Elmhurst's Chao Thai is opening another branch

[Peter Cuce]

Chao Thai (Whitney Ave) has a sign on their window proclaiming Chao Thai Too, their second location on Broadway & Dongan, a few blocks from the original. The waitstaff told me it will open in a month or two and will use one of the two main chefs at the current location.

[bigjeff]

eating here tonight; huge fan of the original Chao Thai and also a fan of My Thai (which is the space that Chao Thai Too took over); any special recommendations? planning to go northern of course, get some soups, maybe a whole fish dish. looking for specialties too. thoughts, anyone, or should I stick with whatever I liked at the original?

[Polecat]

If Hor Mok (fish custard) is on the menu, give it a go. That's what I had at CT2 on my first visit over the summer. Also, 3 Buddies Salad if you've never tried it. One of my favorite dishes here. Enjoy. P

[Silverjay]

bigjeff. mmm, name rings a bell........

I went once in November last year, I enjoyed the Three Buddies Salad and Black Eggs in Basil Sauce. It's a proper restaurant there, not as crammed as original location. I haven't had their, nor the original CT's, laab or som tum in a while, but for that stuff I prefer the Zaab on Roosevelt....Get them to translate the specials menu if they have one. Might be something interesting there.

[bigjeff]

what's up fellas! I haven't been eating excitingly for a long time, hope all's well in the new year. ate on friday and . . . . it was good. not amazing though, damnit!

+ hoi-tod mussel pancakes
+ sao-ua sour sausage (crumbly)
+ sai krok e-san even more sour sausage (garlic-y)
+ yum phak boong krob fried morning glory salad with seafood
+ som tum green papaya salad classic
+ yum kai tod fried chicken with mango salad
+ larb neux beef larb
+ pad prik khing with chinese broc and crispy pork
+ red curry with tofu
+ pla neung cee eiw - whole steamed fish, thai style
+ khai yio ma pad kra prao - 1000yo egg stir-fry

I think that's all we ate, 7 of us, $225 total (tax included) including a couple of beverages, beers, etc. cash only.

overall, I forgot to order the homok but, we had mostly salads, plus a couple of stir-fries. the food was very large, good value, plentiful, and with spice and heat, but afterwards, for some reason, I felt like it wasn't particular well-seasoned or extremely flavorful. perhaps it was because the first few dishes that came out were pretty spicy, and we ordered "medium" so we had them tone down the remaining dishes. we also had someone who was allergic to crustaceans so some of the salads and dishes did not have dried shrimp or other flavorings that might have brought things over the top but in general, the meal was great, but not amazing. not even sure why; they gave us huge family-style bowls of rice, we had so many dishes to pick and choose from, and everyone enjoyed themselves, but maybe I was looking for something else. maybe it was just too many good dishes, so it was hard to concentrate on just a few?

both sausages were stupendous and very different from one another; almost all of the salads were good. the mussel pancakes were a disappointment (Sri's still rocks) and the fried morning glory salad was good but mostly, it was just fried batter. the crispy pork prik khing was unbeatable, the beef larb was great, the fried chicken salad was kinda boring, and I like Thailand Center Point's 1000yo egg dish better than CTT's. the whole fish was really really good. steamed, not sure but some delicate river fish, very nice clean flavor and very different from the spice and greasebombs that the other dishes were (not necessarily a bad thing).

definitely worth a couple more trips, maybe with less people and less dishes, so we could really concentrate on the food. most of the folks at the table lived in the hood so they know local thai food well and were all very satisfied. I honestly think it was just too much good food in one sitting, so it was overwhelming in that sense.

[Lau]

welcome back!

btw if you happen to be in the city, try the mussel omelette at pok pok phat thai, i think its really good
https://www.lauhound.com/2012/12/pok-...

[bigjeff]

thanks lau! that omelette looks like a proper o-a-jian (forgive my taiwanese); I'll check it out when I'm in the area.

a note on service: it was great and we had no problems. we were the only party seated at 7pm but by the time we left, the place was packed, with lots of impressive orders on each table. our beverages were constantly refilled, plates and dishes were cleared, and they were responsive to requests, additional orders. the place was humming with adequate staff. restaurant was clean, trim, comfortable.

[Lau]

yah i always refer to it as o ah jian too haha...its def worth checking out if you're around the area, its very good

[coldplay]

Be wary. They only accept cash, which is okay. However even after repeated requests, they refuse to give receipt. Dont even bother to give our change. Excellent food, but I cant stand for these practices.

[dynastar]

My wife & I ate there last night. Just as good as the original. It is bigger, but not the size of Sri. Which hopefully means that the quality of the food will remain the same. Still no liquor license - they say 3 months.

[DaveCook]

Chao Thai Too will open tomorrow -- Monday, June 18 -- waitstaff at the original Chao Thai said today.

Dave Cook
www.EatingInTranslation.com

[Lau]

how come they're opening one so close to their current location?

[Peter Cuce]

My guess is they want to stay in the Thai area as a large percentage of their clientele is local Thais, the way Sripraphai used to be. Their current space is super popular, tiny, and almost always jammed.

[foodwhisperer]

That's my favorite Thai restaurant. It used to be SriPraPhai, until some Thai people told me they prefer Chao Thai, it is good news that they are opening another place, too bad they didn't open in Manhattan.