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Chao Thai
|
8503 Whitney Ave.,
Queens, NY 11373
|
Hours
Mon and Wed-Sun, 11am-11pm; Tue, closed
Nearby Subway Stops
G, R, V at Elmhurst Ave.
Prices
$6.50-$9.95
Payment Methods
Cash Only
Special Features
- BYOB
- Delivery
- Lunch
- Take-Out
Alcohol
- BYOB
Reservations
Not Accepted
Delivery Area
Queens Blvd. to Roosevelt Ave., 76th St. to 94th St.
Profile
Those who worry about Sripraphai getting too big for its britches will appreciate the simple intimacy of Elmhurst’s Chao Thai. There are only 24 seats, enlivened by little more than green walls, a strand of Christmas lights, and a few anthropomorphic knickknacks. That the menu contains Guay Jub, noodle soup teeming with porcine offal, is a good sign that there’ll be no pandering to meek palates. Fiery-tart papaya salad comes speckled with peanuts then garnished with crinkle-cut carrots and a tangle of vermicelli-thin beet strands. Plump green beans balance decadent rectangles of pork belly in the ruddy pad prik khing. Jungle curry is easily the hottest item available—coconut-milk-free, swirling with eggplant, pumpkin, and bamboo shoots—and it might also be the healthiest. The bright-orange storefront is often filled to capacity with almost entirely Asian customers, though not necessarily Thais. The giveaway? The bypassing of the traditional spoon-and-fork approach for chopsticks.
Recommended DishesSom tum, $6.95; pad prik khing curry, $8.50
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