Pomelo on Magazine Street offers new take on Thai

Courtesy of Pomelo

Seafood glass noodles at Pomelo

There’s a new Thai restaurant coming to the Uptown area. Pomelo is settling into the small Magazine Street building in the Touro-Bouligny area that housed another Thai restaurant, Long Chim, which closed over the summer.

Pomelo owners Aom Srisuk and her husband, Frankie Weinberg, are currently enjoying a soft opening and are planning a grand opening for November.

Srisuk, a Thai native, said she is ready to take on the challenge of owning a restaurant in a food town like New Orleans and she is eager to bring authentic Thai food to the neighborhood.

Srisuk is a seasoned restaurateur. She worked in her family’s restaurant before opening a Japanese restaurant and Thai restaurant in the central business district of Bangkok. She then opened restaurants in her hometown of Ayutthaya.

Courtesy of Pomelo

Aom Srisuk and Frankie Weinberg

She moved here with Weinberg, a management professor at Loyola University. The couple first met 21 years ago, when he was living in Thailand. They dated for three years before going their separate ways.

They reconnected four years ago, when Weinberg traveled back to Thailand, and decided to marry and settle in New Orleans.

“In Thailand, I worked in the restaurant business,” she said. “I have years of restaurant experience. When I moved to New Orleans I knew that I wanted to own a restaurant here. It’s a risk, but we think that it will be worth it.”

Srisuk considers Pomelo a specialty restaurant and she plans to serve Thai favorites, as well as dishes that you might not be able to find at other Thai restaurants in the city.

“Our menu is going to have curries, soups and Thai salads, called yam, made with protein such as meat and seafood,” Srisuk said. “Our curry is slow-cooked the authentic way, with lots of different flavors.”

The recipes at Pomelo are Srisuk’s own, and she does most of the cooking. She said that the menu will be small because the kitchen is small, but there will be lots of flavors packed into the dishes offered. Srisuk and Weinberg’s goal is to serve authentic, homemade food that people will enjoy.

Some menu highlights include Tom Yum Ramen, which Srisuk is perfecting. She hopes that it will become Pomelo’s signature dish. She’s also excited about the boat noodles she will be serving, which are a nod to her roots in Ayutthaya.

Courtesy of Pomelo

Boat noodle soup

“Boat noodles were originally sold on the rivers of Ayutthaya — that’s where they got their name,” Weinberg said. “They are served in a rich broth that is a richer version of pho beef broth, which many New Orleanians are familiar with.”

Along with boat noodles and curries, Srisuk and Weinberg will have a few vegetarian and vegan options on Pomelo’s menu.

They currently offer dine-in and take-out service and will be expanding to pickup and delivery through Toast next month.