bar/counter where you can watch the food prep. Additional tables are located near the counter, with overflow seating in a room at the rear of the restaurant. The décor is minimalist/Asian, with wood tables and chairs.

OBAO serves Thai and Vietnamese comfort cuisine with a twist – according to their website, their aim is to take traditional dishes and add luxury and elegance. We shared the pork belly as an appetizer, which was amazing! The flavor, texture, and quantity of the meat would make us order this dish every time that we visited. The portion size was huge for $8, and the dish was served sliced rather than cubed, as we usually see in other restaurants. For entrees, we shared the pad see kew (broad flat noodles with chicken and Asian greens) and the lemongrass kalbi (sesame short ribs - served on the bone - with vegetables), priced at $10 and $14 respectively for lunch portions (which were large). OBAO offers a full bar of drinks to compliment your meal.

Service was excellent on the day that we visited, despite the restaurant being quite full with office workers from nearby businesses. Our waitress was patient with us, even though we do not have a lot of experience with Vietnamese and Thai food.

We were pleased with our rather impromptu lunch at OBAO, and we would happily visit again. We felt lucky to find such an enjoyable lunch spot without the benefit or a reservation or research.