Cha Ba Thai

02/27/09

Best Thai Food outside of Bangkok.

by quippish

Cha Ba Thai is the best Thai food in Portland. I tell all my guests and friends this and they try it and totally agree. In fact, I have started a tradition at work on Fridays where I order food for all my coworkers. The Tom Kha soup is hands down the best. I love the musaman curry and the garlic and pepper stir fry (with extra brocolli). The appetizers are great..my favorite is the fresh rolls with shrimp or tofu. The veggies here are crisp, the meat is well cooked, the soups are flavorful. I love Cha Ba Thai!

• Pros: No one I have taken to eat here has been disappointed.
• Cons: busy, busy busy.

02/09/09

Best kept secret on Sandy

by logosbass

We decided to try someplace new as a way to thank some friends and Chaba Thai was just a lucky pick! Nice atmosphere, clean and affordable, we all got something different and shared tastes, every dish was unique and flavorful!! We got there right after 5:00pm opening for dinner, luckily, as the locals that know about it quickly filled every table. The service was amazingly fast after we placed our order. We ordered hot tea as it was cold outside and they kept our cups full. Excellent!!!

• Pros: quick preperation of order
• Cons: fills up quick

01/28/09

decent, affordable good food

by BreeziN

very decent food. I would go here for lunch everyday. ...... it's close to eveyrthing. Close to bus stops

• Pros: food
• Cons: parking

01/21/09

Yummy soup, Nice decor, Good tea

by pdxlove1

I went to Chaba Thai last week after being told by several people that I HAVE to try it. I liked the decor, there were lots of bright colors, and I had a good experience with the service, even though we went right at the lunch rush. We were seated right away, and were checked on frequently. Our food came out a few minutes after our appetizer, giving us enough time to finish it and to relax a minute. We ordered the salad rolls, which were SO good! My friend ordered the Tom Yum soup, and that was VERY good, in fact it was the best I have ever had, very flavorful!! For my entree, I got the Pad Se Ew, and it was good, very flavorful. I however am a die-hard thai orchid fan, so after going to chaba thai, I found myself comparing my entree with the entrees from thai orchid... although everything was good, there was something missing. Needless to say, I would recommend Chaba thai, their food is very authentic, and those salad rolls and soup?! The best!!

• Pros: Tom Yum soup and salad rolls.

01/01/09

Super Rude

by Jewana

Yes, the food at Chaba Thai is pretty good, but with so many other quality Thai restaurants in Portland, an experience like the one I had at Chaba Thai tonight makes never going back there again an easy decision.

We called ahead to reserve a table for ten, which was fine until two more people unexpectedly arrived to join us. There was room at the original table for them to squeeze in, but we were told flatly by our server that no more chairs were available and that the newcomers would have to sit at another table around the corner. When we shifted the seating around we then very politely asked if we could push the two tables together, the obviously annoyed server refused, saying coldly that it would be too tight.

With four of our party sitting halfway across the dining room, we then had to wait fifteen minutes for the server to come take our order. We again very politely asked if we could split the bill upon ordering- "No," she replied, "You can figure it out yourselves."

We asked for a half order of an appetizer (for a child in the group). Again, "No. No half orders."

After the food came, there was no checking back with us or follow up, and after the almost illegible check came we again waited fifteen minutes for her to take our payment.

I've worked in customer service for over twenty years, and I am the most understanding customer in the world when things happen that are out of the control of servers and other business people, but as someone who makes a living from serving other people, I have no patience for the kind of disregard and disrespect I experienced tonight. These were all small issues that could of easily been accomodated and we were really very nice and courteous in our requests. Her numerous refusals, augmented by her rude attitude made our dining experience at Chaba Thai very uncomfortable.

Again, with so many amazing Thai places in Portland with food that is just as good or better, I will never go back to Chaba Thai.

• Pros: Ok food
• Cons: Terrible service

08/19/08

Food, Family

by lochlomondluv

I recently came back to Chaba Thai after forgetting about it for a while. But if I had remembered how good the food was, I'm sure I wouldn't had forgotten about it for long! The food is authentic, and not horribly bad for you either. Unless, of course, you get the very yummy and diverse Tempura appetizer. How healthy can you get with deep-fry? We (being my family) came in and tried to find somewhere to sit and wait, but there wasn't a good waiting area, besides the three or four chairs. The line went through quickly, and we sat at a rather small table. It didn't seem quite big enough for four people. We ordered, and two of us got appetizers, and the other two got full dishes to share. The food came reasonably fast, and we digged in! The fresh rolls with tofu was by far the best. In my opinion, they are the best fresh rolls in town, and that I have ever had (a fresh roll is basically an egg or spring roll that is unbaked, hence the "fresh"). The food is fantastic, families are welcome, and everyone is friendly. I highly reccomend Chaba Thai as the best thai food in town!

• Pros: Food, service, atmosphere, parking
• Cons: Waiting area, if you want take home the special sauce it costs extra.

07/19/08

Best Food, Great Family Night Out

by kiwishines

Having just recently grown to love Thai food I have been wanting to experiement with some new places and decided to check out reviews on Citysearch. Chaba Thai came up as one of the best so when my parents came into town for a visit we decided to check this place out. I was hoping the place lived up to the reviews but it FAR exceeded them. There were six adults and one 5 year old and we ordered seven items and shared family style. The food came quickly and each dish was amazing! We all were raving with the little time we weren't stuffing our faces and ummming and ahhhing through each fork full. I may be a novice to Thai but my parents are not, having eaten at countless places from Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Portland, and across the US and they said it was the most conistantly best food dish to dish they had ever eaten so that says alot. It is small but we did not have a wait at 6pm on a Friday night. Busy and loud but for a group of seven it was ideal. Our food came quickly, even with a steady stream coming in for take-out. I know others here have posted about bad service but I did not see that. They are hurried but friendly typical asian restaurant atmosphere. I would NEVER have found this place if it weren't for this site and I am so thankful, it is our new favoitie resaurant. The Pineapple Fried Rice was to die for as was the Pad Thai. I am not a fish eater but everyone else raved about the Sea Bass as the best they had ever eaten. Can't reccomend this place enough!

• Pros: Amazing Food, nice clean dining room, quick service, family friendly.
• Cons: Street parking only (but we found a spot easy), no kids menu for picky eaters.

07/02/08

Best Thai Restaurant

by AverageJoe2

My wife and I frequent this restaurant and have tried most of the menu including desert not listed on the menu. Everything we have tried is excellent. It can be very busy as with any great restaurant and the service will slow somes when there are many 'to go orders' but that is the same with any good restaurant. Their service is excellent on the few occasions the restaurant is not full. Ask for the coconut ice cream and sticky rice (not on the menu). They will garnish it with chocolate and whip cream if you prefer.

• Pros: The entrees taste as great as they look.
• Cons: It is popular and therefore busy.

05/18/08

yummy

by vivonnas

great food and so delicious

you goona love this place

crab fried rice is so wonderful

crab meat is so unbelieveable and a lot of things so so great

04/02/08

great thai food

by maxbon

it amazes me that i don't see this place in more local mags and restaurant reviews when they rate good thai food in town. i guess thats good. more for me. however, the place does have a good following regardless and is usually busy.

fresh. flavorful. spicy. the squid salad is unbelievable. the dungeness crab fried rice is worth every penny. i've gone through almost the entire menu since i started going there a year ago and have never been disappointed.

sometimes it may seem like the staff doesn't care that you're there but the food comes out quick.

i've eaten a lot of thai food and this is one of my favorites.