Acclaimed Thai restaurant Fish Cheeks is opening a second location in Brooklyn. Fish Cheeks will open in Williamsburg at 661 Driggs Avenue next summer.
Fish Cheeks, whose name refers to the lean cheek meat of a fish that is a delicacy in Asia, has been serving the NoHo neighborhood for over seven years and is known for seafood specialities from all over Thailand.
On Instagram, Fish Cheeks wrote, “BK, here we come! We’ve been working so tirelessly to find the perfect location to call our second home and we finally found it and can’t wait to share meals with you all next summer 2024!”
Williamsburg locals have already been introduced to a member of the Fish Cheeks family. The executive chef and co-owner of Williamsburg’s KRU, Ohm Suansilphong, is a founder of Fish Cheeks.
Chef Suansilphong and his wife opened KRU (190 N. 14th St.) last year, and the restaurant has received much acclaim since, including recognition in the Michelin Guide and a spot as a James Beard semi-finalist for Best New Restaurant.
Fish Cheeks’ other founders include Ohm’s brother, Chat Suansilphong, Jenn Saesue and Pranwalai Kittirattanawiwat. “Fish Cheeks is a deeply personal concept that celebrates the team’s cultural heritage and the culinary artistry found in Bangkok and beyond,” according to the restaurant’s website.
“Brought together by their shared desire to bring traditional Thai cuisine to NYC, the team decided to open Fish Cheeks, offering a menu that highlights the unfiltered flavors they craved from their upbringing in Thailand and re-creates the type of convivial and communal-style dining found across the country.”
As mentioned, the menu concept at Fish Cheeks is family-style. There is even a note at the top of the menu that reads, “We recommend sharing for a better dining experience.”
The Manhattan location’s menu starts with “plates to snack,” a selection of appetizers which includes items like oysters, spicy fried chicken wings, mussels with lemongrass, and a sweet corn salad.
The section of larger dishes is titled “plates to share” and includes things like a steamed whole fish, a bone-in skate wing, a half-chicken, crispy rainbow trout, and crab fried rice. There’s Long Island duck in coconut curry, a vegan green curry, and southern style wok ground short rib with green peppercorn, lemongrass, and red finger chili, served with rice.
There is also an entire menu of gluten-free options at Fish Cheeks with almost as many dishes as the main menu.
There is also a thoughtful beverage program at Fish Cheeks that includes a variety of cocktails, wine, and nonalcoholic drinks like butterfly pea flower limeade.