east bay

An exotic-food dining experience requires the kitchen to be daring enough to make flavors and spices come out, regardless of popular opinion on what is "too spicy." As a life-long food connoisseur, I generally lack respect for those cookie-cutter ethnic restaurants that attempt to modify tastes and spices to please the overwhelming majority of the population. Strolling down the ever-so-unique Shattuck in downtown Berkeley, you'll find many quality, ethnic restaurants ranging from Indian food to Chinese food to, one of my favorites, Thai food. CHAAM is a close call between quality and extraordinary.

Up a steep flight of stairs, CHAAM is a colorful restaurant decorated with ceiling fans, exotic plants, and paintings that make the place a nice escape on a warm, sunny day. For those who like to dine in the sun with their Thai ice tea, there is an extended enclosed patio.

The menu ranges from vegetarian entrees to spicy curries with chicken or beef. I recommend the gaeng ped gai: Thai spices, chicken, bamboo shoots and onions; this dish is great. At some restaurants, sweet sauces are added to excess and inhibit the spices that are absorbed into the meats and vegetables; it leaves the feeling that you just ate a plate of sweet and sour pork at a Chinese fast-food joint. Too much of any one ingredient in ethnic cuisine can mask the true flavors that the spices bring out of the meat. CHAAM's cooks know this, and so do the waiters; ask for suggestions or substitutions and they know exactly what will go well with what. These folks know how to cook some serious Thai food.

CHAAM is good Thai food. The only drawback is the service; the waiters are not overwhelmingly cordial. If service doesn't much matter to you when good food is involved, I would point you to this restaurant. If service does matter to you, you may want to try the grocery store across the street and go home and cook for yourself.

On a scale of one to ten this place is about a 5 on service and an 8 on food. Do give it a try! CHAAM, 1543 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, 510.848.9664.

-- Mukhambika Mona Adapa

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