Chao Thai — Restaurant in New York

Delicious spicy Thai salads is why we decided to finally check out Chao Thai after all these years. We asked for medium spicy and the waiter warned us it was spicy. We had the #a36 crispy shredded catfish with green mango red onion, lime juice, chili and lemongrass which was a tad spicy for us but uber delicious and very different from the typical taste of this sort of Thai salad so bright fresh and delicious! Definitely our favorite and we will order again 13.95 for a med size portion.

We also had fried soft shell crab with chili jam . Excellent coating and fry job. Light and crispy again not the largest portion but reasonable for 11.95. The chili jam was boring and we used the left over sauce from the mango salad to jazz up the crAb. Not sure if I'd get this again unless part of a large order or maybe atop one of their salads

Lastly we ordered duck Larb. Sautéed ground duck which was too spicy for us , tasty but not our favorite larb ever. 13.95. The pickled garlic that came with the larb was delicious !

Total bill with tax and tip was $50 for some excellent food. A bit on the expensive side for lunch for two but not cray cray and definitely quality (over quantity). We had just enough to feel full and we will be back to explore other Thai salads which we hear are their specialties. The table decor was cute. It's a tiny spot. Cash only and byob. A hand cut mango from a street vendor nearby served as dessert. Edit to add Been back twice more and am less enamored than our first few visits. Last night we ordered the grilled pork salad and the sum Tum green papaya salad. The sum tum was plentiful and good but the dressing was not great like the green mango salad. Predominantly overly sweet and reasonably spicy. The grilled pork was grissly and we called the waiter over and told him that the meat was grissly and tough. He asked if we wanted another dish. And we asked to see the menu. He consulted with the lady behind the counter and proceeded to ignore us for the next 5 minutes with no menu in sight. After about 10 minutes of sitting there with the dish still in front of us the lady leans over the counter and asks us what's wrong. We are both rather annoyed by now and ready to leave. I pick up a piece of partially chewed meat I spat out back onto the plate and show her the grissly meat. She makes a face and asks if we want anything else ...no thanks. Just the...

I have seen this restaurant a lot of times while walking into the train station.

So, I decided to give it a shoot and have dinner here with a friend.

I share a few appetizers with my friend.

Num Tok Beef a salad that has grilled beef with onion, chili, lime juice and roasted rice with a touch of medium spiciest, be careful they don't play around went they talked about spicy food, although my palate could handle the degree of spices, it was spicier than I was expected, the beef was very juicy the lime gives it a great taste I recommend getting this to share because the portion is just perfect to share.

Grilled Pork another great appetizer to share with a party which is served with tamarind sauce, pork was cooked perfectly the sauce was a great way to dip the pork to give that extra taste.

For my main disk, I had the Drunken Noodles chicken I notice there was not a lot of protein on my plate, but the noddle was not bad but like the salad was spicier than I was expected. But overall was not bad.

The place is pretty small so is kind of difficult to get a table.

Another bad thing about the restaurant is that is only cash so no debit or credit...

I’ve been coming for ages and it’s such a heartwarming experience walking through the door and seeing the same sweet lady year after year. It’s like coming home after a long day to something comforting and reliable. The lady always asks me how I’m doing, how my mom is doing, etc… I also appreciate how close it is to the subway. The other Thai places are a little further form the subway. The food is absolutely amazing, truly Authentic Thai food. I mean most Thai food within the Elmhurst/Woodside is pretty authentic. I like that their menu has such a huge variety. I can get Yum Mama, spicy ramen noodle salad just like when I’m walking through the street markets in Thailand but also more mainstream dishes like jungle curry or pad Khi mao with crispy pork belly. I wish I had more photos to add but this is the only one I can find. The bathroom is all the way in the basement down some sketchy-ish stairway. They are cash only but there is an ATM machine...