Food: ☆☆☆☆ 1/2 Ambiance: ☆ Service: ☆☆☆ Price: $ Overall experience: ☆☆☆ I recommend: Crispy Watercress Salad, Soft Shell Crab with Curry Powder, Steamed Whole Fish with Lime Juice.
Chao Thai is one of Elmhurst’s food treasures. It’s the kind of place that really makes Queens famous for having some of the best ethnic eats in New York City. This tiny eatery couldn’t be more than 200 sq. ft, but they sure have packed in some flavor into that small space.
Chao Thai serves up the kind of authentic food you would find in joints all across Thailand. The flavors are bold and smack you right in the taste-buds. Forget about the menu at Chao Thai……just order off the walls. They have all their specials written on little strips of colored paper that are taped to the wall – that’s where all the flavor is!
When ordering, don’t opt for the regular/known dishes – go for whats unusual. If you like heat……they can really turn it up – just look into your servers eyes and say – SPICY!! I can guarantee, you will not be disappointed.
Here is some of what we ate:
CRISPY WATERCRESS SALAD WITH MIXED SEAFOOD
All I can say is……unbelievable!!!!!! Perfectly crispy fried watercress gives way to a fabulous combination of seafood which is drenched in a tangy, spicy, lime sauce. The top part is hot and crunchy whilst the layers beneath are soft and zesty. Food just doesn’t get better than this!!!!
LARB PORK
This is an appetizer of ground meat with Thai herbs, chili and roasted rice. They made ours super spicy and it was really really good.
EGGPLANT SALAD
This salad has grilled eggplant, ground pork, shrimp and boiled egg and is topped with a chili-lime dressing. I didn’t enjoy the combination of things that went into this salad. I feel it had too much going on.
SOFT SHELL CRAB WITH CURRY POWDER
This dish was so good that we literally devoured the entire thing in less than 5 minutes. The crunchy soft shell crab was perfectly seasoned with a hint of curry, a dash of spice and a whole lot of flavor. It really hit the spot.
STEAMED WHOLE FISH WITH LIME JUICE SAUCE
I’m getting weak-kneed just thinking about his dish. How do you combine a perfectly steamed , fleshy fish and top it with such bold flavors. The combination was absolutely divine!
PAD KEE MAO
I couldn’t help ordering the Kee Mao noodles which was well made but I think BKNY makes it much better.
GREEN CURRY
I thought their green curry was good though it tasted more like yellow curry. It didn’t matter because it was very tasty and they made it with sliced eggplants which was so delightful.
FRIED CHICKEN WITH BASIL
I love basil chicken but somehow this dish didn’t do it for me. The chicken pieces had bones in them and were too deep fried. It wasn’t an easy dish to eat.
