This is a great place for lunch! Outdoor seating for sunny days in Bellevue, and super fast service for a quick sit-down lunch. They even serve complimentary soups, and the soup is GOOD.
Get the:
Heavenly beef (delicious)
Don't get the:
Cashew chicken (boring)
Prices are reasonable, menu is simple! I probably wouldn't come here for dinner because there are other restaurants nearby that have better menus, but for lunch Chantanee is awesome.
FIRST OFF. Dis place be rollin in the deep. Located right between Bellevue Transit Center and Bellevue Square Mall, y'all can peep dem weirdos going around da place. All in the comfort of your own thai. Hey Chan. Tan yo Knee. To complete dat experience, you just need some Chinese acrobats shooting out of Mexican cannons for you to experience in this lush Chantanee locale.
This place just looks freakin fetch. Waitress comes up and be all like, "hey b, how u doin?" I'm all like, "yo gangster, gimme a drink. sumtin cool and light. but make it come wit mah dinner so i can enjoy it harmoniously, namsayin?" you gotta make dem liquid have chemical reactions with thai spices and go all circus monkey in your mouth.
But no, waitress comes up and brings me the drink about 8 minutes later. I be all like, "hey gangster, where mah food? I wanted dis with mah food?" she be all like, "your food's about to come." I wait 5 minutes...hmmm........SORRY MY ORDERS DON'T COME WIT INSTRUCTION MANUAL.
After about 5 more minutes, food's come. I got the Phad Phed Gang Dang (Ima call it the GANGDANG), because the name's hilarious, yo. Cocktail's not bad. Reminds me of a koala soarin' up a cloud. But the service here is not above the intelligence of yo average marsupial. I ain't never seen any waiter bring you the check while you are still eating. To be as clear as the aurora freaking borealis, the waitress brings me the check while i'm still nommin the hell out of my GANGDANG. So while I'm meditatin to my GANGDANG, ya put dis piece of leather n paper next to me and i'm like, "Is this paper for my chakras power level? BECAUSE I AIN'T FEELIN YOU."
Now as for the food, the GANGDANG puts the Gang in GANGSTER FLAVA. To spell it out for you, the GANGDANG is your choice of meat in "green bean, onion, mushroom, bamboo shoot, bell pepper, and sweet basil in a red curry paste." But DAMNNN I can taste some coconut (or just something REALLY CREAMY) in there I swear to Jimi Hendrix. They take this flavor to another level. I ordered 3 spice...it ain't all dat spicy, but it's got the most intricate flavor I've had in a Thai dish. They got some baby crying while we were eating too. He just wished he had mah GANGDANG.
There were a few peppercorns served with the GANGDANG. I put a few in my drink, hoping that once I drink it, I'd have dreams of a Mexican monkey. Instead I dreamt about Thom Yorke.
Over errthang, good food, marsupial service.
3 Koalas out of 5
Heartbreak! A decade or so ago Chantanee was the best Thai food on the East Side. They created gloriously hand-crafted, creative, authentic Thai cuisine. Until recently I hadn't eaten there in at least five years. Now they're in a new, corporate setting and churning out over-sweetened goop for the Bellevue lunch crowd.
Sauces are over-thickened and often sickly sweet. Ingredients are low-quality, such as mushy seafood, rubbery tofu, and chalky squash. The pad thai (which accompanies all lunch combos) has no Thai flavor at all, no vegetables; it's like spaghetti with corn syrup and catsup.
The food quality is what you expect in a third-rate mall food court. The service is friendly and attentive but error-prone. The restaurant is clean.
I consider this a local tragedy.
Disappointing! I ordered 4 star red curry with chicken. The chicken was very dry. It had no spice. My friend ordered a 2 star dish (not sure what it was called) and his was super spicy. The dry chicken ruined my meal. I only wish it was forgettable. Oh, and curry was $14. Silly. Too many good restaurants to come back here.
Review Source:Went there for lunch. It has a casual environment, and the service is quick and good. They give you a soup appetizer with every meal. The soup is alright, and may differ from day to day. Got the lunch combo, which is fairly decent, you get a half portion of a main dish with rice and pad thai and the crab rangoon appetizer. It's a fair amount, and the quality is good, but not great. I thought the curry and heavenly beef that my friend got was a little too salty. The price is on the pricier side, but not bad for a Thai restaurant.
Review Source:Was walking by when we saw this place and decided to give a try. Such a great restaurant! The soup was amazingly good and had a lot of vegetarian options. Have some great wine selection too!
The dishes came too early though, almost seemed like they wanted us to finish quick and leave. Overall, still a good environment.
I've passed this restaurant for years and yet I had never ventured in to give this place a try. For a Thai restaurant, their prices are a little higher than what you would get in University District but then again it's smacked in Downtown Bellevue, so it's expected. Their portions are actually quite large and good for sharing with a group. Taste-wise, their food was more on the salty and oily end. Not to say that their food wasn't flavorful or good, they were! Just I have a personal preference towards Thai places that have a lighter hand in salt and oil. Additionally, if you are used to Thai restaurants that don't give much spice unless you ask for 4-5 stars, you might find yourself breathing out fire if you ordered with the same "scale" here. They take their spiciness seriously here! We ordered a green papaya salad with 2 star and it tasted like it was 4 stars at other restaurants. So beware: if you can't take spice well I would recommend getting no spiciness at all and if you can take just a bit, 1 star is PLENTY.
Review Source:What has this place come to? :(
Old location was a diners dream.. hole in the wallish.. great prices.. authentic taste..
Now: corporate, expensive, 'modern wanna be'.. Â prices that are outrageous for thai food.
When this place first opened a few years back, i left a feedback saying the lack of lunch combo is not good. Â I got a response that said 'sorry this isn't what we do".
well 3 months later, they got the lunch combo. why? b/c after the first wave of people trying it out.. paying 20 dollars for lunch became unpalatable.
Now, their lunch combos taste mass produced just like every other thai place. problem is.. they cost 50% more.. so why bother.. Â
it's just sad really .. what it once was..
I was excited to try Chantanee, as their sister restaurant, Pen Thai in Bothell, is one of my favorites, and since Bellevue is closer to where I am living, I was hoping that this would meet the same standard--sadly, it was a huge disappointment. Â
First, this is not authentic Thai food, at least what I tried. Â I can only comment on two dishes, which is in no way a reflection of their entire menu, but they should have done them well, and one of them was so bad that I really should have sent it back. Â At lunch, they bring a soup to start with, and so I'm not exactly sure what it was called, but it tasted heavily of corn starch, with Chinese flavors instead of the Thai flavors you would expect in a Thai restaurant. Â It was okay, but not great by any means. Â For lunch, I ordered the Panang curry--a classic Thai curry dish that I order often. Â It was so salty that I could hardly get through the dish--and I am one who puts salt on everything. Â As someone else said, they are really heavy on the coconut cream in their curries. Â Well, this was reflected in the thickness of the curry, which was not an ideal consistency. Â It was also WAY too rich, and I regretted my meal for about two hours afterward, as I had a horrible stomach ache. Â This has rarely happened to me because of the richness of food, and never has this happened from eating Thai. Â
It was truly an awful lunch experience, and with so many other Thai places to explore in the city, I won't be back for a second time.
What do you get when Bellevue serenades (although Bellevue probably did not do it as eloquently as, say, Jonn Hart) and proceeds to make love to Thai food? Â Chantanee. Â The end result is higher-than-average price per dish and a restaurant that gleams of shiny wall decor and high booths. Â Sometimes, it's exactly what you want to have.
I've had Thai food from hole-in-the-walls to upscale restaurants like Chantanee, and much to my surprise, they do it well here. Â I never tried Chantanee when they were at their old location, but this is a rather odd, new location for any restaurant. Â You have to walk past Jimmy John's and then around the corner, and the entrance is on the side of the shared building. Â There is parking at Key Center if you were worried for a second that downtown Bellevue is turning into Seattle.
Their Thai Iced Tea is total perfection. Â For me, the perfect Thai Iced Tea needs to have a mingling taste of tea after each sip, and not the cream/milk or sugar. Â If not, sometimes they put too much ice and it gets watered down before my food arrives. Â I've had too many places butcher the ratio or they made the drink from powder, so already Chantanee gets my vote. Â
Their spiciness scale actually makes sense to me. Â They make things appropriately spicy. Â I've dined in as well as had take-out from here. Â I have to point out an inconsistency--their Phad Thai. Â When I ordered take-out, their Phad Thai was what I would consider to be delicious. Â When I had their dine-in Phad Thai, it had a red color and looked like ketchup was the base of the dish. Â Yeah, I don't really care for ketchup Phad Thai. Â Sounds like a recipe that I could do.
I would also note that they are extremely heavy-handed when it comes to their curries. Â I would say they triple the dose of heavy cream, or whatever they use in their curries other than the paste. Â "One cup? Â Screw that! Â Bellevue demands that we make ours with three cups, at least!" Â We can't allow people to walk out without feeling like they are about to implode with curry.
For a group of 4, we ordered the Duck Curry, Chicken Red Curry, Beef Phad Kee Mao, Chicken Phad Thai, and the Phad Phed Gang Dang. Â Can we just take a second to revel in how unintentionally hilarious that entree is? Â Okay. Â All of the food we ordered were made on time, and all of them were deliciously heavy. Â I particularly loved the Duck Curry. Â That entree alone would get you full because duck is fatty and curry is thick, so you're just asking to unbutton your jeans by the end of the meal.
As a person of Thai decent this place is one that I will never go to again. Back when they were in their old location down the street, still a small time operation, the food was great. Now in their new location it feels like they lost a lot along the way. I ordered "heavenly beef" which tasted literally like someone opened up a bag of "oh boy oberto beef jerky" and marinated it in a vat of soy sauce. I ordered this 10 star, yes again 10 star because as a Thai person, I like my food spicy and since I had a feeling this place became "americanized" the food wouldn't be spicy one bit. Unfortunately I was right. Sadly the waiter even admitted, "This is the best we can do as it's a more Americanized place". So I ordered "Crispy Garlic Chicken" on top of my marinated beef jerky which was sub par at best. I'm not trying to be picky nor am I purposely bashing the place. I don't expect "home cooking" but this was just horrid.
I will end with this, if you're okay with Americanized Thai food that isn't even close to "authentic" then you'll be perfectly fine with this place.
This isn't the best Thai restaurant I've been to, nor is it the worse. I would say it's a bit pricey for average quality food. The tom yum soup was pretty good but I wasn't very impressed with the crispy garlic chicken that a lot of people have been raving about. It wasn't crispy as I had expected and it's nothing I would rave to my friends about. (We almost ordered the crispy garlic prawns but the $19 price tag made me change my mind. 19 DOLLARS?!! Unbelievable!!) Anyway, we also ordered the yum wen soon salad. It had way too much noodle and not much ground chicken. Overall I thought the food was just ok and the service was very slow. I would not go there again because of the food quality and steep prices.
Review Source:Pretty place that totally fits in the Bellevue scene. Â But, that's about as good as my review goes.
I've been here twice - once for lunch, and once for dinner - both times I left unimpressed. Â For lunch, I got the salmon combo. Â Tasted ok (but very american) but pricey at $15. Â For dinner, Â I got phad kee mao with shrimp. Â The noodles were ok, but it was a rip-off. Â $6 extra for shrimp? Â Me thinks not. Â At $18, that was the most expensive phad kee mao I've ever had in the Seattle area.
One more thing for parents with young children. Â While we were having dinner, a couple with two young kids came in and sat next to us. Â One of the servers knocked the child seat over, and it crashed onto the floor. Â I don't think the child was hurt (I hope, but it definitely resulted in a lot of crying.) Â The other kid who was a bit older was completely scared of out his mind and started crying. Â Needless to say, the family left without eating.
This accident isn't terribly relevant to the food quality here, but I thought the staff was a bit reckless to let this happen. Â I was with two other couples with babies and they were completely spooked out.
Love the garlic chicken! I get it every time I go! Also love the Tom Ka soup.
The atmosphere is very chic and can serve as a romantic night out compared to other Thai restaurants.
The parking is a little tricky, but it's in the Key Center and they validate your parking so it's totally easy once you find the garage.
Ok. Still avoid the pad thai at all cost.  But for those of you that need a good rice noodle dish in order to feel whole, they have an awesome offering, the Chantanee Noodle. It is still a bit too sweet for me, I ask for no tamarind sauce (or as little as possible) and squeeze extra lime juice  to make it less sweet.
Also, the Tom Kai (coconut soup) is really very good and unlike other places you can have it with fried tofu or any of the other proteins they have (chicken, shrimp, tofu). Order it with a side of sticky rice.
The Crispy Garlic Duck is OUT OF THIS WORLD. Order it SPICY 4-5 stars! And order a veggie dish to go with it as it is simply a nice big pile of yummy meaty happiness.
Drinks are awesome. Service is awesome. The entire staff is so sweet and helpful!
This is our go-to Thai restaurant in the Greater Puget Sound area as well as one of our favorite cocktail bars.
I hold back on the 5th star because the pad thai is really unforgivable. I was also not impressed with the fish curry (the sauce was too thick and the fish not great). Â The things that are good, are great, but there are some weak spots on the menu...
I haven't had good thai food in a long time. Came here with a large party and the service was excellent and so is the food.
Som Tam-papaya salad (minus the dried shrimp..gross) How can you go wrong with this. Super refreshing and a hint of spicyness.
Phad Thai-great flavors, but the noodles were a little too soggy for me
Phad See Iew-So good.
Garlic fried rice with pork-one of my fave dishes. Lots of garlic and great flavors
Cripsy garlic chicken with garlic sauce and basil-this is amazing. My fave dish of the night. So much flavor and it's all white meat. (YEAH!)
Heavenly beef-comes out on a sizzling plate. They give you alot, but it was a little dry for me
Emerald Curry (green curry) I was so full by the time I tried some...it was ok. Thought it could have more of a kick to it.
Tom Yum Halibut Hot Pot-the fish was cooked perfectly and the soup is so good. It has a strong kick that hits the back of your throat and you feel like you drink it anymore, but it's so addicting that you keep drinking more and more.
Green beans-good flavor.
Well Chantanee, you won this round. We paid $40-50 for dinner for 2 for a crap meal. (and probably cost you less than $5 to prepare) I'm going to win next round though: by not coming back and telling everyone I know to stay away.
The quality is no better than food court Thai (maybe even worse) the crispy garlic chicken was not crispy and was not 4/5 stars. It was slimy, gooey, chicken with sauce and breading. At $16 -- what a rip off.
The pad thai was swimming in ketchup, totally un-dynamic flavor, and just sloppy. Also, not served at 4/5 stars. At $12 -- what a rip off.
The salad rolls were pretty tasty actually. They were probably my favorite part of the meal. $8 is a lot for lettuce, tofu, and rice noodles though.
$4 for Thai Ice Tea? Just give me a F&*#ING break. Seriously?
If memory serves correctly, this place used to be awesome. Maybe their new location and increased rent means they have to take the tamarind out of pad thai, replace it with ketchup, not fry chicken correctly, and give a huge mark-up to everything on the menu.
Sorry Chantanee. I'm never coming back.
I was in the Bellvue area for work and needed a place for dinner for myself and a couple of coworkers. This place came on recommendation of a local.
Not being familar with the area it was a bit tough to find. If I didn't have GPS on my phone I may have wandered around quite a bit.
We arrived a bit early as it was immediatly after work so the place was not busy at all. We were seated promptly and received very attentive service. It's definatly a nice enough place to take a date or buisiness associate.
I had the Paanang Curry which was very good. The waitress asked how spicy I'd like it out of 5. I initially said 4 but they attempted to talk me down to 3. Were they profiling my spice abilities since I was a white guy in the Pac NW? I ended up with the 3, I should have gone with the 4. My thinking was that the creaminess of the curry would help tone it down since it uses coconut milk.
If I'm ever back in the area for work I will certainly have this place as an option.
We went here based on Zagat's 21/25 review. Zagat's lost credibility in my opinion for this rating. I eat plenty of Thai at plenty of places. If my wife and I are going to pay $60 for a thai dinner it better be better than thai at half the price. It was not. It was exactly as I would expect from a Thai lunch special. The pad thai noodles were a tad al dente, the szechuan* chicken dinner was heavy on the veggies and EXTREMELY light on the chicken; appetizers were grossly over-priced and relied on marketing techniques to hide their small portions (12 pieces seems like enough to share for spring rolls at $8 but not when they're smaller than little smokies).
To sum up, our experience at Chantanee was underwhelming and I haven't even touched on the lack of a changing table in the women's bathroom or  the labyrinthine parking and walking situation...you can read other reviews for that gem.
The only saving grace was the waiter (who wasn't even our waiter) who took the time to stop and play with our 7 m/o because she was so interested in what he was doing. I wish he HAD been our waiter, or at least knew his name so his management knew of his high-quality customer service.
FOOD: 3 stars
Food was not bad. Nothing to write home about. I was in a large party and got to try the PINEAPPLE FRIED RICE and the POT STICKERS. Fried rice was fine but the pot stickers were dumplings (boiled when should be fried. They're called pot stickers because they stick to the pot when they're fried :P). Meh. I also felt like the chef was a bit more concerned with the flowers on the plate (decoration) than the flavors of the food.
SERVICE: 4 stars
I came in a large party and it seemed like we were the only ones there on a Saturday afternoon. I wonder if they had opened just for us... Saturday afternoon, though! Anyways, service was helpful, gracious, and prompt.
AMBIANCE: 4 stars
They've got a nice outdoor patio right outside their restaurant, overshadowed slightly by some tall trees. The large party I was in occupied about 2/3 of the patio. We were the only ones there do it was nice. A good spot for LARGE PARTIES..
So I'm gonna cheat a little bit here. I already wrote a blog entry type thing on my own personal blog, but I think I'll just copy and paste it here.
Nesting in the lower floor of an office building all the way across the water on the eastern shores of Lake Washington--the city of Bellevue, Naga is a not-so-hidden gem that offers excellence in barmanship.
Barmanship...is that even a word? No matter, Naga has never failed to impress me in the few visits I've made there. I would like to make more of these visits, but alas, its location in the aforementioned nether-regions makes it challenging. I pretty much always try to go to Naga when I go to Bellevue. And its parent restaurant, Chantanee, makes some damn good Thai food. But I'm not here to talk about food, am I? Besides a lot of people already write about it here. That, and Cafe Cesura. Chantanee is an old favorite of mine that has been around forever in a nearby strip-mall, before the recent move to its current space. With the move, it also birthed the Naga, which interestingly means Dragon in my language Indonesian and Thai (you know how it is with Sanskrit-based languages.) And what a glorious birth that was.
Let me talk about my most recent visit there, and the drinks I had.
Or what if I entice you with pictures first? Or Video?
<a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2F62oxOlxCjcM&s=1a1c088456dbe298dec7f5f6160526f8000cb673cf55725cb07aab0d9b3b9ee8" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://youtu.be/62oxOlxC…</a>
The Black Donald is a creation of Jamie Boudreau, I believe. But Naga took the liberty of adding dry ice for theatrics and extra-coldness. It's a twist on the old Mamie Taylor: Scotch, lime, ginger beer, adding Drambuie and Angostura into the mix.
I ordered it for two reasons: it was the daily special, $9 (or $6 for happy hour), and it looked cool, so I wanted to take pictures of it. And I was surprised at how good the drink actually turned out to be.
Naga has seen its share of barmen come and go, but they've always been top-notch in skills and service. They've all been good folks, which is reason enough for me to keep coming back. Jason and Seth were manning the Naga this particular evening. Seth made us our Black Donald's, about 5 total over the course of the evening, and they all tasted the same. That is some consistency skills! None was over-sweetened, or over-diluted. And I saw him make about 25 of these that day. Repetition has its merits.
A Mezcal drink I had contained Sombra mezcal, agave syrup, jalapeno-infused chartreuse, and lime. Tasty, but tastier after I asked Seth to add more Sombra float on top...
Later on in the evening (my second visit, technically, I left and came back because I wanted more Naga), Jason made me an Arrack-based drink. If you know me, you know that I'm all about my people's liquor - the Batavia arrack from Indonesia. The first was on the sweet side, but then he corrected it on the second order by using green Chartreuse.
(picture here...)
Batavia Arrack, Pedro Ximenez sherry, Chartreuse, Ardbeg rinse
Naga also boasts an excellent selection of liquor to back up an already amazing cocktail menu. Its Tiki menu is some of the best around. The line-up is a mix of old classics and some creative originals that employ homemade ingredients like the jalapeno Chartreuse, Butter-Fat-washed Cachaca, House-made Swedish Punsch, and other Thai-inspired elements.
And their happy hour: $5 bar food, $3 off cocktails - 3-6 and 10-close everyday. Good deals.
So, did I say enough positive things about them? Enough to warrant another pilgrimage to the Eastern shores? Maybe when I can assemble a team of dragon-hunting adventurers to cross that bridge with me.
That sounded super D&D dorky.
[ obviously...this post was missing some pictures.. to see the full post, you can go here if you really want: <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcathaus.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F19563281283%2Fchantanees-naga-lounge&s=20cc21a93ef642cf931f4b1f66059239285297300cb72c85f1530a293664e351" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://cathaus.tumblr.co…</a> ]
I had their cocktail of the day, the Black Donald - a drink with scotch, a honey scotch liquor, lime, ginger beer, and dry ice. Looovedd this drink. The scotch was smooth, but didn't overwhelm the rest of the drink, the dry ice created a cool effect to look at, and the lime added a welcome crispness to the drink.
As for food, I had the Pad Kee Mao with fried tofu. I really like how they cooked the tofu - it was caramelized and flavorful. The tofu was the best part of the dish - the noodles were okay, but glopped together, there weren't enough veggies, and it was pricey. Â
The 4 stars are for the drinks there, as well as the great service we got. I would definitely go back for drinks, maybe for food if I was hungry enough.
I like Chantanee. The service can be somewhat slow, but their noodle dishes are darn good. I really enjoy their pad khi mao noodles with chicken. The chicken is never overcooked and there is always plenty of egg in the dish, as well as vegetables and noodles of course.
I have tried their curries and I am not as big a fan of those and tend to stick to the noodles or stir fry dishes here.
The sizzling beef dish is also fantastic and I have always enjoyed their lunch specials.
Yummy pumpkin curry!
This is probably the most widely known Thai place on the Eastside and perhaps the second most revered in the area behind Thai Tom. Chantanee is one of those places that I have had on my "to try" list that I never got around to trying until recently when I had a work lunch here.
There are several Thai places in the vicinity to choose from. Of these, Chantanee is the largest and most elegant looking. It is located in the Key Center across from the Bellevue Transit Center. Take the stairs down from Starbucks to find it.
Despite the locale in downtown Bellevue, they do have validated parking. There is even a Facebook page video showing you how to get to the parking garage!
The interior of this restaurant is modern and expansive. They also have a nice lounge called Naga that is among the best in the area in crafting cocktails.
For lunch, they have a lunch specials menu and also the regular menu available. The lunch specials menu consists of several combos which come with phad thai and crab wonton. They also have standard entrees that come with a choice of white or brown rice. I have noticed that sometimes Thai places like to charge extra for rice, so it is nice that it is already inclusive in the selection.
I decided to go for the pumpkin curry with chicken ($10). It sounded like a very intriguing dish on paper. Before the curry was served, I was given a complimentary bowl of hot & sour soup. It was okay. Similar to the Chinese version.
The pumpkin used for the dish is kabocha which makes sense as it is naturally sweet. Adding it into a curry turns out to be an excellent combination. The curry was rich and fragrant. The coconut was in full effect too. I would gladly get this dish again if it was an available offering.
Service was good throughout the meal and it was cool of them to split the bill into separate checks. If you are looking for a Thai restaurant which has good food, ambiance and can make a good cocktail, Chantanee is where you need to go.
I'm so sad to write this review, because Chantanee has always been my favorite Thai place. Â
I called today to place my standard to-go order and Chris (the manager) was so rude and disrespectful! Â When I arrived to pick up the order, I asked him about it and he looked at me like I had 5 heads. Â I think that when the total cost of my order is significantly higher than normal, I have a right to ask what I am being charged for without being met with a seriously bad attitude. Â They also got the order wrong. Â
I love the food, but won't go back now. Â It's amazing how one terrible experience can ruin a long history of good experiences. Â There are plenty of other good Thai places in the area who don't treat their customers like crap. Â :(
NOTE: I have yet to eat any food hear and while I've heard and read that it's amazing, I came here after dinner specifically to drink at Naga Lounge.
Evan and Michael are among the best bartenders in the NW, making cocktails that rival Murray Stenson's with creativity and flare. I came in to pay Michael a visit and just gave him some vague guidelines. Something light, something fresh... nothing too fruity. I mentioned I like gin and he was off to mix up something magical.
He hands over this beautiful glass and I sip down this perfectly delicate, smooth, tasty treat. Knowing that I had to drive in a bit, I asked for a light pour and he was thoughtful enough to concoct something that would taste great but not impair my ability to drive an hour later. I felt safe in his hands and appreciated how he listened and took some super vague directions and turned them into one of the best cocktails I've had in a while. Michael... does that drink have a name? I want another!
Can't wait to go back, eat some food and drink some more. Of course, I'll find someone else to drive next time!
Jen L, my friend, you are so right.
I read almost everyone's review but knew I'd have to make up my own mind. And my mind is made up. Â This is my favorite Thai Restaurant in Metro Seattle.
The atmosphere is sexy, I'd say almost too sexy, with low downtempo triphop playing in the background, the waitress slides up and whispers something suggestive to us like "Can I get you something to drink" but it felt more like "I'm going to bring you something that will make your whole being cry out for more"
Their cocktail menu is suggestive as well, and being the classic girl that I am, I chose the No 5, which comes in a martini glass looking like it's full of the trademark perfume of the same name. Â One taste and I'm rocketed into orbit, seriously, my tastebuds were happier than I can remember them being in soooo long.
They weren't disappointed by the next few minutes either, first the satays, tofu and chicken, both perfectly cooked, tender with lots of flavor and the smooth and sweet peanut sauce and cool cucumber salad fit perfectly. He ordered the Tom Ka soup, gave me a taste and I reeled, the broth was dark and sexy, just like him.
Next came out the Red Curry with Pineapple and the Spicy Eggplant. Â WINNER! I now have a new favorite dish, with the pineapple and the red curry hugging the tender chicken, I was ready to surrender. Â We had so much left over due to the large portion sizes that I'm enjoying it again as I write.
Still, I am already thinking of when we can get back, that No 5 is calling my name on the westbound wind...
Horrible attitude. Â Do they think they are Daniel's Broiler of Thai food? Â I definitely think NOT!
45 minutes from ordering to get your food? Â Everyone around you has their food and they sat down and ordered after you? Â Does the server or the owner care? Â All the owner asked was "do you need a refill on your soda". Â I think she knew that we were waiting too long but didn't want to deal with it.
And the food is just not as good as when they were at the old location.
Automatic tip of 18% on a table of 5?
No free parking?
Just plain old bad! Â Go to Wild Ginger in the Bravern where you'll get good food and service with some class.
I agree with Grace... I really liked this place when it was in the old location. Yeah, granted the HVAC system was a little non functional at times, and yeah your clothes and skin smelled of sizzling beef no matter who was eating it around you but the food and service was always impeccable! My favs were the sizzling basil beef, pahd kee mao (meow), and egg rolls. The friendly staff here, in addition to the simple yet tasty culinary treats are what made this a favorite for our lunch groups when I worked in downtown Bellevue.
My girlfriend and I were walking around downtown Bellevue one night looking for something to eat and stumbled onto the new location, so we planned a date and came back a few weeks later.
The new location is nothing like the old place. Wow! What happened to the old world charm this place used to possess? Just because something's "ugly or old" doesn't automatically make it worth demolishing. Ugly is very subjective.
I used to enjoy seeing the cultural diversity at this place, sadly, I don't see that anymore. Now it's just another stoic, trendy, reinvented Bellevue bar/ restaurant with Ãœber modern furniture. Since when did Thai food get so expensive? There was also something weird with the chairs, either they were very noisy when you moved them, or the fabric on the chairs itself made a weird fart-like sound when you moved about in your seat. You'd think their interior designer would have checked this prior to covering the chairs.
The food came out hot and was delicious as I remembered it but there was waaay too much emphasis on our cocktails and if we wanted any or wanted another. Since I'm a responsible driver and we were really limiting our alcoholic intake for the week, one was enough. At that, we found our waitress was scarce... I mean we hardly saw her. However, she did happen to be having a great time flirting and laughing with the customers in that same corner booth. Even at one point sitting down with the group of guys in one of the big corner booths that were consuming martinis like they were water. That didn't sit well with us, as we too were paying customers. And I'm supposed to give you a tip for seeing your backside all night? Honey, it wasn't that nice of a backside...
Sadly, I don't think we'll be returning to this "new and improved" Chantanee. Instead, we will go back to Noppakao, table for two please or if we're on the Seattle side, back to an old favorite, good OLD Tup Tim Thai.
This place may just be better than Tangerine Thai which is a few blocks down. Chantanee has a special lunch menu (meals range from $9-$15) which has a variety of dishes and so we didn't even bother checking out the regular menu.
Today, I ordered the combo with pad thai and panang curry which was $10. It was dee-licious! The portions were way bigger than I thought, so I ended up taking my leftovers back. The service was way better than my first time here. Our server was smiling a lot and very helpful, she checked on us at least two times. My water was refilled too, that's a huge plus for me.
Another friend ordered the crispy garlic chicken ($15) and she didn't realize it was an entree that didn't come with rice BUT one of the servers gave us a bowl of rice anyway. FREE OF CHARGE. Awesome! Oh and all that hype about the chicken was for reals. The chicken was crispy and very tasty!!!
Eeek... I can't wait to go back!
I'm so sorry that I have to write this review. Â I'm also sorry to all the people I've so auspiciously recruited to my personal Chantanee fan club over the years. Â My sincerest apologies. Â I'll spare you all the background details and jump right into it:
There were two things I liked about New Chantanee (and yes, I'm using New Chantanee as a proper noun because it just really isn't the same as Chantanee): my cocktail was delicious (but see my criticism below) and the new decor is fantastic.
Now, for everything else:
I gave them a week to iron out some of the kinks; I know every new restaurant has its toil and trouble. Â Their website even has a note about how they're trying to improve after seeing all the poor reviews here on Yelp. Â Interestingly, the service I experienced was the complete opposite of other reviewers. Â Unfortunately, the staff was over-attentive to the point of annoyance. Â And really, I shouldn't use the term "attentive" because of the 6 people that came to our table over the course of the night, not one of them seemed aware of what anyone else was doing.
We were seated by the hostess and handed the most ridiculous, velvet-entombed novels that were, apparently, the menus, although they appeared more like an encyclopedia of every possible Thai dish ever conceived by man. Â 125 items! Â I mean, I like a little variety, but come on! Â This, in bright contrast, however, to the plain, stapled, inkjet printed "Bar Food" menu that was also given to us.
Shortly thereafter, a woman came to take drink orders; I ordered a Singapore Sling, which was delicious except for the fact that there are NO PRICES anywhere on the cocktail so imagine my surprise when our bill came and I saw my drink cost $11! Â Are you serious?? Â It wasn't THAT good.
(I also saw that someone else mentioned they have an excellent beer selection... That is totally untrue. Â It would be a decent selection for a pub, but they didn't have a SINGLE Thai beer on tap. Â They had Singha and Sapporo in a bottle, but no other Asian beers.)
After the drink order was placed, a different woman came over and asked if we wanted drinks. Â After confusion and declination, she took our food order. Â Panang Curry and Phad Kee Mao, please. Â Yes, I'm sure, no more drinks.
Then, the original woman came back to take our food order. Â Oh, no, someone else had already taken it?? Â Then someone came over and removed our napkins from their holders, placed the napkins awkwardly on the table, and took the holders away... What is going on at this place?? Â Oh, and did I mention the napkins are made of something resembling silk???
*sigh*
The food would have been okay if I had paid $5 or $6 for it, but for $12 a plate, you'd think they'd at least peel apart the noodles in my Phad Kee Mao instead of leaving them in clumps of stuck-together noodles. Â The whole meal ended up costing us $46. Â I could have roughly the same food, minus the cocktail and the annoying service, for $15 at a takeout place down the street.
I'm sorry Chantanee. Â You blew it.
"After a friend of mine called the Crispy Garlic Chicken orgasmic I definitely had to pay this place another visit and while I've since concluded that my friend is a tad bit under-sexed as while the dish was good I can't honestly say I had an oral orgasim as a result. "
~Kevin S.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, because I really like Sean C., but in his review we were given the choice. Believe the Crispy Garlic Chicken to be personality altering heroin orgasm on a plate, or believe he has poor judgement in dining companions. *sigh*
Was the dish off that day? Do the people who've raved about this stuff have a rare genetic condition effecting their taste buds? Do I?
It was good, and I would have liked it a little spicier than my lunch-splitting co-yelper Don L Â ordered it, but I didn't see (or taste) the "woohoo" or "OOOHhhmmyhgood" or anything.
In exchange for some of our chicken, Betsy offered up some of her noodles (shh, quit the damn Ramen jokes already Michael O), which were also just ok.
Nice place, nice bathrooms, good staff (extra star for constant water refill without request), the food was good.
Bonus for another lunch w/ enough cash to cover one combined bill and a bit of an extra tip (15% added on with bill already).
I'd go again and sample other dishes, the menu is very large and expansive compared to many places around, but you won't have to worry about me cutting you to steal your crispy garlic chicken.
*edit* Oh, and I was right....every place i've been w/a "yelp loves us" sticker on the door didn't blow my mind, my socks, or my nose.
The best Thai on the Eastside.
Location, location, location is the only thing that I think keeps them from being ridiculously busy all the time, but they are moving soon and I hope their new shinier digs don't corrupt their soul and destroy everything I hold dear about them.
The curries, noodle dishes and fried rices are all stellar. However, (unless you're a vegetarian) if this is your first time at Chantanee, have the crispy garlic chicken. (~$11)
This place would create a garlic triangle of heaven south of Bellevue Square if there was a third point for the triangle besides Mediterranean Kitchen.
I've never had anyone say it wasn't great after trying it, and I've had "all of it" demanded before when splitting two dishes with a particularly inconsiderate dining companion when I was paying for the whole thing, which leads to 2 possible conclusions:
- The crispy garlic chicken is personality-altering and makes people do terrible, selfish things to obtain more of it. Kind of like heroin.
- The crispy garlic chicken is far better than my taste/judgment in company.
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