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| - Inexpensive? This is more like half of a $ on the Yelp scale!
And there's so much great food!
As I'm a first-timer, I have to give a huge shout-out to Anthony M. for announcing his two unclaimed curry puff bags on Yelp. I was super grateful because they must be reserved one fair in advance, which translates to one whole month. They're a treat with curry sweet potato baked in a puff pastry, and they're even better when you take them home and pop them in the oven (advice from Andrew C., I believe). It's just $5 a bag for seven pieces, which is a great deal.
I also really enjoyed the BBQ pork satay skewers. Not only are they a steal at $1, but they're very balanced in terms of sweetness and spice. Well worth the 20+ minute wait at peak times for a batch of however many you feel like ordering.
The roti are another $1 treat, and they're sweet, not savory. You'll see them preparing roti in hot oil at the table, but they actually wrap them in foil and fill up a box, meaning that there's practically no wait time. Eat them while they're hot because they won't be nearly as soft if you take them home or something.
There's also some kind of noodle soup that I can't really put a name to, but it has pork and a reasonably hot stock. It was the first taste that I had and it was a welcome treat on a very windy morning. I wouldn't call this one a deal at all, but it's worth a try.
The chicken pad thai is a pretty generous portion as well for $5, and it comes with plenty of bean sprouts and scallions. It's less greasy than any restaurant pad thai I've had, and it's still pretty tasty although it may have lacked a bit in fish sauce and sweetness. It's another really popular item with a wait, and we were lucky that we arrived before 9am or else it would've been a huge chore wading through the list.
I also got to try some items from friends. The egg rolls are definitely hot and crunchy, although they're the predominantly veggie variety, not something with pork and crab as I would have just loved. I also had a bit of mango sticky rice, which was fresh, sweet, and texturally blessed with that crunchy topping.
The som tum (green papaya salad) wasn't anything to write home about. I like the tomatoes, but the flavors are too muted overall, even without adding the fresh cabbage. It needs to be supplemented, and that's what I did with the crunchy dried shrimp and fish mix that's a worthy sweet, salty, and spicy snack on its own. The spicy number of 3 was definitely on the higher end of 3's as far as I'm concerned.
Some of the other items worth trying: the fish cakes, the fermented lemongrass pork sausage, and the fish with red curry paste and collard greens. I also enjoyed these flat, sweet dessert items with corn embedded. There's blue (taro) and green (umm, something?) varieties, and they're both sweet and reasonably chewy.
The food fair at Chaiya is a monthly must if you have any appreciation of good food whatsoever. I will definitely return when I can.
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