Brookside Thai

[bp1123]

Had an excellent meal last night at Brookside Thai in Bloomfield. We tried the Tom Ka soup (coconut milk/lemongrass), Spring Rolls, Mus Munn curry with beef (similar to a beef stew with potatoes, carrots and a peanut sauce that was amazing), and Pad Gra Pow (chicken with chilis, red peppers, onion and basil).

It's BYO, entress are in the $6-$8 range, located next to Town Pub on Broad Street. I would highly recommend - overheard those at tables nearby comment on how good their meals were as well.

[Rosie]

Is this the new place that recently opened? Do you have an address and phone #? Thanks for your report.

[bp1123]

The waiter said they have been open for just one month. There was a decent crowd & lots of people picking up "to go" orders, so I'm hoping the good news is getting around. The menu also lists lunch specials at $4.95 M-F 11-3pm.

The info is:

Brookside Thai

378 Broad St.

Bloomfield

973-566-0057

[Rosie]

Thanks BP. I'll try to get there.

[Rosie]

Brookside Thai, 378 Broad St, Bloomfield advertises itself as the only Thai restaurant in Bloomfield serving authentic Thai food. I don't know if that is correct or not so if you live in the area let me know. The meal was okay, certainly not as good as the food you get at Wondee in Hackensack. We started with deep fried tofu served with a Thai plum sauce and ground peanuts which was delicious and Thai steamed dumplings filled with marinated shrimp, pork and mushrooms served with a special sauce. We didn't care for the filling in the dumplings and the noodles were too thick. Entrees were a deep fried whole flounder topped with chili sauce and fresh basil which was good but small and if you order this be forewarned that it is full of bones and doesn't have much on it. We also had flat rice noodles topped with a "chef special gravy", Chinese broccoli and chicken which were nothing special. With tax and tip the meal was $30 for two people. BYO. We would probably try this place again and try other items.

[tommy]

i had a notably different experience than rosie tonite at brookside thai...

it was monday, and i was jonesing for some larb. i figured we'd try this place, as mondays are throw-aways as it is.

cutting to the food:

tom yung koong - this famous thai hot and sour soup is a benchmark dish for me. if it's good, they're on to something. if it's bland (which is hard to do with this soup), then you're probably in for a bland/americanized meal. this soup was *good*. we ordered a large, which was about 7 bucks. it came loaded with shrimp. the broth was hot and sour and had a little more sweetness than i was used to. i'm not sure where this sweetness came from, as the broth is pretty straightforward and doesn't generally contain much sweetness. there were a lot of shrimp, but it seemed to lack other ingredients. this soup often comes with some slivers of red pepper, but none were here. just mushrooms (fresh, not canned) and some herbs. a good version overall.

larb - i was dying for this stuff tonite. the menu listed chicken larb (as opposed to pork), which at 4.95 is a great deal. the plate was piled high with ground chicken mixed with red onion, scallion, mint, cilantro, etc, with some lettuce on the side. although it was a good dish, it lacked that acidic bite that i've come to associate with larb. in fact, i prefer a very acidic larb, so this dish fell a bit short IMO. i ordered it "thai spicy," and received a moderately spicy dish. but, as i've said, it takes a while to get to "know" a place and by extension know how to order heat.

chicken with pepper garlic cilantro sauce - this is the black pepper and garlic dish you'll see at many thai restaurants. served with chopped cilantro and steamed broccoli. this dish is generally straight forward and satisfying, and it was no different here. lots of garlic in a slightly sweet sauce. and about a ton of chicken.

pad thai - another benchmark dish. they did not let me down here. this was a non-gloppy version of this dish. those who have pad thai often know that it can sometimes come out too sweet and gloppy, but this was just the opposite: crisp, both in flavor and texture, with a deep dark flavor. just enough sweetness to balance it all out.

i'd say overall the place isn't as good as wondee's. wondee's has the advantage of having a much larger menu first of all. second of all, wondee is the queen of thai food. however, i think this place is better than some of the options in hoboken, and actually gives just about all of the places in NYC a run for their money.

the 4 dishes above and 2 diet cokes were 22 dollars before tip. you gotta be kidding me, right? i spent more than that alone at smith and wollensky's for lunch today.

byo.

it might be important to note that they don't take reservations on friday or saturday.

also, this restaurant is related (owned? chef?) to the thai grocery in belleville.

[Rosie]

I'll have to go back and order what you had. BTW--you ate more than Lowell and I combined!

[tommy]

I'll have to go back and order what you had. BTW--you ate more than Lowell and I combined!

it was two of us rosie, and we only had 4 dishes, just as you guys!! i just used a lot more words i suppose.

do try it again though. it's closer than wondee's for you i suppose.

[joi h.]

went to brookside thai for dinner on friday. dinner was okay, not great though. i had the chicken satay for an app, which was good. my entree was shrimp with a garlic cilantro sauce that was listed as spicy on the menu, but as it turned out it was more garlic than anything; very little taste of cilantro and not spicy at all. my husband ordered a dish from the noodles section, which was tasty except for the fact that the noodles were unidentifiable! however, it was very inexpensive, so i really cannot complain. it is just that i would not go out of my way to return to this place when there are other places closer.

[Rosie]

joi h---Where do you like to go for Thai food?

[Rachel Perlow]

Brookside Thai, 378 Broad St, Bloomfield advertises itself as the only Thai restaurant in Bloomfield serving authentic Thai food. I don't know if that is correct or not so if you live in the area let me know.

Keeping in mind I don't live in the area, so I can't verify this, but I did a search on MSN's yellow pages and yp.yahoo and between both of them it is the only Thai restaurant listed. This may have something to do with it being the "only Thai restaurant in Bloomfield serving authentic Thai food."

[tommy]

rachel, it may not specify "in bloomfield," but rather "the area." i'll check the menu when i get a chance.

regardless of what it says, these claims are worth whatever value you lend them. defining "authentic" is impossible. and those who think otherwise are probably looking for a huge debate/discussion. my claim is that the food is very good.

[joi h.]

usually i hit thai chef or tuptim-both places are good except i have always felt that thai chef rushes people in and out. other places i have been wanting to try are sirin and mie thai. any other suggestions?

[Rosie]

Check this posting.

CLICK HERE

[schmooty]

It's been a while since someone posted on this thread. Considering how good the food is, it's time for an update. I went with 2 friends a couple of weeks ago, which was my 2nd visit. They have moved next door since I was last there and now have many more tables than before. Let me preface this by saying that I lived in Hackensack for 5+ years and Wondee's became my gold standard for Thai.

That being said, Brookside does a good job across the board. Their fried vegetable spring rolls were crispy and tasty and the duck salad was a pretty good rendition. The penang curry with pork was served spicy w/ lots of nice flavor and balance. The pad thai is certainly better than most, and not gloppy at all. We ordered a spicy noodle dish w/ basil and chili that also had really nice flavor. The only average dish was a chicken special that reminded me of a standard chicken with cashews at a chinese restaurant. It was much better with the penang sauce spooned over top.

Overall, the quality to value ratio here is very high. The entire meal with 3 sodas, tip, tax, and leftovers was $60 for the 3 of us. I could also see this being a great place for takeout. Thai food has become one of my favorite cuisines and Brookside certainly fits the bill.

-Al

Edited July 13, 2007 by schmooty (log)

[lano]

I live a few minutes away and we either get takeout or dine here once a week. It's a veritable bargain and a very solid Thai place. By far better than any other Thai places in the immediate locale.... never been to Wondee's though.

[mzrb]

Couldn't agree more with the previous post that claimed this the best Thai in the area. Esp. when compared to the ones in Montclair that make such a fuss about themselves. We get take-out from here at least once a week. I can also recommend the dumplings, which were esp tasty last night.

They do nice things with vegetables, too. Eating in is a treat since they redecorated, as well.

[hitmanoo]

Just wanted to add my review from a previous post on another thread, as I've really enjoyed all of my meals at Brookside Thai

July 21, 2006:

Tried Brookside Thai tonight for the first time. Overall, I was very pleased. The dining room is a bit on the smallish side and we had to wait about 15 minutes, but when we were seated, our servers were friendly and courteous. Our waitress helped us to pick out a few dishes, and overall we were pleased.

Appetizers:

Curry Puff- This was the only dish I was not pleased with. I found it to be far too doughy. I found that the substance was overwhelmed by the dough. I did enjoy the taste of the cucumber sauce though...

Spring Rolls- Pretty staright up dish. A little oily from the frying, but overall tasty. Exactly what I expected, and pretty good.

Dumplings (I forget exactly which)--Not too doughy. and the meat filling had a delicious flavor. Very large and a little tough to handle... Definitely more than a mouthful which made them a llittle tough to eat without them falling apart a little bit.

Yum Ped--Very delicious flavor with a spicy kick. Not overly spicy, but a fantastic blend of spices, sweetness and salad with that bite onion for contrast. Not quite like the Wondees version in terms of the duck itself. At Wondees they use only the crisp skin of the duck. Here they use strips of duck meat. Not quite so crispy. I think I prefer Wondees version, but only for that crisp duck skin... I think Brookside Thai makes a more flavorful version.

Entrees-

A forgettable seafood dish--a combination of shrimp, scallops and calamari with brocolli in an oyster sauce. Not a bad dish but nothing special...

Pad Cee-Ew- Perfectly done. I enjoyed the flavor, the texture, everything. It was very delicate with a hint of sweetness. The crispness of the broccoli contrasting with the softness of the noodles. We had ours with pork which soaked up the flavor, and in my opinion worked well with the sweetness of the dish. Also a good chewing conistancy to bridge the gap b/w the broccoli and the noodle.

The highlight dish--Gang Keaw Wan with chicken--Served Thai spicy. Too spicy for one member of our party, and almost too spicy for me, but despite that heat, the dish really worked for me. The flavor of the curry hit you in the back of the tongue, only to be replaced by the heat of the spice which hit against the same spot on the tongue. Very interesting sensation. I enjoyed the textures of the vegetables, and the red pepper added a refreshing sweetness.

In all, I was quite pleased, and am looking foward to trying it out again.

[nizza]

Don't you just love the atmosphere in their new restaurant. We've eaten there several times since they moved next door. I've always loved their food and it seems to me they are even better than they were. Also, did you know that they still have their retail store. I had asked about it and they said that they still have it, but, now you have to walk down the hall past their "desk" (where you pay for take out food) to enter it.

They haven't updated their website yet to reflect the new restaurant.

http://brooksidethai.com/

[DonnaMarieNJ]

For someone who has never had Thai before, but likes Chinese, what would you suggest as an entree?

What is the difference between red, green, mus munn, and penang curry? The only curry I know is the yellowish curry on Chinese food.

I am not into very spicy food, but I am sure I can ask for my first few dishes "mild." What dish (non-seafood for starters) should I try first?

Edited August 7, 2007 by DonnaMarieNJ (log)

[jwjojo]

The staple noodle dish is Pad Thai. I tend to judge a Thai restaurant by whether they make this dish well. If they can't make this well...run. The curries have different tastes of course. Ask the server to suggest their milder curry and ask for it not to be spicy. Enjoy.

[athena]

i think massaman curry is supposed to be mildly spicy. but my experience has been that what thai people consider mild or not spicy is very different than what westerners consider mild or not spicy. pad thai is the iconic thai dish, and it is not spicy at all. you can also order the pad khing, which is a stir fry. the menu has the little chili pepper icon next to the spicy dishes.

i was there three days ago, and it was great! i got the pad cee euw (or however you spell it. everyone spells it differently), another noodle dish that is not spicy.

i have to mention, though, that the service can be a little inattentive sometimes. don't go if you are in a hurry.

[Cornellrob]

The staple noodle dish is Pad Thai.  I tend to judge a Thai restaurant by whether they make this dish well.  If they can't make this well...run.  The curries have different tastes of course.  Ask the server to suggest their milder curry and ask for it not to be spicy.  Enjoy.

←

i love pad thai... unfortunately, brookside thai makes a very poor rendition, in my opinion. it's usually a coagulated mess, and not very flavorful. on the other hand, brookside has excellent "special" dishes - such as their prawns in yellow curry - which may be my favorite thai dish of anywhere i've ever been to. also good are their fried whole fish dishes.

[nizza]

Cornellrob - wow, sorry to hear that your pad thais was a coagulated mess. We've had the pad thai at Brookside a number of times and it's never been a coagulated mess. It's always been a delicious. Maybe it was an off day for them when you had it.

[jwjojo]

I have enjoyed their pad thai as well. I thought it was very delicate in fact.