Lil Chef Mama — Restaurant in New York

I was never really a fan of Thai food. Never craved it. Never understood what others found so appealing about the flavors. And now I know why. Because all the places I've ever tried have been mediocre if not outright bland. But whew man, I can't tell you how wrong I've been about Thai food. It's delicious!! At least it is at this particular restaurant. If this is half of what the food is like in Thailand, I'm really looking forward to visiting!

Given the name, I thought it was an Italian joint. Lol. Walking in, I couldn't be more wrong if I tried. The decor is very "Thai", adorable, beautiful and tastefully done. I guess "tasteful" is subjective, but I don't care. I say it's tasteful, so it's tasteful. I have spoken! Lol. Excellent vibe in this joint.

We had the chicken sate (their peanut sauce is bomb!!!), shrimp pad thai, chicken basil and a couple of Thai iced teas for lunch. All delicious! The chicken basil dish says it's "spicy". It's not. Lol. I should have asked if their spice level was "Asian" spicy or "American" spicy. It was still really good even if it lacked that nice kick of heat. I can imagine it being outstanding if it was Asian spicy.

Did I take pictures? Nope. Should I have taken pictures? Probably. But I've been trying to be more "present" when I'm out to eat with people and keep the phone in my bag. Maybe next time! Will there be a next time? Hell freakin' yes. I'm looking forward to it.

They take credit cards and would prefer a cash tip. I understand it. I always like to give a cash tip when I can. And they deserve the tip. Very attentive without being overbearing. They make good suggestions. Nice...

Staff was really nice when my husband and I came here for lunch last week.

I'm reviewing this as someone with Celiac disease - I can't have gluten. All soy sauce contains wheat, which has gluten.

I let our server know and she nodded that the basil chicken that I was ordering was good to go. After I ordered my husband was adamant that it wasn't gluten free so we flagged the waitress down and asked if it had soy sauce in it, because then I can't have it. She was like, "oh yeah, it does." I switched to the $12 chicken green curry.

My husband was suspicious that the veggie rolls that I got weren't gluten free because of the wrapper but they looked like rice noodles to me. They tasted good but were a little pricey at $10. My husband got the $10 karee puff and the $12 5 spice pork belly soup.

It's so important for restaurants to label menus with allergens as science becomes better and more people get tested and are aware of autoimmune issues that prevent them from eating certain foods. It's an accessibility issue that is easily remedied by going through ingredients in the kitchen and marking it down on a menu. This also prevents order changes and prevents waitstaff from needing to check ingredients on the spot.

Food tasted good and service was attentive, but be extra careful and stick to curries if you...

Just left lunch here with 4 other ladies. 3 of us had good food but my aunt and I didn't. She ordered roti with massaman curry. The roti was extremly greasy, 3 of us tried a piece of it. When I bit into it, oil squeezed out as though i bit into an oil soaked sponge. She asked for the roti to be removed from the bill. I ordered the wings and honey pork slider. Both were inedibly salty. Just not good at all. The server never asked how the food was to give me the opportunity to let them know. During our meal they never checked in. I only ate one wing and my aunt also tried one and we both decided against eating them. I took two bites of the slider. Despite my food being mostly uneaten we were never checked on or asked if everything was alright. The server cleared my plates without asking about packing it up or whether it was good so that seemed deliberate. I would not return, we were all seriously disappointed in the lack of attentiveness when it came to the food that was unsatisfactory. All we really wanted them to do was at least ask "how is it?" So we would communicate our issues. I would've been happy to order something else like the panang curry my cousin got which was actually good. Unfortunate experience overall, there are many other great Thai restaurants all over NYC so I would never...