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Mon-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Unexpectedly good.
I was walking by, had a hankering for Thai, and happened to look at the menu.
Ordered the green curry with chicken. It wasn't the greatest ever, but solid. Could have been spicier, more coconut-y, but all in all, good, fast and cheap.
If you're looking for a cheap and affordable meal, than this place will fit your bill. For only $8.95, you get three courses. A few bucks more and you get their soft shell crab as your main dish. Everything on the menu is standard fare, not the greatest or the worst but certainly not memorable. You get what you pay for.
At first, I thought this place was a dedicated Thai restaurant (they do serve Thai food) but when I saw their menu, they also serve pho (Vietnamese noodle) and other Asian dishes. There's an odd beast in Philly that I'm afraid I haven't grown to love. It's called the "Asian fusion" restaurant. They call themselves fusion but really, it's not true fusion, it's more like a "one-stop shop" for any asian dish you want. Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, you name it.
The result of offering all these dishes together in one place? Nothing's very good. While I haven't tried the other Asian fusion restaurants, based on my experience here I'll probably keep it that way. Sorry Philly, not diggin' this type of Asian food.
While it is an obvious fact that food is always better when the time between being cooked and being served is low, you can sometimes determine the true quality of that food when you only experience it after an hour plus wait.
Last night it was raining and I was in deep 'staying inside and watching The Mighty Boosh' territory, but also had a craving for some Thai. I ordered from Thai Chef and Noodle Fusion because, on Grub Hub, they were the only Thai place without a $7 delivery fee (though there was a $15 minimum purchase requirement).
I didn't get fancy with my order, just pad thai and tom yum soup...grub hub estimated that it would take an hour for my food to arrive, but i was okay with that. Half an hour after the ETA of my food, however, I was getting antsy. I contacted the grub hub people and they told me the restaurant was running behind, apologized, and gave me a $5 coupon for my next order through the site. A full hour (plus a little) after the expected delivery time, my food arrived. The biker/delivery person was very apologetic, noting he was the only driver for the night. I'm not a bitch, and it was an awful night to be going around driving food, so I tipped him properly and went inside to enjoy my food.
Thing of it is: the food wasn't that great. I know that Pad Thai isn't the most authentic of dishes, but it can still be done so it pops with flavor and a little spice. This did not happen. While not awful, it was not very satisfying, even though I was H-U-N-G-R-Y. The Tom Yum soup was also a disappointment, didn't have enough lemongrass or kick to it for my liking, and (maybe this betrays my own lack of knowledge about true Thai cuisine) it had big chunks of not cooked button mushrooms instead of what I consider the more standard straw mushroom.
Maybe things would have been better if I had gone in to eat? As it is, I was left unimpressed on every count.
I was in the city for a conference of VISTA community educators and to my dismay the first day's lunch was not covered. LAME. ..well, I found TC&NF so I suppose it wasn't terrible.
I walked aimlessly around downtown philly trying to find someplace cheap, good, wasn't a lame chain (cosi, mcdonalds) and took credit cards. The latter was ridiculously difficult to find. Philadelphia is an absurdly cash only city which makes finding cheap eats on credit... very difficult. What gives Philadelphia? Join the rest of us in 2009, a lot of credit card companies lowered their fees and it will probably double your clientele!
Anyway, I found Thai Chef & Noodle Fusion hiding in the not so hip part of chestnut st. past the park and the trendy stores. The first thing I saw was the lunch special sandwich board outside with 7.95-8.95 written on it... i looked at the list, massaman curry was written fourth from the top... SOLD! The glorious VISA sticker on the door brought joy to my tummy. The waitress was friendly until I told her I only had a credit card, she was a little testy because there is a fifteen dollar minimum. LAME! I got up to leave (apologetically of course) and she then told me she would make an exception for me.
The deal was, soup, appetizer and entree and dessert for around eight dollars. I chose a spicy lemongrass soup (vegetarian version of tom yum I suppose). It was delicious, I felt as though they went a little overboard with the mushrooms, I wanted more broth, less mushrooms. The broth burned so good going down. The appetizer I chose was the moon dumpling. It was delicious, I can't even put it into words, I almost didn't want to eat them; they were so good. Two was not at all enough.
The curry was also delicious. I felt as though it was missing some heat however, which disappointed me quite a bit. Yet it was nothing some sriracha couldn't solve. The curry was rich and nutty and had a good balance of potatoes and chicken (often times they fill them with potatoes and don't use enough chicken).
The dessert was lame... two orange slices with powdered sugar. But I was way too full for any kind of dessert anyway. Would I come back? Sure if I am in Philly again, but probably only for lunch,
Came here again (and again) and it's still greta and still a great value at $8/95 for a 3 course sit down lunch.
Masaman Curry or Pad-See_Ew are my faves here. Soooo tasty.
And Pookie - one of the servers - is a doll.
Had lunch here with Pat D. (what a sweetie she is! and a great yelper, too.) and it was terrific.… Read more »
This place is a total odd ball. I stayed away from it for months, even though it's only a block from my apartment, until one of my friends admitted that it was one of her favorite after-work places. To me, Thai Chef looks like a total piece of crap. Obvious name advertising "fusion" (i.e. anything with soy sauce that we can make in our kitchen) plus the fact that there are never any customers inside made me very wary.
Anyway, it's BYOB, so we decided to load up on two bottles of wine and some noodles. I had the singapore noodles, which were alright, kind of under-seasoned, but the bowl was surprisingly well put together. My friend had her favorite Pad See Yu, which was also alright.
I think this place would be fine for a lunch special or a pre-game BYOB dinner. Otherwise, I'll go for real thai food.
Brad's rating (out of 5):
Food: 2
Price: 3
Decor: 2 (little mermaid theme was a little weird....)
Service: 4
Wild card: Close to my apartment?
Short on cash and feeling the effects of the Economy but still looking to lunch?
For taste, affordability, and fast service, look no further than Thai Chef. What a DEAL. $7.95/$8.95 Lunch special that includes your choice of soup (4 options, I got the yummy Tom Kha), appetizer (salad or choice of rolls, dumplings, etc) and then your main course (a wide selection of noodle and rice dishes) The selection is varied and you can't beat the price. They serve the first two together and the main course almost piggy-backs it. They're lightning fast. And the eats are mighty tasty.
The decor inside is uber trippy, painted in an under-the-sea motif that accompanies a motley crue of light fixtures.
This place is definitely in my top five for cheapest and most delicioso lunch eats in the city.
2.5 stars..
Not sure why but this place just didn't fit right with me. It might have to do with the fact that the inside is decorated and painted like an underwater scene, but nothing on the menu had seafood (lunch menu, anyway).
This is a really odd little place, really. It's supposed to be a Thai place, but it had Pho on the menu. Not only that, but the Pho was really weird.. not bad, just weird. (yeah, don't know why I got Vietnamese at a Thai place).
Perhaps I'll go back one of these days if I'm feeling up for it, but the feel of the place was really weird to me for some reason...
AWESOME AFFORDABLE LUNCH!
Thanks to Karen F. tippoff, I had a great cheap lunch. 3 courses for under $10 is a perfect treat for thai. Soup and appetizer came out in just a minute of so. I had the coconut soup which I slurped down to the last drop. It was great. The Moon Dumplings were fried but really fresh, crispy and tasty. Im sure they're healthy for me. For my entree I chose the green curry and it was really delicious. It wasnt super spicey but enough to be flavorful. I believe that you can request for hotter but this was so good, I needs no improving in my opinion. My friend had the pad thai and said it was really great. The bill for the two of us was only $19.30 and service was faster than I usually want but hey, I only had an hour for my lunch break and still had time for coffee on the way back to work.
I went here alone for lunch today at around 2:45. I had high hopes after the appetizers but was a bit let down by the main course.
The coconut cilantro chicken soup was fantastic and far exceeded my tentative expectations. The salad was standard (lettuce, cabbage, egg noodles, cucumber, tomato and peanut dressing) but satisfying--I would have asked for more dressing, but by the time I was beginning the salad after finishing the soup, the entrée had already been brought out. I was one of three people in the restaurant at the time, so I don't know if this very fast service should be considered standard, but it was appreciated nonetheless.
The red curry with tofu was slightly disappointing. I would have liked it to be spicier. The curry was watery and a bit overwhelmed by the vegetables. The tofu was also watery and undercooked--it felt and tasted like it had just been thrown in last minute, instead of tasting like it was integrated with the dish. The portion was a bit on the small side for Thai, but an appropriate size for lunch.
The restaurant itself was nicely decorated but, even mostly empty felt cramped with tables and chairs lined up without any real attempt at an aesthetic arrangement.
Overall, for $8.95 I feel I got my money's worth, though I would have rather paid a few extra dollars for small improvements with the main dish.
Went for lunch with a friend. The people were really nice and the food was very good.
My friend had the lunch combo of spicy noodles which were really spicy (in a good way). And the combo is a great deal for lunch.
I had the pad thai (but didn't want the combo), instead I seemed to get the biggest bowl of pad thai I've ever seen. I think they compensated for my not wanting the combo, by giving me more food, and giving me the cheaper price. Thanks. It was so much food, and really good. Overflowing with noodles, tofu, and veggies. Worth going to again.
Their dinner menu appears to have even more vegan/vegetarian items (like mock duck) which is worth trying.
This is my one of my favorite Thai places. It's inexpensive, friendly and unpretentious, with huge entree portions even for lunch. Delicious Drunken Noodles!
I really love this place for lunch. Its inexpensive, its friendly, and its oh so close to work. Also something different from the usual slice of pizza boringness. I've been going since they first opened and my 3 favorite thai dishes are done pretty well. Pad Thai, Drunken Noodles, and Red curry all tasty and filling. Usually I do them all with tofu and vegetables--I do eat meat but for some reason I like curry with tofu--maybe because the tasty curry sauce soaks into the tofu? In any case, the red curry is well done and very satisfying. I have been with people who tried and loved the alligator...not my thing but nice to see they have some more exotic options!
Decent Thai place that also delivers! Find their menu at http://philadelphia.me...
I've ordered from here twice and have been satisfied each time. We've had the pad-thai, pad se ew, and garlic beef - all of which have been super tasty and delivered hot and fresh. I took a star off because I think some of their dinner entrees are quite expensive (18 bucks for duck curry, really?) Seems like lunches are better value overall.
I ventured here for lunch with a friend on the strong recommendation of my co-worker, who eats here about once a week. I was not disappointed.
I had the lunch special, and for $8.95 had the lemongrass soup, spring roll & green curry.
My soup was the perfect level of spice and the ingredients were very fresh. I loved the mushrooms! The spring roll was cooked perfectly, very flavorful and came with the yummiest dipping sauce.
I'd never had curry before, but this was very good. I was a bit startled at first by the amount of spice (which doesn't hit you immediately), but once I adjusted to the spice, I thoroughly enjoyed this dish. I'd definitely go back for lunch, but I may venture here for dinner next to try the alligator!
So glad to have tasty and affordable thai food nearby! We ordered pad see yew (sp?) and drunken noodles -- the drunken noodles were a winner, despite another Yelper's mediocre review. Check out their menu on http://menupages.com since they dont have a website - it's really diverse!
Plan ahead - delivery is painfully slow!
Pretty good lunch special for the value, but the decor was strange and the food, while solid, was unspectacular. There are better Thai places in the area (Thai Singha Take-Out, for example), but this is a good option if you're looking for a nice cheap d sit-down lunch or dinner.
BYOB. Lunch & dinnner; eat in or take out. Delivery, with a $15 minimum.
Awesome. Not the typical "Thai restaurant" decor: very bright and airy, with underwater scenes painted on all the walls. I wasn't sure of the decor's connection with the restaurant until I noticed that the menu says "Please visit our Under Sea Dining". I didn't notice any elephants.
The service was excellent -- very attentive. My lunch partner had been there earlier in the week, and the waitress greeted her by name! The food was satisfying as well, with a very nice selection. Probably the most telling thing was that the place was almost full -- that's a good sign!
The lunch deal is the best. $7.95/$8.95 for 3 courses (eat in only). A soup, an app and a main course. Can't beat it. A la carte prices look very reasonable, both at lunch and at dinner. I had Tom Yum Soup, two Shrimp & Corn Cakes, and Pad Se Ew, accompanied by green tea. My lunch partner had something called Ravioli Soup ("Home made shrimp & chicken dumpling"), a Spring Roll and Masaman [sic] Curry. No dessert on this visit, but the selections look intriguing; I'll try one another time. The bill, including tax, was $20 for the two of us.
For dinner, they have an option similar to that offered by a number of other Thai restaurants: they offer a list of 12 or so various sauces/preparations, then you pick the protein (chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, calamari, mixed seafood, or tofu w/ vegetables) that you want prepared with it. The various protein options are priced accordingly. You can work your way through the menu, for instance, with tofu done a different way for 12 meals, then move on to chicken. That's 84 different combinations before you even touch the rest of the menu!
The rest of the dinner menu is extensive. Going with the Under Sea Dining theme, the seafood selections include soft shell crab, tuna, salmon, seabass, red snapper, catfish, and the usual shrimp, scallops, mussels & etc. You can even snap up something called "Winning Alligator" ("sauteed slice alligator, eggplant, onion, bell pepper, with julienne ginger, soy bean, green peppercorn Thai aromatic herb sauce"). There is an especially wide selection of vegetarian dishes, including soups, apps and entrees. It looks as though you can ask them to adjust the spice level to your taste: "Little spicy, extra spicy, very spicy (hot)".
Oh, and for those Phans of Pho -- they've got it.
If you are walking by, you can pick up a menu from the menu-holder near the door, take it back home or to the office, and drool.
I will be going back -- soon.
seriously, thai, only a few blocks from my house? be still my heart!
now, this is no chicago thai food (my heart always breaks a little with that comment... but still, this place is good. it's fast. super fast. it's cheaper than erawan.
and the food! i feel like i could almost be in gary indiana, that's how close it is to the chicago thai food it is!
ps-lunch special is such a good price, i could eat there by my lonesome just to get the deal.
delivery was very fast - about 25 mins from call to delivery!
i ordered a ton of food and ate about 4 meals from it, however from dinner i thought it was a bit expensive.
shrimp and corn cakes were tasty but did not hold up for delivery and they were limp and cold when they got to me.
chicken green curry was nice but smaller portion then expected for the price and lacked any spice...it had 3 peppers on the menu i expected a touch of heat even for my standards...also the sauce was a little thinner than the norm.
shrimp basil fried rice, there were about 8 shrimp in here and a ton of rice (but pricey at about $13 per entree). the rice was slightly mushy. i would not order another fried rice dish but def wanna check out some noodles next time.
pricey for what it but then again they are one of the few thai deliveries and for that its worth it. i will order from here again but specify they need to add some spice to it!
and hope to get there one day for the lunch special as that seems to be the way to go.
I came here for dinner. It was pretty good, but kind of deserted for 7:30 PM. I had the Yellow Curry which, while tasty, did not contain enough chicken (they also didn't really seem to give me enough rice.) The Thai Rolls were good, and the food overall was solid, particularly for the price.
So happy with this place. Lemongrass had me used to watery coconut soup and unpleasant waitstaff, so I was pleasantly surprised with Thai Chef. The soup kind of blew my mind--so much chicken, so much yum. The moon dumplings were also good, as was my noodle dish. The waitresses are very sweet also, which is a lot more than I can say for Lemongrass. I'm a fan. :D
We just went here for dinner, and it will definitely not be the last time! They have a nice big menu, full of both the recognizable Thai dishes and a good amount of things I hadn't seen before; also a variety of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Japanese, etc, dishes thrown into the mix, with a lot of vegetarian options toboot! Prices still not too bad for dinner, and big portions.
The three course lunch was a great bargain, and lots of good food to boot. The staff was very cheery… Read more »
i was SO excited after a good foobooz writeup about this place... something about the thai place to make you stop saying you can't get good thai food in philly. unfortunately i'm still saying that... and the longer i live here, the whinier i get. i'm even annoying myself. so anyway, i was bursting at the seams with excitement when i tried this place about a month ago and i was so, so, so underwhelmed. i'm not even sure if it stacks up with other sub-par thai experiences here! i mean, the cuisine is pretty much tasty by default; nothing was bad... it's just... so painfully average. which is the last word anyone should ever use to describe thai food with all those exciting ingredients! no flavor in the coconut milk soup... no spice in the drunken noodles. beautiful walls, though slightly awkward dining room setup... too many tables in there. felt like everyone else was witnessing my spirits fall when our food arrived. i am going to be such a crotchety bitch when i get old!!!
Neighborhood: Rittenhouse Square
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Neighborhood: Rittenhouse Square
Category: Thai
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