Chada Thai & WINE. Oh you fancy huh? No this review was not written in 2010 as much as that opening would have you believe. I decided to try take out from Chada for lunch yesterday as I was in the area and to be honest I rarely make it out to Chinatown for dinner, and combined with the the whole wine and fine dining-ish premise that I usually avoid, I figured it might be my only chance to indulge in the John Curtas heavily praised restaurant. I went with my standard order of Basil and Chili Chicken lunch special (non-wine version), and entered 10 minutes later to a nearly empty dining room. The food was ready very quickly afterwards and the guy handling the payment and handing over the food was very friendly and accommodating. When I got back to my office and opened it, I was literally taken aback by the site. No hyperbole, this was the best looking Thai take out meal I've ever had. I uploaded a pic which probably doesn't do it justice, but for being in a standard white Styrofoam container, it looked about as good as it can get for me. Plus I love that they actually give the soup to go! That's one of my Thai food pet peeves, that so many places advertise the lunch specials coming with soup, but more often than not they don't provide for to-go as I assume they don't want to deal with the extra to-go containers or just some minor cost cutting. Well chada had a small container of Tom Yum (I think?) that I thought was a fairly standard version for the most part. The mushrooms seemed to be of slightly higher quality to me than usual, though I'm not a mushroom expert by any means. I then moved onto the egg roll which was tasty (and also had mushrooms in it which I'm not used to). It had gotten a little soggy from being on top of the other food. I find I prefer egg rolls to be separated when provided with a takeout order, but overall a solid fried log of goodness. I then bravely tried the salad even though I hate salads generally, and was quite surprised. The greens tasted fresh and best of all the dressing had a nice hint of ginger to it which seemed again like a step above what I'd normally expect. Chada, you made me like a salad. Respect. Lastly I tackled what I expected to be the Piece de resistance, the basil chicken and rice combo (note: I forgot to ask about brown rice so not sure if they offer it?). I was so excited from the look of it all mainly due to the chicken looking like nice, freshly sliced chicken without a lot of fat hanging off of it. Unfortunately this is not the norm for Vegas Thai restaurants that I've been to, so I was happy to see it here. Sadly I ultimately was disappointed in this aspect of the meal. When I called I was asked if I wanted it mild, medium, or spicy. I said somewhere in between medium and spicy. Well, I'd say it feel somewhere in between mild and medium, and more on the mild side. Spice notwithstanding, the chicken just tasted bland. Like 75% of all losing dishes on Top Chef, it could have been helped with a little salt. I also like having a lot of sauce when I order this dish so I can soak the rice a little bit while eating. This was almost devoid of sauce which was nice to not have to worry about spillage, but the meal suffered in flavor because of it. The quality of each individual component was excellent. This was almost undoubtedly the best chicken I've ever had at a Thai restaurant, but again unfortunately it lacked the flavor and spices to perfectly go with it. I was really torn between a 3 and a 4 for Chada. On the one hand, having a somewhat bland main course is one of the biggest sins a Thai restaurant can commit in my book, but on the other hand almost every other aspect from the rest of the components to the service was impeccable. I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to Chada and award a 4, and I will most certainly be back to judge again. Their lunch specials are a couple dollars more than you usually find, but I think the addition of the soup and high quality ingredients it could be worth it. Then again maybe they're spending more on those and not as much on salt and spices.
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positive

I don't know why it's such a hit or miss thing with flowers. I ordered a dozen roses from the rose shack for my wife for valentines day. They told me they get fresh roses on Monday. So I figure I'll have them delivered Tuesday, that way they'll be fresh and she can enjoy them all week. However this was not meant to be. 130 dollars later and Thursday she's already throwing some out. I've ordered before and got nice flowers. I don't know why it's so inconsistent, but I'm done. I'll find something else to do on valentines day.
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negative

Stopped in today for quick lunch. Wrong answer. Server was prompt with order. Apolgized for delay. Got food 40 minutes after order with cold fries. The BBQ was good. Portions very small. Certainly will not get locals repeat business.
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negative

After passing this shop several times while at Hallmark, I asked my husband to go and see what they had to offer since he hates waiting for me to pick one card out of the hundred I browse through. We decided to give it a try for lunch. Staff was friendly and the establishment was clean. The food... that's where it went south. In my opinion, I make a better sandwich than they do and I believe mine are even less expensive. We won't be going back because their sandwiches just weren't anything to write home about. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion... I'm sad to say mine isn't too high when it comes to this place.
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negative