Photo: QueensPost
Aug. 4, 2014 By Christian Murray
A restaurant focusing on Asian bistro is opening on Queens Boulevard in two weeks.
Blu Orchid, which will be located at 45-04 Queens Blvd, will be offering an assortment of Asian menu items—from tuna noodles to Pad-Thai.
The restaurant, which is taking over the space formerly occupied by Nodus, will be owned by three Queens residents who all have a long history in the Thai food business.
Salang Niphitkumthong, who previously worked at Topaz in Manhattan for more than a decade, said that the restaurant will be offering a mixture of Thai, Japanese, French and even Spanish dishes.
“There is already Dee Thai, Yum Yum and I am Thai in the neighborhood and we don’t want to compete with them,” Niphitkumthong said.
He said his plan is to open a high-end Asian fusion restaurant that will be on a similar level as Salt & Fat and Venturo. He said his aim will be to attract local residents as well as people from outside the neighborhood.
Niphitkumthong and his partners decided to open in Sunnyside claiming the neighborhood is on an upswing. “This area is getting more popular,” he said. “People are moving to Astoria and Sunnyside,” he said.
Prame Sakul Clanuwat, a Woodside resident who is also a partner in the business, also comes with a deep background in the Thai restaurant business. He has managed Sea Thai, a popular Thai restaurant in Brooklyn, for several years.
The restaurant has hired Sakul Clanwat’s aunt to be the chef. She is presently a chef at Kittichai, a well-known Thai restaurant in Soho.
The third partner owns a Thai restaurant in Coney Island called Lotus.
The restaurant, which has room for about 30 diners, will offer items such as:
Chicken lollipop, fried calamari, rock shrimp, BBQ ribs, corn soup, salads, Pad Thai, duck confit, hanger steak, grilled salmon and tiger prawns.
