The Best Dishes Eater Editors Ate This Week Southern fried vegan lasagna, cheese bread, and more standout dishes across New York City Share this story Robert Sietsema/Eater The amount of excellent food available in New York City is dizzying — even during a pandemic — yet mediocre meals somehow keep worming their way into our lives. With Eater editors dining out sometimes several times a day, we do come across May 24 Robert Sietsema/Eater NY Basil chicken over rice at Terra Thai Terra Thai, an import from Boulder, Colorado, has been peddling a handful of Bangkok street food dishes out of a narrow space in the East Village, one block south of Tompkins Square, since opening a year ago as the pandemic was on the upswing. Basil chicken is in many ways the flagship, a dish of coarsely ground chicken swimming in bird chiles and chile oil, giving the hottest things on the Ugly Baby menu a run for their money. The dish ($10.50) is agreeably served with white rice, a poached egg, and side vegetable (in this case broccoli). For vegetarians, it can be made with tofu instead of chicken.