Kratiem (with Pictures!)

[Rachel Perlow]

The reason Thai Chef is probably failing is that it is ALWAYS EMPTY, and imo, this is because their service was so incredibly horrible the time I went I've never had a desire to go back -- I'm sure that is the case for most of their original patrons. If you stop in for lunch and it takes forever because they forget one of your table's orders and the ones they do remember take a long time too, would you ever go back?

Regarding the parking, yes there's a huge parking lot. There's also signs posted all over the place about the parking time limit. I don't recall how long it is, but that's a little intimidating as the Englewood ticket patrol is very vigilant. I'll check next time I'm over there.

Anyway, the reason I haven't been back is that the experience I had the first time was very bad. And I don't like to sit in empty restaurants. They should have put up some pretty curtains instead of having walls of glass, it's so obvious that it is always empty.

Oh, and their famous signature souffle? Special ordered in the beginning of our meal, yet still they forgot about it and we had to re-order it and wait, and then to top it all off, it arrived over cooked!!!

[menton1]

The reason Thai Chef is probably failing is that it is ALWAYS EMPTY

I just love that; it's like the Yogi Berra-ism, "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded!!"

Edited March 11, 2005 by menton1 (log)

[AlwaysCravingThai]

The food at Kratiem  in my opinion  is just passable but the biggest pain is that there is nowhere to hang your coat.  In the summer that is not an issue but in the winter with everyone coming in with heavy coats, WOW. Please name me another restaurant that does not have a coat check or at the least hooks where you can hang them yourself. Who designed this space? Not too bright.

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If the food is just "passable" that means that there's been a visible decline in quality since the place first opened. Since I haven't been back since my last post, and they've gone thru at least one change of chef, its certainly plausible.

I have also heard thru one source that Kratiem may have switched owners recently as well, but I don't have that confirmed.

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I work in the Englewood area and frequently go to several of the restaurants there for lunch only. My favorite by far is Saigon. Their sister restaurant, Mo Pho, is in Ft. Lee and is open for lunch everyday as opposed to Saigon which now closes M, Tues. I have not been to Thai Chef yet only because I go to the one in Montclair closer to home for dinner. I think they will have to give it at least one warm weather season before being able to determine success. I don't think it has been open except for in cold weather. Additionally, when they first opened, it always looked closed at lunch. I think it was until they decided to open for lunch a few months later, but I don't know for sure.

Kra Tiem is very good. It is ALWAYS empty, though. Not sure why.

I agree with Jason that Bennies is quite good, too, if you're looking for the Mediterranean flare.