Yesterday was a super hard, draining sort of day; full of traveling, motion sickness (due to a bumpy JetBlue flight), and so on. As for nice dining (before dinner, I mean to say).....I DON'T THINK SO! I passed on a smelly chicken salad sandwich at lunchtime, and after I got to JFK, Madame La Bouffe did get me an Orange Sherbet from Jamba Juice, but I was still starving when dinnertime came along. When we got to our temporary lodgings and relaxed a bit, we decided to go for a walk, and find someplace to eat. That wasn't easy, because it was Christmas night, and only a handful of restaurants were open. After strolling up and down in the biting cold, we came across a cozy looking Thai restaurant, called Cafe Chili decorated lavishly with a Christmas tree, fake snow, and many other Christmas symbols. We decided to give it a try. We wouldn't last much longer if we waited for dinner; I was practically famished. We went inside and were immediately attended to by a quiet Thai waitress, who led us to a table by the window.
After we had seated ourselves, and got our waters, Madame La Bouffe ordered a Sake cocktail, because, as she said, "We're only in NY for so long. I'm going to live large."
Our waiter, a very reserved, super quiet young Asian man, gave us our cocktails and menus, and left us to choose our food. There were lots of tasty-looking options on the menu, and I had a hard time deciding which to choose. Finally, I settled on the Cilantro Corn Fritters for my starter, and the basil snapper for my entree. Madame La Bouffe got the Emerald Green Vegetable Dumplings and the scallop-shrimp curry for her main course.
Our appetizers were absolutely delicious. My fritters tasted so good, with a super crisp, craggy crust and a soft, sweet interior. The corn kernels on the inside were pert, not mushy, and when dipped in sweet peanut sauce, they were just fabulous. I snitched one of Madame La Bouffe's dumplings, which I really liked a lot. The wrapper was actually bright green, and the fillings....well, I don't know what the fillings actually were, but they tasted very fresh and yummy. Dipped in a soy sauce, they tasted like a magical, life-renewing food.
Anyway, now that you know what it looks like, I'll tell you about the most important part of it: the taste. The snapper was deep fried WITH THE SCALES AND EVERYTHING ON. Then they took the meat out and piled it on top of the fried carcass. The basil was incorporated in the dish as crisp little chips, which were delightful. The meat was tender, with a crust that crunched deliciously as I chewed. The meat was also sauced with some kind of sweet concoction that was really good. This entree was the strangest yet the most delicious snapper I'd ever eaten.
Madame La Bouffe's curry, however, was not so good. Her scallops, she said, "tasted like they were marinated in Windex, and I actually had to spit them out." Her shrimp, she said, were just "okay," and the curry sauce tasted "like it came out of a box."
So if you happen to be in Brooklyn, hungry and tired of traipsing about in the cold, stop by Cafe Chili, located on Court St., and you'll get a really memorable snapper and other great Thai food. We don't recommend the shrimp and scallop curry, but the Emerald Green Vegetable Dumplings and Cilantro Corn Fritters will practically knock your socks off! Until next time, and happy eating!`
