Chaba Restaurant

This is definitely one of my favorite Thai restaurants. It has a very pleasant interior and decor. The cozy dining room seems to have a ""zen"" about it and is not too crowded. The staff is very friendly and attentive. Ask for Ken, the bartender if around at Happy Hour time to enjoy the great drink specials. Of, course the cuisine is delicious and is a generous portion. Check it out. more

I'm not sure why this terrific Thai restaurant has mixed reviews, because I went there last night, and it ranks as having superb food, great value, and good service. For those of you that remember Chandarette in Marina del Rey, Chaba is owned by the same family (as Chandara) but the food, in my opinion, is much better than Chandara, and closely approaches the late lamented Chandarette. Everything we ordered (I'll get to that in a moment) came out hot, wonderfully prepared, and extremely tasty. Portions were generous as well. We started with Chicken Satay, cooked expertly and tasty even without the peanut dipping sauce (which had a little too much honey in it but it was still good); then we ordered hot Sake (excellent and a large bottle), Chicken Larb (very well balanced and flavorful, and not so hot to the tongue that it was a struggle to eat), Dumplings (excellent), and a small bowl of Tom Cha Gai (coconut chicken soup with mushrooms - absolutely excellent). Main courses were Panang Curry with Shrimp (all 3 of us), with brown, sticky, and white rice. The curry was wonderful, the bowl had numerous large perfectly cooked shrimp, some vegetables, and an extremely flavorful curry sauce (not watery). It was very very good and reminded us (although not the same) of the Panang Curry at Chandarette. Also on the menu were many of the same items from the Chandarette menu (catfish, salads, and lamb and beef dishes). All in all, I think this is about the best Thai food I've eaten, with the exception of another Chandarette offshoot that also closed last year (Chandaretta in Santa Clarita), where one of the original lady chefs from Chandarette in MDR went to work for a while - she was an absolute genius in food preparation! If anyone knows where she went I would sure like to know - I'd follow her almost anywhere. \r Pros: Food, prep, taste, service was excellent Cons: No cons, but they need our help because they were quiet on a Sunday nite. more

I have been eating at Chaba Thai ever since they opened its doors. Over the years, they have steadily increased their prices, in some cases by as much as 30%! I don't mind when a successful restaurant does this, as long you get something back for all that extra money (i.e the food quality is maintained or, even better, it is of better quality). In the case of Chaba Thai, I am sad to report that this not true. The increase in prices has not resulted in anything of higher quality. Quite the opposite, I'm sad to say. I ate there on 3/22/08 and ordered the Crying Tiger Salad and Chicken Pad Thai. In the case of the Crying Tiger Salad, most of the beef that is served in this dish was very, very chewy. I don't know what caused it, but the beef seemed to be of very poor quality and very fatty. It was so bad, that I spat about 3/4 of the beef in the salad. It was literally not edible. This is completely unacceptable, at any price. The chicken in my Chicken Pad Thai suffered the same fate. Although not nearly as bad as the Crying Tiger Salad, it was also very ""chewy."" It appeared to me to be mostly bad cuts of chicken. For $11, you would think they at least throw in a couple pieces of chicken breast meat... but you won't find any chicken pieces of that quality in their Chicken Pad Thai. I'm very sad that Chaba Thai is losing me as a long-time customer. I really liked going there. But I have my limits, and after spitting out most of my meal, I felt a bit ripped off. Pros: Nice Interior Cons: Food Quality is Terrible more

We have been to Chaba several times and really like the food. Its different then most thai food places as it has an eclectic tradional feel. Service was ok it could be better. The atmosphere is relaxing. The price is a little higher but well worth it. Pros: Good food and nice atmosphere Cons: need to step up the service more

Chaba is not the place to go if you want a relaxing atmosphere, good food and friendly service. I've given... more

Chaba is not the place to go if you want a relaxing atmosphere, good food and friendly service. I've given this restaurant three tries. Well it's three strikes and they're out. The first two times the food was ok, the service rather dismal, the atmosphere rather strange as women who worked at the restaurant hung all over male patrons in the bar. This last time my husband and i were celebrating our anniversary and wanted an upscale restaurant and Thai food. It was a few seconds after we walked in when the hostess finally looked up from the catalogue she was perusing and showed us to a table. The place was packed with screaming children, there was some problem with the lighting, it was flickering throughout the restaurant. This should have been a sign! We waited over ten minutes before the waitress, who had walked by our table numerous times without even acknowledging us, moodily approaced our table and without a greeting asked us what we wanted to drink. We ordered our drinks and we also ordered a coconut shrimp appetizer. The drinks and the appetizer arrived at the same time. I love shrimp. I love coconut. This was inedible. There was a green tint to the shrimp and it was extremely bitter. It left a weird numb tingling in my mouth. My husband also thought it tasted terrible. I took one bite and that was it. We complained to the waitress and she said they'd served a lot of coconut shrimp that night and had had no complaints. That was, it no apology, nothing. We said we wanted our bill and would not be eating there. She come back after another ten minutes and without a word handed us our bill, charging us for the offending hors d'ourves! No apologies were made and the food was never removed from our table. Maybe that's why there was no wait at 7:30 on a Saturday Night! Pros: A nice Thai restaurant in the South Bay Cons: Terrible food and service more

Chaba is not the place to go if you want a relaxing atmosphere, good food and friendly service. I've given this restaurant three tries. Well it's t... more

The Jade Curry here is excellent! Love the atmosphere! more

The Jade Curry here is excellent! Love the atmosphere! more

I love Thai food, Chaba definitely has the best in the South Bay. Both their main courses and their desserts are phenomenal. The only downside is that prices are a little high. I spent about $20-$25 a person. Need to know: Valet parking is required, but it's free. Pros: food, menu selection Cons: prices more

I love this little Thai place. The service is good. The staff is friendly. And the Curry is very tasty!!! Enjoy! Pros: Good Curry, Good Price Cons: NA more

The food is ok, just a little expensive for me. Pros: atmosphere Cons: Price more

First off, I love Thai food. And this place is far and away the best Thai restaurant in the South Bay. The decor is special, the food is great, and the service is ok. The menu is definitely not traditional, but that's one of the things I find appealing about Chaba. Though the main fares are different(lamb, duck, albacore and yellowfin tuna, ribeye, variety of seafood)the traditional thai spices are prevalent everywhere. Hey, if you're looking for pad thai or chicken sate I imagine you could go anywhere. But if you want something special, order something different off chabas' menu and you'll be glad you did. I was. I suggest to quit listening to the critic wannabes and try the place. Oh yeah, the valet is free so parking next door isn't necessary. Pros: Nice Bar, Nice Food, Nice Staff Cons: Not much more

The cuisine at Chaba is eclectic, it does a fabulous job of combining traditional thai and california thai flavors. For a thai restaurant, they have managed to put a appreciated emphasis on decor, ambience, and food presentation. It is more expensive than most thai restaurants but worth the money becuase it is also more upscale than any other thai restaurant i've eaten at. more

Good ambiance and great food! Great for a date or just to hang out with friends. I would definatley give it a two thumbs up! more

chaba differs from many thai resturants in the south bay by showing more attention to the decor and vibe of the resturant. that being said, the food is merely average thai cuisine. although the menu brings in modern pan-asian type dishes, the classic cuisine is missed. however the variety is quite a welcome change from the norm. even the beverage selection is refreshing (fresh iced green tea). overall, the dining experience had there was pleasant however the food is just average. Pros: parking, ambiance Cons: lunch opens at noon, price more

True - we have plenty of Thai places in the southbay and this one is probably not the BEST one, but for a quick, nice dinner at a reasonable rate I can highly recommend that place. The staff was friendly and the variety more than enough. Allthough more contemporary Asian cuisine than strictly Thai food, you will find everything on the menue. A plus is the liquor lisence and the patio which can be a little noisy due to PCH. The inside is nicely decorated and is pretty much open - it wouldn't be a place for a romantic dinner. Instead of paying for valet parking use the Walgreens parking lot next door... Pros: Food, Value, liquor license more