Brookside Thai Restaurant

I’ve been going here since 2009 and the food is great. (Obviously there are some things I don’t personally like but that’s just personal taste). The reason I won’t give it 5 stars is the owner or boss lady is absolutely horrible. I went there with my mom once and she sat with us trying to force us to order something else because we always order the same thing. We were already eating and she just sat there harassing us. Then on another occasion we left a $ 5 tip (again just me and my mom) and she chased us outside and said that the tip wasn’t enough. Then (this was the final straw) last week I went with my husband and my cousin and ordered what we normally ordered and something new off the seasonal menu. When they hand me the check I go to the counter and she asks how was the food, I answered her honestly and said the seafood we ordered had way to much ginger but overall everything was great. She got offended and went on a 2 – 3 min rant. Now this is when I decided that I was no longer going back: I always leave tip in cash because I always think it’s just better for the waiter… As I sat down and my cousin placed the tip on the table she had the audacity to come to me and point at the line I put across the tip and ask «how come» she left the check and pen on the table and ran away. As if I made a mistake that had to be corrected. She saw our face of horror and came back shortly and removed it and walked away she then proceeded to tell all the waiters that we didn’t leave a tip all the while the tip was on the table in CASH. That lady is horrible and has just lost a regular customer.

Today was the last time we’ll go here. Our order was wrong & the food was tasteless.

Good price for the portion. Service could be a little better, otherwise, friendly waiters and good food in a timely fashion.

I love this place. Our go-​to Thai place. Pan can down the street is over priced and not up to par food-​wise. Brook side is comfortable, affordable, and delicious. They also have great specials.

I’m going to have to update… they seem to have lost their touch.
I stopped by about a month ago to dine in, and noticed a lot of what I think were fruit flies hovering around my face. I also noticed some water pitchers over by the server’s corner without any lids, so I’m worried that as long as they keep the water like that one of the flies will fall in. I shared this concern with the boss lady (the infamous unfriendly woman) and she replied with «we always have flies» and walked away. Not a good sign, especially when I read just now another Unilocaler mentioning about the flies back in FEBRUARY.
I don’t know what’s been going on in the kitchen, but after a little while we were feeling sick. This never happened from all the other times we ate from there, too bad we won’t ever be coming back.
A lot of other Thai restaurants around us have been improving, and with nicer owners. I’ll be going to them from now on.

Best menu of any thai place ive ever been to. Food is delicious and fresh. They also really crank up the heat if you as nicely! Have gone atleast a dozen times and will continue to walk down the block with a bottle of wine with friends and family anytime the craving strikes!

My wife and I have ordered two different dishes, both of them came out as a bowl of oil with some ingredients inside. Also, I asked for mild, and I got it so spicy that I couldn’t eat it.

Awesome Thai, I always get takeout from here. Usually red or green curry it’s loaded with veggies and the tofu seems home made and perfect.
Update– don’t know what happened tonight as if they poured pepper in curry (unbelievably spicy and I like spicy) and the other dish was bland. Wasn’t the usual homemade tofu. Now it’s cut blocks. :-/

Great place. Was on way to cuban Petes but wait was ridiculous at least 2 hours on Friday night so our friends recommended a thai place that their cousin works there we figured can’t go wrong. Place has a very local feel and place was busy but no wait which was great. Food was awesome. I had a special with shrimp in broth with noodles. My friend had a whole fish dish which I tasted and was delicious. Fish was topped with a mango salad. We also had curry chicken which was great but it was very soup like. Chicken and been on a stick for appetizer was also delicious with some peanut sauce. Place is byob. Unfortunately we didn’t know and it was kinda late to stop by a liquor store. Next time would definitely do that. Menu is extensive and price is very reasonable for what u get. Definitely will come back when in mood for thai food!

REMEMBER: RUDENESS IS NOT TO BE TOLERATED. PERIOD.
What happens when a restaurant forgets that they are in the service business and treating people with kindness is just as important as serving good food.
They LOSE customers!!!
I have been going to Brookside Thai for at least 8 years and I have finally hit my breaking point with their rude and inconsistent service. This behavior started with the women owner who was consistently rude (well documented on Unilocal) but the food was decent and her staff was really kind so we kept coming back.
I called tonight to place a pickup order but I did not have the menu in front of me. I tried to ask about a soup I had ordered last time and provided a description. The women named Mint who answered the phone was curt and could not be less interested in helping me. I was quickly rushed off the phone, with barely a goodbye. I was tempted not to even pick up my food as I am so disgusted by this recurring rudeness. But since I have a conscience (and my husband was starving), I went and picked it up.
Again, I was greeted by rudeness when I met Mint in person. I mentioned that she was the person I spoke to on the phone and shared that I felt she had been very rude to me. She told me she was having a bad day. I told her I was sorry about her day but that does not give her permission to be rude. I asked her if she cares about my feedback and she said «No I really don’t care.» I noticed as she was talking to me that she resembled the rude owner, and would you believe that she was in fact the owner’s daughter. Yes, the apple doesn’t fall far.
This will be the last time I order from Brookside Thai, you officially lost a long standing customer.

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 Unilocal’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 entrée, 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.

Wonderful experience. Service was great. We had a few questions about ingredients, so the chef was kind enough to visit our table. Lovely décor, nice music. Our waitress was very attentive.
I had a menu special (sp7 I believe), stir fried pumpkin and eggplant with tofu topped with crispy Thai basil. Wow, Soooo freaking delicious. Just one minor complaint was that I asked for it to be very spicy but it wasn’t spicy at all. Delicious still, just not spicy.
I’m a little cautious about giving 5 stars to a place I’ve only dined at once. I plan on returning very soon… can’t wait! Stay tuned for my update.

This has to be in my Top 3 list of Thai restaurants in NJ. It’s a bit spacious compared to other Thai restaurants. The ambience is nice, friendly staff and plenty of parking behind the restaurant.
The food:
I usually go for here for curry’s and pad thai .
The green curry here is probably the best I’ve had. Great balance with the amount of curry paste and coconut milk. It’s more creamier than watery like most green curry dishes. It comes with bamboo shoots, eggplants, green beans and your choice of meat, but I don’t like mine with the bamboo shoots. It’s really bitter in flavor.
Panang Curry is pretty yummy as well. They don’t serve it with green beans like other Thai restaurants. Also, they add peanuts and bell peppers in the dish.
Just let the waiters know if you wanna discard the peanuts etc. They’re very accommodating with simple request.
Pad Thai is Top-​tier. That’s all I have to say. You MUST order it! Lol
There other dishes such as: raard nar, pad see yew, pad kee mao are very delicious as well.
As a heads up, If you’re ordering a dish that contains onions, just wanna let you know they puts lots of it. Just tell them to put less!

Love love love this place. The duck entrée with grapes and pineapple if you like sweet
The spicy beef salad if you like really spicy
The shrimp soup
Pineapple chicken fried rice
Basil chicken fried rice
All of the above are out favorites, a special place

Summary:
Food is good– still one of the best Thai restaurants around. Order the steamed muscles appetizer.
Service– not bad, but I once had a bad experience. Can be busy on weekends at dinner.
Long version:
I’ve gone to this place for years, but it’s gone a little downhill for me. The Thai steamed muscles are still excellent– I always get it as an appetizer. Spicy, but not too spicy. Great flavor, I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes spicy food and likes muscles.
I now normally order the tofu Pad Thai. When I was there two times ago, I clearly ordered the tofu but I was given chicken. When I told my server, who I believe is also the owner or woman who runs the place, she was quite rude. I tried to be nice about it and told her she could just give me tofu on the side to add in, rather than making the chef make me a new order. The tofu Pad Thai comes with two types of tofu I guess, and she brought one but I was really hoping for the chewy (pressed?) one. She was annoyed that I asked for the other one in addition, although I was trying to be nice so they wouldn’t have to make it again. I’ve been again since then and didn’t have a problem, but that experience definitely lessened my view of the place.
Every time I’m there is seems they don’t have watercress, which is unfortunate because I loved their watercress dish. Instead they will make it with Chinese broccoli, which is good but not quite the same so I don’t order it anymore.
I wish Unilocal had a 3.7 star option, because that’s what I would give it.

Finally went back and food still just as good. Service a bit better but haven’t attempted a large take out order. Eating in and small take out seems to be good

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.

I came here to fulfill a crazy craving for some pad cee ew and tom yum soup. We all need a little lemongrass and spicy to our lives!
The décor is absolutely beautiful. Around the walls benches with traditional looking cushions. Their was cute accents all over the place. Really cute place for a date night, or just a nice dinner. Gave a great ambiance.
Now for the food! For an app, we had the Hot combo. It included curry puffs, tempura shrimp, tempura squid, spring rolls, chicken satay and a salad in the middle of it. The curry buffs were AMAZING! The chicken satay was also good, more of a curry flavor to it then I’ve previously had but still good.
The tom yum soup was not that good. It wasn’t spicy at all, didn’t have enough lemongrass… Just tasted like broth. When I asked for hot sauce, they gave me a sweet chili sauce which was pretty greasy and added a weird flavor to the soup.
For our main courses, we had shrimp pad Thai which was very good. A little on the sweeter side but still delicious. My other friend went for the beef pad Thai and it was pretty good. The shrimp pad Thai was much better. The chicken pad cee we was decent. Nothing out of the world. Chicken had a funny taste to it. I would get it again but with veggies or shrimp tho.
What I disliked about this place is although the food, staff, and décor is nice, they don’t make your food spicy!!! It’s Thai… It’s supposed to be spicy, I’m supposed to get a kick and ask myself why did I get this so spicy. But instead they give a tray for different condiments which can help you adjust your spice level. They all had very distinct after tastes which takes away from the actual dish. I had to add what seemed to be crushed red pepper for that kick.
I will be back to try more of their dishes but I have to keep that it’s not spicy in mind.
But those curry puffs are worth the return trip, alone.

This is the best Thai restaurant I’ve been to. I have only dined here once, so perhaps my 5 star review is a bit hasty, but the food was amazing, so there it is. I tried:
Fried Calamari Appetizer: Very good and not heavily fried.
Me Krob: very good, sweet & sour crispy noodle w/​shrimp in tamarind sauce.
Spring roll apps: Very good
Andaman Seafood: Combination of shrimp, calamari, scallops, & salmon w/​clear vermicelli, ginger, mushrooms & mixed vegetables in oyster sauce & chef’s special sauce. The broth was amazing, the seafood was tender and perfectly cooked, and there was a good broth to seafood to rice noodle ratio in this dish. Also a nice amount of spice in the broth.
Fried banana a la mode: great desert that meets your fruit requirement for the day as well (haha, not really). This can be shared with one or two others.
Love BYOB, good prices, and the service was outstanding. I was with a large group and good service can be hard to find under these circumstances, but our waiters were great and I appreciated their recommendation when I was deciding between two dishes.