Whiskey Soda Lounge

Small yet charming, Whiskey Soda Lounge is perfect for a quick cocktail before heading over to Pok Pok. It has an old school lounge atmosphere, nothing fancy. South Asian bar fare makes for a great cheap appetizer. Drinks weren’t the strongest, but the service was fast and friendly. Three stars for food/​drinks, +1 for atmosphere

Like the review for Pok Pok NY, I will have to stick with three stars for the soda lounge, too. The chicken wings are a must-​have at the original Pok Pok in Portland, but the ones we had here were dry and sort of flavorless. The servers were busy, but distracted and it was unclear when our table was actually ready. In general, the two places didn’t seem as coordinated as they could be.

Waiting to be seated for Pok Pok indoors is preferred to outdoors during winter.
I wouldn’t call this establishment a «lounge» by any means. It’s more of a … divey feel with tacky décor and minimal tables, but I mean. it’s a waiting area with a name so who cares.
Drinking Vinegar:
Fan. I think I tried the pomegranate. It’s less vinegar-​y than I thought! It’s a nice sparkling drink with health benefits.
Thai Iced Tea
w/​evaporated milk: silky, smooth & sweet. Super delicious.
w/​fresh lime juice: I didn’t want a milky drink so I thought this was a great alternative. The more you drink, the more addicting it gets. The refreshing lime juice hits you first and you get the aftertaste of the more traditional sweet thai iced tea flavor. It’s unique.
Fish Sauce Wings
We decided to just have them as appetizers as we were waiting for our actual seats at Pok Pok.
They lived up to their hype: crunchy and crisp on the outside, the stickiness from the fish sauce carries into the interior and mixes with the juicy and tender chicken. We got them spicy and it was the perfect amount of kick to accompany the complexity of the salty/​slightly sweet fish sauce.
Mmmmm!!!

From the pictures of the Muay Thai kickboxers on the wall to the colored Christmas tree lights strung up on the ceiling to the music pumping from the bar, WSL has a fantastic vibe. There’s nowhere I’d rather be for the inevitable 2-​hour wait on a Saturday night for a Pok Pok table.
My date started with a bourbon (par for the course) and I got the WSL gin and tonic. I always go for the WSL gin and tonic because they steep the gin in kafir lime leaves, which amps up the Southeast Asian zing factor. I was so impressed by the drink that I tried to emulate it at home.
We ordered the red peanuts (spicy!!) and the wings (normal). So much has been said of these wings. To begin, I love the format. Drumstick, wing, wingtip — all attached. Then there’s the unctuous caramelized palm sugar glaze with the slight kick of fish sauce. Finished with a sprinkle of dried garlic and served with fresh and pickled vegetables.
Don’t order too much or you’ll ruin your appetite for dinner across the street. As both joints are owned by Andy Ricker and their reservation systems are linked, your WSL server will let you know when your table is ready at Pok Pok and you’ll receive a text from Pok Pok. Stress free!

We arrived at Pok Pok on a Saturday night around 7 so we knew what was coming: waits of ninety minutes to two hours. Whiskey Soda Lounge, Pok Pok’s sister bar across the street, to the rescue!
Expect your one two punch of WSL/​Pok Pok to cost you. Our dinner for three at Pok Pok wasn’t extraordinarily pricey but, added to the cost of pre-​dinner drinks and snacks at Whiskey Soda Lounge beforehand, it ended up being an expensive night.
Honestly, I preferred Whiskey Soda Lounge to Pok Pok. I absolutely loved the 60s tiki bar vibe. The cocktails are interesting and different from the usual suspects. I had some sort of vodka/​mango/​coconut cream/​lime martini that was served in icy cold stemware and it was excellent. We were hungry, so we decided to try the fish sauce wings. They were so incredibly delicious that I insisted on another round, despite our impending table across the street. No regrets. They were the best thing we ate all night for sure.
I was actually a little bummed when we had to leave for our table at Pok Pok (and also, wondering how the hell I was going to eat dinner on top of all the wings I had just consumed). Next time I’m in Brooklyn, it’s Whiskey Soda Lounge all the way.

Met up with my friend — who upon seeing that it was empty went to wait in his car rather than sit in there as the only customer — he’s a Socially Awkward Penguin.
Drinking vinegar was delicious as usual — recommend the tamarind. I wanted Ike’s wings but couldn’t eat a whole order alone plus at $ 3 a wing, don’t think I should either. I was looking through the menu and asked the bartender/​server if she could recommend a small snack «instead of $ 15 wings.» She recommended the riblets and I thought, great something half the size of the wings would be perfect. Well, they were not very meaty — more bone and fat than anything else. They were tasty and well seasoned but at $ 14 (which was a surprise when I got the bill but my fault for not asking the price) for four small pieces, was really not worth it by any stretch.
I don’t think I’ll be returning to WSL anytime soon as I had already written Pok Pok off for being too expensive and the prices here are the same. Two drinks — one non-​alcoholic — and a snack shouldn’t come up to $ 40 with tax & tip. Just NOT worth it.

I came here while we were waiting for a table at Pok Pok. It’s pretty neat they have this bar for people to wait, but I felt the drinks here were expensive. The drinks are the same as the drinks at Pok Pok so it wasn’t anything special. They should do something to make this place stand alone/​apart from Pok Pok so they could get more people to come.
When I came here, it was a Friday night around 7pm, so basically, prime time, but the place was empty. Since this bar is in the middle of no where and definitely not anywhere near any foot traffic, they should have have some drink specials or HH or something to entice people to buy drinks. I refused to get a cocktail here based solely on the cost. How do they expect to operate a bar at the prices they were charging? That’s why the freaken bar was e-​m-​p-​t-​y on a Friday night!
They should just turn this location into Pok Pok NY part 2 so they could accommodate more Pok Pok diners since that’s what people are coming here for. Another major fail. Give this place a pass.

A nice place to go for a few small plates of food and some great cocktails — especially if the line at Pok Pok across the street is outrageous. Two of us had dinner at Whiskey Soda at 6:30 pm on a Sunday and it was almost empty! We snagged an awesome booth. By the time we left it was quite full.
Drinks were awesome — lots of Asian twists and turns. I couldn’t resist the Tamarind Whiskey Sour… the «Hunny» was also excellent.
Good is tapas style which was nice so we shared shrimp chips, spicy chicken wings and miang kham (chilies, ginger, peanuts, dried shrimp in betel leaf wrappers). The wings were excellent. The spice level was perfect for my taste buds and I could have eaten a whole second plate.
The shrimp chips were tasty mainly as filler because none of our plates came with rice! Must be honest I left a little hungry. The betel leaf wrappers were really not good. In fact they were extremely bitter, not the most pleasant dish. I would like to try Pok Pok to see the difference but otherwise would mainly come to Whiskey Soda just for cocktails.

We came here for a drink after putting our names down for a table at Pok Pok across the street, to await a text message that our table was ready. The place has a funky décor and friendly waitstaff. But the funk, alas, extended beyond the décor: The place reeked of fish sauce. Look, I like the taste of fish sauce as much as the next guy, but I don’t want this urine odor while I drink. My vodka cocktail, the Mango Alexander” was drinkable, but too heavy on the coconut cream giving it a thick consistency that I didn’t find pleasant. My friend ordered octopus skewers. These were tiny tiny tiny, but alas, they were also a bit rubbery and flavorless. Drinks done, our Pok Pok table awaited us.

Things to know about Whiskey Soda Lounge:
1) It’s a godsend for when you need to kill time waiting for your table at Pok Pok across the street
2) Their signature cocktail menu is pretty much the same as Pok Pok’s
3) The bartender is fun to watch and really enjoys his craft
4) The fried anchovies are $ 3 and worth trying if you’re not squeamish
5) The Thai chili roasted peanuts are delicious when fresh and have an interesting flavor to them due to the Thai spices involved
That’s about it, really. I can’t imagine coming here for a full meal when Pok Pok is across the street, but they do have a full food menu as well.

While Whiskey Soda Lounge is a nice place to get into the Andy Ricker spirit as you wait for your table at Pok Pok to open up, it is a crowded and somewhat lacking imitation of the original.
The drinks here are expensive and the bar snacks are honestly a little off. For instance one dish of «chicken three ways» which was peanuts in scallions and other chopped aromatics was really green tasting, while a dish of white mouse mushrooms with pork was a little funky and bathroom-​tasting, even by Thai standards. A «drinking vinegar» we had was actually reallllly sweet and not that vinegary at all.
I say all this as a HUGE Pok Pok fan. I am only giving three stars here so people who have a bad experience at the Whiskey Soda Lounge don’t also think Pok Pok is bad or is really that similar in many ways.
Also, the chicken wings are heavily overrated, so if you come here and eat wings and that is your only introduction to the Pok Pok universe and you are underwhelmed I just want to say, persevere, my friend, for great eats await just next door!

Waiting to try Pok Pok, the owner had a brilliant idea. We can have a second waiting bar across the street with food while they wait to eat across the street. The ‘thai style’ street food is a good concept. I even like the food and service. Our bartender was friendly but tired. There was one Asian in the place and it was me. The dried squid with dipping sauce was like what my dad ate with his buddies while drinking beer. The tamarind eggs was familiar as I use to eat it all the time as a child with rice for dinner. It was a favorite of mine. The grilled baby octopus was also equally as good with the spicy dipping sauce.
I think what perturbs me is that he made it sounded like such an innovation to have this to ‘reduce’ the long waiting but really is more like double dipping when all they really had to do was accept reservations. A potentially $ 100 – 120 meal ‘thai street’ food for two people is a bit extortive.

I’m happy this place now exists cause you can have the great pok pok wings without the crazy wait.
I came here with 10 friends on a random Tuesday night and were able to sit down right away. The bartender and the waiter were both wonderfully accommodating. We had lots of great drinks and lots of great eats without all of the stress of waiting around.
Well done!

2.5 stars…
Right across the street from Pok Pok is their additional outpost for the spillover crowd that don’t mind the slightly smaller menu. This is far from a lounge or a bar in my opinion, it’s set up just like a restaurant which so happens to have a small bar in the back. Prices are too high, service isn’t that great, and the reason I came here, their famous wings, weren’t good at all. I ordered their wings when they first opened in Brooklyn and thought they were the best I had ever had and raved about them for the longest time. When I came here to show my girlfriend how good these wings are they were a far cry from the original Ike’s wings that I had long ago. Their cocktails seem very interesting and of course the offerings are unlike any Thai menu you’re likely to run into in this country but for me this place is a miss.

I came here for a late (ish) drink with my friend and were pleasantly surprised to find the bar nearly empty at 10 p.m.
The extensive scotch list kept her happy, while I perused the menu of eclectic cocktails. We ordered a round, enjoyed the kitschy lights, and enjoyed a brief chat with our server. The drinks were great, albeit pricey, and it’s definitely a bar you can enjoy when you’re in the mood to chat.
As we were walking out, we saw the only others in the place a little more clearly. Turns out this is a hangout for Michael Cera and co. Keep it cool, apparently he frequents this spot a lot.

Andy Ricker is a genius in striking the appropriate balance between hand holding and preserving the original characteristics of the cuisine.
The menu at Whiskey Soda Lounge is impressively wordy, with paragraph long descriptions of items, and no pad thai or pu pu platter grudgingly placed on there for neophytes. Andy tells you what you are going to be eating, but you will be eating what he is serving.
What he’s serving at the soda lounge is bar food. There’s a long list of dishes here, but really the portions and pricing mean that this really is designed to be a snack between meals (or in advance of one). A friend and I spent nearly $ 100 on a couple of drinks and a few plate — worth every cent, but we weren’t stuffed. Across the street at the Pok Pok mothership, we’d be full for slightly more.
But what bar food this is! The muu sawan is jerky from an alternate dimension, thick and rubbery and fire-​y hot with each bite. The cuttlefish is passed through a squid press. For three days after eating this plate, I wondered if I could improve my humdrum lunches by passing them through a squid press. It’s probably the seasoning that makes this work, most prominent the smoke from the charcoal cooking.
Ike’s chicken wings are here, the sole carryover from the Pok Pok menu. It’s pretty hard not to order these, and lament that the economies and timing didn’t work for Pok Pok Wing in the Lower East Side. Pok Pok Pad Thai is a lesser (though still excellent substitute).
I wish that Andy had gone a little more ambitious when it comes to the beer. I appreciate the selection of Asian bottled beer, but there’s nothing too unique here. Evil Twin is an interesting choice for the draft brew, but I’d wish they’d throw in a few more lines. Also, I’d hope to see something more unusual from Asia, like those small scale Vietnamese pilsners that are hard to find in the States. The cocktails (sometimes with drinking vinegar) are the way to go here, although you’d be a fool to get the whiskey at dozens of times its Thai street value.
Far more than an overflow space to wait for a table at Pok Pok, the Whiskey Soda Lounge is another New York winner from Andy Ricker.

There’s a wait at Pok Pok? Put your name down and head over to Whiskey Soda Lounge. They’ll let you know when you’re table is ready which is a basic but great idea.
Décor reminds me of a WWII bar with the Christmas lights and the Thai version of random Elvis songs playing in the background. Cute.
Bartender was super friendly.
About 13 dollars for any of their cocktails on the menu. We had the Pok Pok Gin & Tonic and also the Umeshu Cooler which is plum wine and soda.
Both were tasty and served in tall glasses which is a huge bonus!
I’ll be back to grab a drink here.

My 300^th review!
If you need a fish sauce wings fix* but don’t want to wait for a table, WSL to the rescue! Five of us were able to get a seat immediately on a Tuesday night. We had some of their yummy drinking vinegar cocktails and split a few orders of wings and some other dishes, all of which were great. The menu is much smaller than Pok Pok’s, but not really that limiting unless you want noodle dishes which they do not have here. But if you want some drinks and those oh-​so-​addictive spicy wings (because let’s face it, even though you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu, what else do you really need?) go here to relaxedly stuff your face.
I love taking the chicken off the bones to make lettuce wraps with the basil, mint, and cucumbers that come on the plate. I can only imagine that this is the intended purpose of such accoutrements, but my friends seemed to think (not for the first time, of course) that i was a genius and all followed suit. Soooo yummy!
Oh Red Hook, why are you so far away?
*If you haven’t even tried the fish sauce wings yet, get thee to a Pokery immediately!

Wow… If this is Thai street food then when I run out of money and become homeless I am moving to Thailand!
Jin Tup — they called MSG beef and it was like a high end beef jerky. Tough but good.
Muu Sawan — Marinated Pork… mmm pork
Octopus Salad — Tasty and tender. I don’t like calamari but this was a treat
Eggs — So amazingly flavorful– watch out for the peppers, though
The drinks were a lot of fun I tried three but the only name I wrote down was Tamarind Whiskey Sour.
This place aint cheap. Don’t let the whole street food thing or the décor fool you. The food and drinks are near perfect and your bill will reflect that.

So, you’re probably here to get a drink while you wait to get into Pok Pok. But wait! There’s food. And it sounds really tasty! They have the famous Ike’s Fish Sauce wings (get them spicy), a lot of deep fried pork dishes 9my fave), and a surprisingly spicy hot rendition of Miang Kham. As for drinks, they have the drinking vinegars, Thai iced tea, lots of beers, and some really great cocktails. The Licuado cocktail of the day was a watermelon one, so I had to get that. It was beyond refreshing and had nice touches of mint and lime. Service was a little slow, but they’re new so I’m sure it’ll get smoother with time.
Atmosphere-​wise, it’s definitely even more chill than Pok Pok itself and can get a bit loud and rowdy. Thanks to special coordination of the hostess and a walkie talkie system, they will let you know when your table at Pok Pok is ready. If you even want or need to go there anymore, that is. Whiskey Soda Lounge is definitely going to be a destination on its own (also, apparently it’s been blessed by Buddhist monks).