Profile

Reserve aims to please finicky Kips Bay postgrads by combining two elements no longer novel enough to excite on their own: the Thai restaurant and the small-plates wine bar. This minute space still satisfies local demands for maximum glitz per square foot with the sort of flashing screens, mirrored walls, and built-in benches that color so many sushi houses; the bronze bar in back has a quieter charm. Most of the menu’s selections (prefaced by spicy peanuts and served on polished white porcelain) are simply shrunken versions of offerings from a top-shelf Thai kitchen: An opening salad consists of slender mango slices encircling shrimp, scallions, and crushed avocado bits, all enlivened by a tangy chile-lime sauce; a flaky golden curry puff is just juicy enough; a bowl of tom kar gai resembles a thin, sweet curry with chunky white meat and pepper strips. Hiccups occur with incongruous items like a green-curry pizza; its string beans and pungent licorice basil are at odds with its sharp fontina topping.  Sticky rice and mango flesh topped with vanilla crème makes for a refreshing finisher. — Patrick Coffee

Tom Kar $5; Yellow Curry Chicken $8