Not only is Lovely Day the name of one of my favorite Bill Withers singles (so shiny/happy that I forgive the repetition in the chorus), it’s now one of my favorite Thai restaurants. It’s cheap, it’s so intimate that Katie and I almost trampled a patron at the table nearest the door, and it’s in Nolita, convenient to some of my favorite places to shop. The walls are covered in flower-print paper, the tabletops and the booths are a deep shade of red and everything on the menu without peanuts sounded equally vivid, so I based my order on the names I found the most amusing. That’s how I came to have an order of steaming “hobo noodles” (sautéed wide rice noodles, red chili, red bell peppers, onions and Thai basil in a spicy red sauce) and a Dark & Lovely, which was not an ethnic hair care product but an alcoholic drink that contained dark rum and a bunch of other ingredients I forget; it tasted exactly like Haribo Happy-Cola gummies.
Lovely Day
- 196 Elizabeth St. (between Spring and Prince Streets)
- (212) 925-3310
- Meal 10 of 52: hobo noodles ($7.50) and two Dark & Lovelies ($9 each).