Brookside Thai Restaurant
“Its fairly priced being a BYOB place so you can definitely have a full meal for 2 under $35.”
“Curry puffs were amazing, duck and larb salads stellar and the pumpkin curry was to DIE for.”
“Brookside Thai has delicious dishes, including whole fish with chili sauce, which we order every time!”
Brookside Thai Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Updating my review. This is still my favorite Thai place in my home NJ area. The food is hard to beat, and the prices are really good. Also BYOB. In the timespan of 9 days home to visit, i went with my dad 3 separate times. I think that speaks to how much we like this place.
FOOD: Definitely order the steamed muscles for an appetizer, they're pretty hot/spicy but so so good. For entrees, I usually get Pad Thai, which always hits the spot. I've tried their red curry, Panang curry, and Masaman curry. I think the red is the best that I've had there. Their curry dishes are not very thick or creamy, but they are flavorful and yummy. We usually get the watercress dish, but often they're out and use Chinese broccoli instead, but it's still good. Pad Gra Pow and Yum Woon Sen are also quite good, but the Yum Woon Sen is pretty hot. I've also had the Tom Ka soup, which has coconut milk and mushrooms with lime and lemongrass and I was really pleasantly surprised by it. Lots of interesting flavors. Thai iced tea and thai iced coffee are really good here, too.
SERVICE: Really good. I think most of the workers are Thai, which makes it feel more authentic. I mentioned in a previous review that I once had a not great experience with the owner/manager, but honestly I've been here so many times and haven't had an issue otherwise.
AMBIANCE: Really nice. It's not that big of a place but it's decorated really authentically.
Price is the name of the game here. The food is average to slightly below average, but not terrible. At this price point (under $10 for dinner), though, it's hard to complain. I learned about Brookside when a friend ordered a yummy custard dessert from them, so I wanted to get some myself… but they told me they didn't have dessert on a weeknight that I phoned in my order. Oh well.
Pad Thai was on the bland side and we needed to slather lots of Sriracha at home to get even just a bit of a kick. I wouldn't mind ordering from them again but it's not what I would consider the best Thai in the area.
I had been meaning to try this place after having lived in Bloomfield over the course of 6 years. I finally got there last night with Yelp's newest member Jason V. He was in the mood for Thai and I had this place bookmarked for a long time.
We started with the sampler for two. The fried calamari and shrimp tasted fresh. The breading was pretty thick on both, but lightly fried, so neither of those came out overcooked. The spring rolls were good, but the curry puff was the best part of the entire appetizer, and entire meal for that matter.
For my entree, I went with the Gang Ped Yang (Sliced roasted duck cooked in red curry, coconut milk with pineapples, tomatoes and fresh basil). They also threw in green grapes as well as the big red ones with the seeds even though they weren't listed in the description, but whatever. It actually kind of worked, and much better than the clearly canned pineapple. What is it with Asian restaurants not using fresh pineapple when that is such a common ingredient in a lot of Asian dishes? For $9.95, I guess I can't complain, except for the fact that the duck was extremely fatty and loaded with cartilage.
When they brought the bill they tried to charge us for the Thai iced tea we never received. We also had to ask to have our beer refrigerated and brought to us when we were empty.
I'm guessing this place thrives because of its prices. Most entrees run from $9-12. I didn't see anything more expensive than $16, even on the list of specials. So if you're looking for a good bargain on Thai, this is your place. Otherwise, I think there are much better options in the area.
Good ambiance. Went here for dinner. Staff were nice. Totally mediocre Thai food. The flavors were bland. Nothing special to recommend or write about. You will NOT hate it, but you will forget about it, tomorrow. However, since this is a Thai-owned place, will definitely give it another try. Also, it's a BYOB place.
Our go-to Thai place. Love so many of the curries, especially the panang and the green. Will often get their vegetarian options. Prices for those everyday curries are very reasonable. Have also had amazing specials here, including some featuring fish or shrimp, others featuring veggies such as pumpkin. Priced a little more, but not outrageous. BYOB. The salads are too spicy for us, but we like many of their apps such as potato puffs, kingfisher patties, chicken satays. And if you like Pad Thai, theirs is nice. One of our Bloomfield restaurant favorites.
I had a taste for Thai food and had heard great things about Brookside Thai. Every time I drive by, the place is full, which is a good sign. In order to know if the food is good, you order a staple dish. In this case, that's Pad Thai. We ordered shrimp pad Thai with spring rolls & steamed dumplings to go. The wait was 30 minutes. The spring rolls were really tasty with a nice dipping sauce. The dumplings weren't my favorite. I'm normally a fan of mushrooms but the mushrooms overpowered the other elements of the filling. The shrimp were fresh in the Pad Thai but a meager portion. The sauce isn't what I expected. It wasn't as thick as I had before with a few shavings of peanut. I really enjoyed it! I can see why the place is always filled. For Thai food, it's a bit on the expensive end. Two appetizers and two Pad Thai's was $30. We will be back to dine in just to check out some other dishes on the menu.
Lots of traditional Thai food–lots of space, good salad, dumplings, Thai ice tea . The spring rolls were greasy and the curry puffs were heavy and over fried. Pad Thai, vegetarian was heavy in tofu and light on veggies. The seafood medley in garlic sauce was served with undercooked shrimp and was returned to the chef. The duck was delicious as was the chicken birds best. It is a BYOB establishment with very nice service.
I dismissed this place years ago thinking they were too heavy handed with the sugar in virtually all their offerings. Today I was surprised to find the best duck salad I can remember. The portion was large and a great balance of sour/fish sauce / sweet and spicy.
The special peanut chicken curry was also big and quite spicy, even for me. The chicken was a bit dry and would have been better with shrimp.
I'm glad I rediscovered this place. It was surprisingly better than in years past.