Mpls St Paul Magazine, Frugal Gourmet
Steven Brown, February 2008
These is tiny and then there is teeny. And sometimes there's teeny-tiny, which is the case at Chai's Thai Restaurant. The place is blink-or-you-might-miss-it small (just remember it's located next to the Cedar Cultural Center), but once found, the hard part is over—the food is great, portions ample, and prices itsy-btsy. Take, for example, the sensuous fried crab and avocado spring roll with sweet and tangy dipping sauce for $8, or seafood salad (also $8)—loaded with large plump shrimp, succulent bay scallops, and curls of calamari—fresh and swimming in an ocean of briny lime vinaigrette and spicy chilies, all on a bed of crunchy lettuce. More amazing is ginger-roasted duck: a generous portion of meltingly tender boneless duck nuanced with the namesake spice along with shitake mushrooms, peppers, baby bok choy, and a hauntingly rich, sweet sauce ($10). This diamond-in-the-rough isn't lacking in sparkle either, thanks to cute budget décor and surprisingly
sophisticated food presentation.
StarTribune
Jeremy Iggers, December 24, 2005
EXCERPTS:
...Presentation is more stylish and sophisticated than you might expect at a restaurant where everything on the menu is $9 or less. Dishes are served on black stoneware, and sometimes on banana leaves, while the tea is brought to the table in ornamental cast-iron teapots. Soups are served in a steel hot pot, and stir-fries are festively garnished with curly orange and white strands of julienned carrot and radish...
...The green curry with beef and eggplant is a less dramatic presentation, but for flavor, it just might be the best in town...
