eat Home > Restaurant Reviews

Think sleepy Northeast Baltimore's culinary offerings never stray from the pizza/sub/burger continuum? Think again. An understated and well-scrubbed storefront facing Harford Road offers some of the freshest, most wallet-friendly Thai chow in town. Park yourself at one of Chokchai's four cloth-covered tables, or take your exotic treats home encased in Styrofoam. Tom yum shrimp soup ($1.95) offers a duo of succulent shrimp in a sinus-teasing broth infused with lime leaves and lemon grass. A quintet of tender-sweet, silver-dollar-size crab cakes ($4.50) mix crab threads with . . . carrot and chicken. Sacrilegious? Maybe. Delicious? No question. Chilly larb salad ($6.50) unites crumbled beef (or chicken or pork) with red onion, lettuce, and a tangy lime sauce. The fluffy pad Thai ($6.50) isn't choked by a goopy sauce, as at some places; it serves as a mild, palate-cleansing companion to the zesty stir-fried offerings, such as basil shrimp ($7.50), a toothsome medley marked by the spicy bite of Thai basil leaves.