(This venue is closed.) Without code-switching, the menu board might instead have proposed "pad pakbung" or, simply, "stir-fried morning glory." Water spinach, kangkung, ong choy, and rau muong are a few of this vegetable's many other names. My lunchtime greens ($10.95, with rice) included whole soy beans for extra umami and sliced fresh chiles, at my request, for a little spicy kick.
Also shown is a mural, at storefront-spanning expanse and in detail, whose imagery code-switches the grain-farming heritage of North America and Southeast Asia. (According to my server, the chef comes from a family tradition of farming.) The stalks are more convincing as wheat than rice, and the scarecrow fits that scenario — except for the decoration dangling from one wrist.
Pam Real Thai Food
404 West 49th St. (Ninth-Tenth Aves.), Manhattan
212-315-4441
