NEW THAI RISING STAR

While most people associate comfort foods with blandness, Pad Thai makes it into the comfort food pantheon with its incredible balance of sweet and tangy, crunchy and slippery. As recognizable to Americans as Chinese moo-shu pork, Pad Thai consists of stir-fried rice noodles, fish sauce, tamarind, peanuts, egg, bean curd and cilantro. Sura's sprightly version, with little cubes of smoked tofu, comes in a seemingly bottomless black bowl and does not disappoint, especially for $5 during the new restaurant's BYOB "Happy Hour" from 4 to 7 p.m. I used to have to go to Lemongrass, a serviceable chain, to fill my Pad Thai craving, but Sura is the latest addition to a burgeoning Upper West Side "Little Bangkok." This sleek, narrow restaurant, with elegant black décor featuring mirrors, candles and a mod candelabrum, joins other neighborhood newcomers like Thai Market and Sookk. And while the menu includes old Thai favorites, it also has plenty of exotic fare, like seaweed-crusted tofu in chile honey sauce ($4): creamy, luxurious tofu (not an oxymoron!) with a crispy coating that tastes like ocean foam was whipped into the batter. I'll be back to sample an entrée of Berkshire pork belly with tamarind sauce. Hopefully, Sura will have its liquor license by then. -- Sura Thai Urban Kitchen 2656 Broadway (Betw. 100th and 101st Sts.) 212-665-8888 -- Got a snack attack to share? Contact [NBrand@aol.com](mailto:NBrand@aol.com)