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Review content:
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.
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