Restaurant Review: Chantanee

The Eastside’s best Thai food re-opened its doors after closing in June of 2008

From the day it opened in 1996, the humble strip-mall Chantanee Thai Restaurant & Bar kept Eastside chowhounds well versed in the wily ways of tamarind, chile pods and nuac cham (sweet-sour fish sauce dip), serving deeply satisfying versions of now-ubiquitous Thai dishes—tom yum soup, pad Thai and panang curry. But then, in June 2008, it closed. Happily, in February, Chantanee reopened in the swank confines of the downtown Bellevue’s Key Center (just a stone’s throw from the new Eastside outpost of El Gaucho), trading the brightly colored tablecloths and scruffy furniture of yore for subdued earth tones, plush carpeting, deep booths and servers who, unfortunately, no longer know the ins and outs of the menu by heart. On the upside, the Eastside’s best Thai food hasn’t been spiffed up or dumbed down: Plates of beautiful, bright veggies ($9) are dressed with fresh ginger and fragrant basil; stellar savory pad khi mao ($11) features al dente veggies and tender beef tangled with wide, soft noodles; and moist, crispy-skinned honey-coriander duck ($18) takes center stage when a server prepares it tableside on a searing cast-iron platter. Pair dinner with one of Andrew Bohrer’s cocktails: The Liberal (rye, orange bitters, sweet vermouth and Amer Picon, $8) is simply perfect. 

Lunch and dinner daily. Chantanee; Bellevue, 601 108th Ave. NE; 425.455.3226; $