ChaamLex
“Delivery is fast and reliable, food is delicious and the restaurant is adorable if you wanna stay inside to eat.”
“The pannang chicken with sticky coconut rice was perfect portion, I will definitely come back!!!!”
“I ordered the Ba-Mee Moo Deang with dumpling and soup.”
ChaamLex
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I was trying to decide whether or not to give this restaurant three or four stars but settled on three because of the three leaves of iceberg it calls a salad and the appetizer which was unappetizing. The main course was pretty good and for this reason I'll probably give ChaamLex another try and amend my review if required.
After reading a number of three and four star Yelp reviews I decided to give this place a try and came here for the $8.50 lunch special which includes an appetizer, soup or salad and an entree. I wasn't expecting to be wowed, necessarily, but was hoping to add a slightly more convenient Thai spot to my list of places to venture off to for lunch. I ordered the salad and the chicken and shrimp dumplings to start. Both options came on the same plate, which was different, but not a problem. The salad, however, looked more like a garnish. Lettuce is so inexpensive. Please put a few more leaves of lettuce on the plate, ChaamLex. The two chicken and shrimp dumplings were simply not good. They tasted like mystery meat and came with an plum sauce that left a salty taste in my mouth. Usually chicken dumplings are served with a spicy basil or sweet chili sauce, not the plum sauce for spring rolls.
Given the lackluster lettuce and dumplings I had low expectations for the main course. Thankfully I was in for a pleasant surprise. The basil chicken was flavorful, served on a full-sized plate with just the right amount of rice. It had more of a black peppery taste, as opposed to the expected chili pepper flavor, but this worked well.
the ambiance of this little Thai eatery is inviting and cozy. One of the walls is painted black and has chalk depictions of Thai food with cute drawings of its primary herbs and spices as well as explanations written in an adorable script. Service was fast and the waitress had an ubiquitous smile on her face. It's busy during lunch.
Love the interior! The fried rice was really good, a tad oily but I would definitely come back. It comes with cucumbers and tomato on the bottom of the fried rice.
The spring rolls felt like there were no meat, mostly veggies but still, it was yummy!
Like many other yelper stated…I had a big debate on what to give this place….but sadly I will have to give them only 2 stars and here why:
1 ) Horrible service
2) Unorganized – more like I think they are under staffed especially during the lunch hour
3) Some dishes were amazing…but then some where disgusting
Lunch wait = ridiculous
-We were the first people there for lunch, but the last ones to order, WTF! I get that everyone that came in was ordering to go and were sat in, but even when we tried ordering at the register, the waitress made us sit.
-On the plus side we did get our food at a decent time, but it sucked that we were waiting for a while to order (~15 min).
-After we finished eating, we waited forever just to get someone to give us our bill, so again we tried going up to the register to pay and she told us to sit down, she brings us our bill, but then never comes back for it. We wait and we wait, then finally we just went up one more time and made her ring us up.
What I think they need to do to improve is to have someone working on the togo order and another person working on the sit downs. The lady seemed so overwhelmed because she had to do everything and even answer the phone calls for togo orders.
Here is what I tried:
1) Lunch special bao moo deang
-DO NOT GET THIS DISH!
-It was very bland with no flavor. The soup taste like water with salt in it and the noodles taste like grain. The chasu (bbq pork) was decent, but not as soft as I would have liked it. It was more sweet than I am used to, but unfortunately it didn't add to the blandness of the soup.
-I tried even added a sh*t load of hot sauce, but did nothing….
-This was just too disgusting that I didn't eat it. Rather couldn't bare to eat it.
2) Lunch special pad see ew
-This totally makes up for the dish above!
-This is probably one of the best pad see ews that I have had in NYC. Bravo!
-They made it sweet however, if you like it that was and it was very flavorful.
-Portions were decent as well. I got full over just half of it and without eating the dish above.
For the appetizers….
1) Shrimp dumplings
-Undercooked, the wrapping was too mushy and thick. It was quite small and made the "lunch special" see, useless. You couldn't really taste the shrimp either.
2) Egg roll
-This was actually not bad. I like the sweet and sour sauce it came with. It had a great crunch and it was fried perfectly.
Hip music
-They played your every day top 100, hiphop, EDM, etc. It definitely blended well with the venue.
Venue:
-It was very cute with a chalk board and a combination of wooded bench sits with pillows and tall chairs and tables. We wanted to sit that the tall chair tables, but the waiter wouldn't let us because it sat 4 and there was only 2 of us. Ugh…we ended up sitting by the door.
I think lunch time is not the ideal time to go to this place unless you are taking it to go…
I went here a couple of times with my friend for lunch.
Both times I got the chicken pad Thai ($10). It was really good and it was a great portion! With the lunch, you also get a choice of soup or salad.
The first time I got the soup, I really liked it. The second time, it was just spicy/peppery water with cucumbers in it?
You also get a mini appetizer with lunch – I got the dumplings both times. They're very small, but again, a perfect lunch portion for one!
Also, I saw their sign and it looked like they have a happy hour (wine and beer priced around $3-4?!) …so that's awesome.
Service is good – but sometimes they rush to take your plates away which is a huge turnoff.
Overall, it's a decent lunch spot. I will be back sometime.
Besides the minuscule salads this place has won me.
Perhaps, the first time I went I was expecting gigantic proportions of salads and dumplings because who wants to pay for something and expect something different?
Going there with friends and for lunchtime I'm able to comprehend the best choice is to order during lunch time.
Lunchtime: An appetizer+ soup or salad+ entree= from $9.50-$14.50.
What Changed My Mind About This Place:
They put seven pieces of fresh pan shrimp in my Pad Kee Mao.
Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodle, egg, bell pepper, onion, spicy basil sauce)
It has a sweet and spicy savory taste to it.
First, I thought the portion was small but there was many components to the dish that made it oh so filling.
What Am I Indifferent About:
The dumplings and the soup. The soup is so simple with cabbage carrots and light seasoning that is good for having it with a spicy meal…but if I had a choice I would not order it. The soup by itself is not special. The salad to many people who have ate here, "The two pieces of lettuce leaf salad," I take it as something to prepare my palate for various flavors in which the entree is going to give me. On the other hand, I think ordering a salad smaller than the palm of my hand has to have an impactful taste, which I have yet to find.
Will I Come Here Again? :
Yes.
Restaurants near Baruch College Campus is very limited. It's either they charge you city prices for banal food, or dirt cheap for exotic food. I think Chaamlax meets in the middle. It has quality food, it is something different from the Korean/Indian restaurants nearby.
These guys are great!
Amazing deals for lunch, tasty food, and the nicest employees ever.
The place is small and cozy if you want to eat in. I often order for takeout as they are really fast for preparing their food. I often order their lunch special which comes with an appetizer of your choice (I normally go for the Spring Rolls) Soup of the day or small Salad and an entree. The Lunch special portions are smaller then the regular priced meals – but for about $10 for all that food I am not complaining in the least.
And these guys are super nice! I forgot my wallet in the restaurant once and the guy sprinted down the street to make sure I got it.
I highly recommend the Pad Kee Mow or the Pad Thai, but I really haven't ordered anything that I didn't like yet.
Love this place for their $8.50 lunch special. My favorite is the pad see ew with the chive cake as a starter. The lunch portion is a perfect size and comes with an entree, appetizer and soup. I've ordered delivery from here a bunch of times but only ate in the restaurant recently. It's small but very cute and clean.
Definitely recommend for all the students in this area as it's cheap, quick and clean!
I have found my go-to Thai lunch place during the week. This place is right around the corner from my work so I can brave the walk even as the winter season is upon us. Their lunch special is awesome! For less than $10 you can get an entree, your choice of an appetizer, and soup/salad. All that food for that price, especially in Flatiron, is a pure steal!