We met a couple of friends on Duck into the tiny, warm Chabaa Thai to forget the world around you, but get a reservation first! The downstairs of Chabaa Thai is tiny. A slightly larger, but still small dining area is upstairs.
Our server was friendly, and even recognized our friends who have dined there maybe four times previously. The white wine we brought along was plunked in a tableside ice bucket, which we only appreciated a week later when we did not get such a luxury at a couple of other BYOB’s.
For a starter, I wanted the shrimp and tofu fresh spring rolls (sans shrimp), but the rolls are pre-made, and cannot be made to order. Boo, hiss!
Instead, I ordered the garden salad with crispy fried tofu, dressed with a light, tangy peanut sauce. This salad is large and should be split. The salad consisted of tomato, cucumber, shredded cabbage, shredded carrot, broccoli, lettuce, and tofu.
I’m still on my quest (it’s slow going) for a Thai restaurant with Pad Thai and Massaman curry made to my liking. Chabaa Thai does not have Massaman curry on the menu, so no matter how good their Pad Thai is, Chabaa Thai can never be my regular Thai place for those times when I waver between my two favorite Thai dishes.
A large pile of noodles hides behind the veggies.
How is their Pad Thai? It’s a damn shame they don’t have Massaman curry, because their Pad Thai is my favorite so far.
I ordered the garden Pad Thai, beautifully presented with a wedge of lime, mango, lettuce, scallions, shredded carrots, purple cabbage, and red pepper to the side of a generous pile of perfectly sweet and tangy noodles.
If I had known that the vegetarian Pad Thai came with so many veggies, I would have skipped the salad starter. I also should not have eaten the entire dish, but it was just too good to stop at pleasantly full!
Our friends also ordered the garden Pad Thai and the crab Pad Thai. I think Chabaa Thai knows their Pad Thai is good, because they have many to order – chicken, beef, shrimp, seafood, salmon, scallop, king prawn, crispy duck, vegetarian, and one particularly interesting Pad Thai wrapped in an egg crepe.
The boy ordered the Penang curry with fried tofu, onions, and peas. While not Massaman, Penang curry might be my next favorite Thai coconut curry, and Chabaa Thai’s Penang curry is medium bodied (I hate thin sauces), and comes with a nice heat.
Not sure how often I’ll be in Manayunk, but if you find yourself on Main Street, Chabaa Thai is not to be missed!
Chabaa Thai Bistro
4371 Main St., Philadelphia, PA, 19127
215-483-1979
Mon., 5-9 p.m; Tues, 5-9:30 p.m.; Fri. 5-10 p.m.
Sat. 1-10 p.m.; Sun. 1-9 p.m.
BYOB
6 comments:
As a fellow Philly-area vegetarian (but in Exton, home of the fabulous Devi), I'm delighted to have come across your blog. I'll definitely keep checking in for dining suggestions!
I've not had much luck finding truly vegetarian Southeast Asian cuisine, though. Fish sauce is such an omnipresent flavoring, and I find that soy sauce alone (which the restaurants usually suggest as a substitute) just doesn't work. Does Chabaa Thai Bistro have a good fish-sauce substitute for vegetarians?
marsha - Fish sauce is an ingredient that I let slide when dining out on Southeast Asian cuisine (we all have rules, and that's mine), although I always welcome the option of dishes without fish sauce.
I have a pretty good nose for fish sauce, and I didn't smell fish sauce coming from Chabaa Thai's Garden Pad Thai, although I did not ask.
The menu does have "vegetarian" in parenthesis for the Garden Pad Thai. This often means nothing in regards to fish sauce, but at some places it does mean a dish does not have fish sauce.
So...to answer your question, I don't know for sure if Chabaa Thai's Pad Thai does not have fish sauce, but I did not smell any fish sauce.
All the colors and textures of the veggies look gorgeous. The boy and I haven't been to Manayunk in a minute so I wouldn't mind making it over there to check this place out.
Hey Taylor,
I've enjoyed a couple of meals at Chabaa Thai but it's been quite a while.... I'll need to head back soon and write it up from an ominvore's perspective. Thanks for the reminder.
It's odd; I've yet to find a massaman in Nashville that I like among some ten (?) Thai restaurants here. But there are just two (hey, maybe more now; I'm not sure) in Memphis that both have excellent massaman. Maybe the Thais who chose Memphis came from a different part of Thailand...that has better massaman.
So now I eat Pad See Ew.
Lesley - Pad See Ew is my third favorite dish at my favorite Thai restaurant back home. Ah, it's so hard to find exact replicas of your first Thai crush!
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