Why Pink Lotus Is the 26 Thai Team’s Most Ambitious Restaurant Yet

This strong feminine energy is in line with her history of employing and empowering female executive chefs and managers throughout her restaurant group and at each of her venues. And in another connection, in Thai Buddhism, the pink lotus is held with reverence as a symbol of purity, creation, and the attainment of full enlightenment, which brings us to the substance behind the spirit.

“I’ve always wanted to push Thai food to the next level, to show that it can stand alongside the best in any genre,” Pattharakositkul says. “Chef Sam [Anchalisangkat] and I worked closely together to create the menu at Pink Lotus. I set the direction and she executed it beautifully with her skill and creativity, bringing my vision to life.”

“Thai food is so much more than just pad Thai. There are so many regional dishes and flavors people haven’t experienced yet … and I’m here to change that.”

And so are we. Here’s how Pink Lotus is reshaping how Atlantans see Thai cuisine, in seven dishes.

Pink Lotus Signature Trio

First, a quick, tiny tour of Thailand, with a trio of twee amuse bouche-like bites. Listed individually under Bold Bites, these dishes represent styles from different parts of the country, Pattharakositkul says.

Massaman Bombs are perhaps the most familiar, and the only place on the menu you’ll find this curry. Whipped into a mousse, the sauce is encased in a crispy, hollow pani puri dough sphere, a nod to India’s influence on Thailand’s cuisine.

The second bite: A little crunchy cup of juicy pomelo flesh dressed with tamarind, coconut, and herbs act as a lovely palate cleanser, refreshing and light. The third bite is on a base of crunchy tapioca pearls, referred to as sago or sakoo Thai, topped with minced chicken in a tomato chile with peanuts and shallots.

Crispy Kale and Minced Chicken Salad

For many, papaya salad at a Thai restaurant is an opening ritual. But at Pink Lotus, the reward of taking a chance on this course is well worth it. Chef Sam batters chunky kale leaves in a paper-thin tempura, fries them to filigree, and tops them with minced chicken in a sauce of Thai herbs before your server finishes the bowl at the table with a spicy lime dressing.

“Back home, this dish is usually made with morning glory, but since it’s hard to find here, we use crispy kale instead,” Pattharakositkul explains.

The result is spectacular — the kale is slightly sweetened, both by the batter and the heat its lightness allows to penetrate into the leaf’s structure to break it down to sugars. It wilts ever so gently under the weight of the saucy chicken, which is rich and thick; the acid of sliced red onions tilts the sensation back to equilibrium.

Southern Thai Charcoal Chicken

The Pink Lotus team doesn’t forget the street food dishes that have given Thai cuisine such a foothold in the U.S. It’s apparent in the neon signage and subway tile at the bar, black window panes, the calendar dates on the pillars … and enormous grilling skewers made of actual lemongrass stalks.

On these footlong sticks, wide, pounded-flat lengths of white chicken meat congregate in generous portion. They’re more golden than brown from the turmeric in the marinade and take on the flavor of other seasonings including coconut, chile, and herbs. Little balls of fried sticky rice, jalapenos, and sliced shallots accompany as palate cleansers.

Pro tip: For more modern takes on familiar Thai chicken iterations, the Pink Lotus Chicken on the entrée side of the menu is also worth a look. That chicken is similarly chargrilled, but it’s bone-in, skin-on, chopped into shareable portions, and served with tamarind dipping sauce. It’s a classic Thai street vendor dish faithfully recreated for the after-work crowd.

Smoky Isaan Beef Tartare

Lovers of the texture and presentation of beef tartare and the flavors and dimension of Thai laab can expect to find themselves obsessed with this smart fusion.

The dish arrives in a dramatic, smoke-filled dome, but it’s not just showmanship for the sake of social media. It’s purposeful, infusing slight earthiness to the patty of hand-minced beef tenderloin as well as offering another touch of old-fashioned tableside theater. The meat is seasoned with chile powder, lime, fresh herbs, and of course, the roasted rice that lends laab its distinctive extra dimension. Topped with a raw quail egg yolk to mix in, it’s an unctuous, luxurious dish. Meanwhile, sliced watermelon radish and shrimp chip-like popped sweet potato chips lightens up each bite in a way that kettle chips or traditional toast points could never.

Hor Mok

For something more intense and bridging traditional with novel, try Pattharakositkul’s version of hor mok. It’s a classic Thai dish that’s typically described as a custard, consisting of an egg mixed with red Thai curry and steamed in leaves until it reaches the texture of firm Chinese steamed eggs, or a good souffle.

At Pink Lotus, it’s still made with red curry paste and coconut cream, but everything, from the ingredients to the presentation, is maximalist. The custard base is made with branzino in the mixture, for starters. The pieces are scaled to bite sizes (they’re poured into a clay baking dish that has divots like those you’d find for escargot or deviled eggs) and steamed on a base of julienned greens — a natural nonstick base that lets you pop the bites out without breaking them. Half are exposed, visibly topped with fat chunks of crab meat and coconut cream sauce; the other half wear little clay hats to keep them warm.

Whole Steamed Branzino

Few things are more quintessentially Thai than getting a whole fish for the table, and it’s a must at Pink Lotus. There’s a grilled version on the menu with roasted coconut, palm syrup, rice noodles, and Thai herbs, but steamed is the version that Pattharakositkul insists on.

The whole, mostly deboned fish comes to the table in a metal fish-shaped plate, swimming in a chile-lime garlic sauce, garnished with slices of the citrus, with fresh herbs peeking out of the gills. It’s another dramatic plating, but a traditional one, with the tail intact and the head on for the prize morsel — the cheeks.

Another pro tip: Cheeks are one of those IYKYK pieces of meat, and Pattharakositkul certainly knows. (Another hot entrée to order here is the beef curry, which features beef cheek slowly stewed in a yellow curry base that veers into the greener side of the spectrum thanks to the Thai herbs and southern Thai spices used.)

Taro Cake

With Sean Gleason (formerly of Kimball House and gone-but-not-forgotten Biltong Bar) as 26 Thai’s beverage director, it’s harder to go wrong with your drink order than it is to make a decision.

For those drinking, a great way to start is the Garden Smash, a sunny and herbaceous cocktail with gin and lemongrass and topped with cucumber “air,” a foam that tastes and smells like the vegetable. Another is the Nam Prik Picante, a margarita-adjacent drink made with passionfruit and putting the house recipe nam prik to ingenious use, spiced up with chile lime.

After dinner, the Pink Lotus espresso martini gets a tropical twist with dark rum and a hint of coconut. For Old Fashioned enthusiasts, the bar’s Isaan riff on the cocktail is another failsafe way to end the night, with Thai basil bitters and toasted rice syrup adding intriguing aromas to a classic. Both pair well with a custardy taro cake, a novel sweet and savory play that surprises the tongue with crispy baked-in shallots and delights the eye with edible gold leaf and a beet powder “Pink Lotus” logo to remind you that this experience can be found nowhere else.