Ugly Baby - Buy Reservations

We ordered a modest two dishes, Spare Ribs and Curried Rice, and were prepared for heat. The flavors were perfectly balanced salt, sweet, acid and a "hurts so good" heat. The sweet, cooling greens cucumbers, string beans, and lettuce were fun to munch on and the rice is all-you-can-eat!We sat at the bar facing the kitchen, and the staff gave us fair Scoville warning and recommended 2-3 dishes for two people. There drink menu is exciting and extensive - I'll definitely be back to explore more.

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Disclaimer: I hate super duper SPICY food and this place serves up five alarm bells level spicy!With that said, I wrote a review on Somtum Der (East Village) and gave them an extremely low rating because I spent the whole night and entire next day running to my toilet and nothing can erase that brutal memory. The good thing that came out of eating at Somtum Der is that I have a good baseline how spicy authentic Thai food can be. Ugly Baby serves really authentic Thai dishes- the kind of dishes you can neither spell nor pronounce, but look amazing on Instagram. After reading pages and pages of reviews of how spicy the dishes are, I prepared myself by taking 2 Imodium pills and making sure I had a big glass of Thai iced tea near me at all time during the meal.I first stumbled here when a friend and I stumbled across this place on Yelp. We decided to walk the 30 minutes from Downtown Brooklyn to Carroll Gardens and take our chances as walk-ins. Big mistake. This place is small, small, small. Upon walking in, we were immediately told that all the tables were reserved for the rest of the night. This was on a Sunday night. Seeing how popular this place was, I decided to make a reservation online a week in advance (the earliest you can book a table) and place your orders. Ok, this is the first time I've ever had to pre-order dishes a week in advance for a restaurant in NYC. But when in Rome, do as the Romans...For a party of two, we ordered the following:Khoong Muk Kai Kem/shrimp, squid, and salted egg yolk ($25) This was my favorite because I love seafood and it wasn't overly spicy. Kao Tod Nam Klook/curried rice, pork skin, peanut and ginger ($22): This was a very large plate of food. It wasn't my favorite, but also wasn't bad either. There were raw vegetables (string beans, cucumbers) that helped cool the palette, but I didn't think the flavors were particularly interesting. I wouldn't order this again.Tom Som Pla Kra Pong/red snapper in ginger and tamarind broth ($32) This was my second favorite dish because the broth was a gentle balance between sour and spicy and broke up a lot of the spice from the other dishes.Hor Mok Pu/steamed crab on banana leaf and coconut ($30) This was the spiciest dish, which I didn't enjoy. I also thought the taste of the steamed crab was off/not great/not to my liking. The texture was like of a paste instead of actual crab meat. There were also thinly-sliced red peppers sprinkled over the steamed crab which I avoided like the plague. My friend bravely ate them and I saw the regret in the aftermath. I would not order this again. Overall, it was a lovely meal (especially coming in knowing what you're getting into and being able to manage those expectations). My friend and I were initially seated at the bar which wasn't ideal because I hate sitting on bar stools. But, sitting at the bar was still nice because you have a full open view of the kitchen and the nice family that cooks the food. We were shortly moved to a table at the front of the restaurant which was much better. The family that runs the restaurant was personable and made us feel very welcome while offering suggestions from their extensive beer and beverage list. The ambience is also worth noting as super eclectic and vibrant- a lot of bright colors. I would recommend coming here at least once. Book early and come with an open mind. Next time you're craving Thai food, ditch the Pad Thai, and checkout this Brooklyn gem.

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Best Thai food I've had in NYC or beyond, we'll be back regularly to try more of the menu, especially now that you can book reservations (if you reserve ahead of time be prepared to select your dishes ahead of time as well). We ended up seated at the bar, which was a great opportunity to see the chefs at work. Excellent variety of beer, wine, and cider. All dishes were incredible, my favorite was the Nung Gai (crispy chicken skin), such a perfect amount of flavor and texture, definitely has a kick. Kang Hoh (red curry pork shoulder with glass noodles) has a kick to it! Tom Som Pla Kra Pong (red snapper in a ginger tamarind broth) was refreshing and has a bit of an acidic kick with the tamarind. Tong Pad Kai (kabocha squash, straw mushroom, egg, basil) didn't seem spicy at all and was nice to round out the meal. We were told that 4 dishes is too many for a group of 2 and to order 2-3 next time but no regrets, we had amazing leftovers for a couple of days. Would love to come back to try the prix fixe experience ($55 per person for groups of 6 or more).

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Definitely recommend! Came here on a Thursday evening and walked in with no wait around 6:30pm.I had read reviews that Ugly Baby was very spicy, and while it was a good level of spice, I definitely wouldn't call this unbearable. If you've at other spicy spots like Mala Project or Fish Cheeks, Ugly Baby isn't as spicy comparatively.All the dishes were great, though I probably wouldn't order the fried sea bream again (Pla Tod Kamin). The flavor of the skin was great, but the fish itself was pretty dry.

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My wife and I had been waiting to eat here during our NY vacation. I already checked their hours of operation before going and it said they're open Sat 12pm. We get there today around 1:45pm and the whole place is closed and the chairs are all stacked. Wth is that all about?

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I wish I can give ZERO stars, really looked forward to this place with my co workers. Waited 40 mins for food and nothing, not even 1 dish came out. Everyone who sat after us even go the food. Totally unacceptable. RUDE RUDE service!Also we pre ordered foods one hour a head before you go to the restaurant. I am totally shocked by service is so RUDE! Unbelievable...Service is Totally unacceptable

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The food is good if you like something super hot and spicy, but the service was rude. We had to wait outside for the food and not inside. We were rushed out and told to wait outside for our to go order. We are not for sure if it was because we were black or in costume for leaving a convention?? We would not come again, it was not worth our money. This is sad since we love Thai. If you are looking to clear your sinuses this is the place to go, especially if you want your butt hole on fire later.

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This restaurant had been on my list for almost two years since I moved to New York. Going to Ugly Baby during the summer of 2021 required both a reservation a week in advance as well as the list of dishes that the table planned to order. Nothing that I say is of anything new-- Ugly Baby is one of the most unique Thai restaurants I have been to. All of their menu items are names that I had never seen before, which made it all the more exciting.Khoong Muk Kai Kem - shrimp and squid cooked with salted duck yolk. This was absolutely my favorite dish of the evening, and maybe one of the best things I have ever eaten. I ordered another bowl of rice just so I could soak up the remaining sauce. Kang Hoh - pork shoulder and glass noodles slathered with red curry paste and Hung Le curry. Rice is also mandatory to clean up the plate. Laab Ped Udon - Beware, this one is not for the faint of heart. I have a very high spice tolerance, and I could not stomach more than a few tiny bites of this dish. The duck salad is fantastically flavorful, but the spice was so overwhelming that we had to box most of this after several glasses of water.

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first off, making you order the food with the reservation is pretty crazy. second of all, if you have the ability to, sit on the inside wall of the restaurant (the side behind the host table) bc when the sun sets that heat burning on the side of your face plus the spicy food is pretty killer. third of all, you will be full much faster than the normal amount of food you would typically order bc you'll be chugging water/thai tea/eating rice to fill up. The spicy duck salad made me cry and I have a decent spice tolerance. My bf eats spicy buldak chicken noodles for fun and he said it was the spiciest thing he's ever eaten in his life. that being said, everything else was very good. the pork shoulder was delicious, as was the eggplant and the penang curry (best thai curry i've had). I think the spiciness could've been better managed if the sun wasn't beating down on me. this was a very cute place with fun colors and sweet staff. Prepare yourselves!

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Ugly baby takes a lot of pride in having very spicy food but unfortunately it was not that spicy nor flavorful full to me with the exception of one dish. The dishes are meant for sharing so between my friend and I we order three dishes- the duck salad, spare ribs, and shrimp, squid and salted egg yolk dish. The duck salad was spicy but lacked any real flavor and did not have that much duck. The portion of the spare ribs was very generous but it was coated in fish sauce. Don't get me wrong, I love the fish sauce but with spare ribs it was a bit of an unusual combination for me. However, The shrimp, squid and salted egg yolk dish was absolutely fantastic and redeemed the other two meals. I guess it's truly a luck of the draw when ordering meals here, if I return maybe I'll lean towards trying the more popular items versus being adventurous.

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I am telling you right now: I've lived in New York City for ~10 years, and the Kao tod nam klook (curried rice and pork skin) is one of the best dishes I've had here. Period. There were moments where I couldn't believe the burst of flavors with every bite. Insanely delicious.We also got the fried turmeric sea bream (I swallowed bones and I liked it that's how good it was) and the banana leaf crab meat curry called Hor Mok (which was easily my second favorite meal at our table). Beyond that, every single person working was personable, happy to be there, and so damn pleasant. I can't remember but I think I tipped 27% just because I loved them so much. Anyway, in short: go here. Go here now.

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