Thai from Cafe Chili

I hate it when you leave your regular, go-to places with the hopes of discovering something new and exciting only to come away frustrated and disappointed. That's what happened the other night when I ordered Thai food and decided to try a new place. Cafe Chili (172 Court St., between Congress & Amity, 718-260-0066) used to be Siam Garden which was a lovely spot my family & I used to dine at when I was in High School. It underwent a radical change a few years ago, and I have to say that I was sorely disappointed with my meal. I initially tried to order from Joya, but after getting a busy signal on 5 attempts and then having it ring for 3 minutes, I scrapped that idea. Anyone know if Joya even delivers?

So yeah, this meal was so blah. I started out with the Cilantro Corn Fritters because I'd never heard of them and they sounded interesting. What came were three mushy, doughy & greasy balls, with some kernels of corn and absolutely no taste or evidence of cilantro whatsoever. Ugh.



I also ordered the Crispy Vegetable Spring Rolls. These were at least somewhat flavorful with shredded carrots and cabbage, but they were also totally oily.



I decided to get the Tofu Pad Thai since it's such a classic dish, I wanted to see how they prepared it. It turned out to be a bit bland, and the chunks of tofu, while plentiful, were dry and rubbery. Major bummer.



My boyfriend chose Panang Curry with Chicken which is described as Coconut Milk, Steamed Mixed Vegetables & Kaffir Lime. It was flavorful and on the spicy side, even though I asked for mild, and the "mixed vegetables" were only red & green bell peppers. The portion also seemed pretty small (the photo shows it in it's entirety).



All in all, a major let-down. I even checked out the reviews on Yelp which all say, except for one, that the food was pretty mediocre. With a number of better options in the neighborhood, I just don't see going back there.