ChaamLex

I stop by this place on a late afternoon and was really hungry. It’s very close to my school (Baruch), just about 3 mins walking, so that’s a big bonus.
There are a lot of fun Thai dishes on the menu but I was too hungry that I couldn’t think so I ordered a Pad Thai with shrimp. And a Thai Iced Tea yes of course. The Pad Thai was hugeee compared to the price of $ 10. I was kinda embarrassed when the guy asked me if I wanted my leftover to go cause it was A LOT. And thai iced tea is a disappointment prolly one of the worst I’ve ever had.
I would actually give the food 2.5 stars but because the service is great, then 3.

Like many other Unilocaler 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…

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 entrée, 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!

My pad Thai chaiya and papaya salad were not as authentic as I expected. Pad Thai chaiya was not spicy so no need to add extra buck to order this one, just go for the regular pad Thai. Papaya salad was not tasty either. However, the cooking and delivery time was very fast. That’s the plus.

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 entrée, your choice of an appetizer, and soup/​salad. All that food for that price, especially in Flatiron, is a pure steal!

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.

How much more do I need to write other than I found a live cockroach in my soup. What was a live roach doing in my soup you ask??? Don’t say the back stroke! This place is filthy disgusting and when I pointed it out, the waitress asked if I wanted a different soup. REALLY?! A different soup, no I want a vomitorium to puke in. She seemed like it was no big deal, perhaps it’s not in this place. I got up and started to leave and in her heavily accented broken English she said, «You no pay for soup?» Again… REALLY! Stay away from this place if you value your health.

This food experience confused me.
The entrée was good but the appetizer was disgusting.
Reason For The Three Stars: The portion of the salad and the dumplings was a joke. I thought someone had eaten the dumplings and left two for me.
Pad Kee Mao: Delicious! Spicy and the shrimp was tender!
Waitress: Impatient.
Overall Experience: I have faith in this place. It’s right across the street from the Baruch College Vertical Campus so it’s convenient for students. Maybe, I went during an off day so I will try again.

I’ve been here a dozen times. All their main course plates are delicious and reasonably priced. Pineapple fried rice, green curry or pad Thai are my «go to» plates — so good. For apps, the pork buns are amazing. Spring rolls are good too.
The employees are very friendly and attentive.
Take out is pretty fast process. It’s never taken more then 10 minutes from when I order it.

This is strictly about their customer service. I can’t review their food because they never even delivered it to me.
This is the worst delivery experience of my life.
The lady on the phone accused me of making a mistake because the delivery guy had been waiting outside my building and calling me for 20 mins. She repeatedly said «this is your mistake. YOUR MISTAKE! YOU ARE PAYING FOR THIS».
I think it’s only fair to ring the doorbell when you deliver. Yes, I did leave my phone number and I received 5 missed calls (my phone was not on loud).
But who would have known… They didn’t bother ringing the doorbell?

The food was excellent and the staff are so friendly and accommodating. We were the annoying party that came in right before closing and they treated us with such respect and warmth, keeping the kitchen open especially for us. It’s nice to feel like a valued customer in nyc.
Food highlights: the spicy pork bun, drunken noodles, coconut rice, thai iced tea.
Def a must if you’re in curry hill.

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 Unilocal 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 entrée. 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.

Food itself was great, great portion, friendly service and reasonable prices. Delicious dessert and great friendly people. I was craving Thai food during my trip in New York and this really hit the spot. Check them out!

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 entrée. 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.

I have never had this experience.
I found a penny in my chicken padthai. I know it wasn’t waitress’ fault. But when i asked for a new food to go, she packed the leftover of the same food that had a coin inside.
I go there sometimes because it’s close to my school but i don’t think i will ever go back after seeing how neglected they are.

I am actually super amazed they scored so high. I ate here yesterday it was before lunch rush so it wasn’t busy. Took the server at least 10 minutes to take my order .
I ordered and waited the calamari was super weird tasting but the spicy sauce was good .
I got the pad see ew. Oh… my. It tasted so bad like someone just drowned the noodles in sugar. I felt so weird after… it just wasn’t tasty and this is my favorite dish so I had it multiple times and it never tasted like sugar noodles.
The Thai iced tea tasted like milk with ice and a drop of tea.
What got me really annoyed was like when lunch rush came I was still waiting for my noodles and everyone that ordered their food got it except me. I waited 40 minutes it was just really not worth the wait .
I really regret going here I guess sometimes Unilocal lies lol:(

When you first see their lunch special, you just think, damn, what a deal?! When you actually get the meal, it is rather disappointing because of the ridiculously small portion size. Don’t get me wrong. The food is delicious! I just wish that there was more of it.
I ordered the Ba-​Mee Moo Deang with dumpling and soup. I only got two pieces of dumpling and they were minuscule yet so delicious that I was craving for more. The soup was delicious and fulfilling. Then came the entrée, the ba-​mee moo deang. The waitress placed the dish in front of me and I could not wait to dig in. Not only did it look delicious, it tasted delicious. I ended up finishing the meal far more quickly than I would have expected. Unfortunately the meal was not fulfilling and I was left with an empty feeling, literally.

It was late and we wanted Thai food but didnt want to spend a lot of money.
ChaamLex hit the spot! I had some pork and rice dish that was so so good! My wife had Panang curry and she was very pleased as well.
My favorite thing would be the pork buns. I cant describe how good it was.

ChaamLex is the place for you if you’re a broke college student who wants to experience great lunch food in those few hours you’re cramming in studying. For a sit-​down, it’s also just as nice!
We came around 11am (early for lunch but we were hungry!) and this is when their lunch special starts until around 3pm. They also have monthly lunch specials but we decided to stick with our favorites. We ordered a pad thai lunch special and see ewe which were about $ 10 each. Very cheap.
It came with a soup (a watered down miso soup with seaweed), tofu, and chive dumplings. Very small portion, but nonetheless it included an appetizer that was good with great sauce, so no complaints there. Their pad thai was very good — very authentic with bean sprouts and peanuts but no lime! Either way, shrimp pad thai is the way to go — it looks small but it is very filling. The see ewe is also very good, very filling and nice veggies that go along with it.
The service was also very friendly and quick. As for the atmosphere — very cute layout and the bench side has pillows for ultra comfort. I believe this is a relatively new opening but it surely is not to be ignored.

I was looking for a place for lunch after class so I thought I’d give this place a shot. This restaurant has a nice environment and friendly staff for starters. Excellent service from the staff even though the food did take a while to be ready (20 minutes). I had the lunch special with the vegetable soup, beef fried rice and spring rolls. The vegetable soup was basically MSG with water and a few pieces of cabbage. The spring rolls and the beef fried rice was appetizing but small. Overall, great atmosphere and staff but small portion size with the dishes. I left this place still hungry