Chakam Thai Kitchen

Thoroughly disappointed. Why can’t we get a decent Thai restaurant near The Pearl?
Both of our dishes received was completely different than the description on the menu.
I specifically chose the Cashew Chicken dish that included Asparagus, water chestnuts, peppers, etc. What I received was a VERY small portion of Chicken, 4 carrot pieces and the rest was just onions. When I asked the grumpy older guy who was our server, he said «they changed the menu» and I said «well then you need to update it, because I ordered based on what the dish said it contained». All he did was laugh and walk away.
If my husband wasn’t already «hangry» from waiting to long to eat lunch, we would have walked out. I still annoyed we didn’t just leave because I feel like I got ripped off.
The prices for the portion size were a total rip-​off. The place was empty, now I know why.

My friend and I stopped in here for lunch after walking around checking out the Art in the Pearl event in the park blocks. The interior is attractive, with art work by local artists and hanging lanterns. The server was a grumpy, older man, we wondered if he was the owner. Either way, not great service. I hadn’t had one in ages, so had to have some Thai iced coffee. It was a perfectly balanced ratio of condensed milk to coffee and tasted great on a warm day! For lunch, I ordered the pineapple fried rice, a dish I love. It was pretty good, I enjoyed it and had to stop myself from eating the whole thing as it was a very large serving. My friend’s pad thai was another story. I tasted a couple of bites and it was pretty sad. Sort of like tangy Asian spaghetti. Since this is the standard dish many Americans order in Thai places, it doesn’t say good things when they can’t get it right. We had to practically beg for to go boxes and then the lady at the cash register, for some reason, had to make a mad dash to the kitchen before taking our payment. Not a big deal, just… odd. This would be an okay place to stop in for a bite if you’re in the area, but I’m not going to be in any hurry to go back.

Excellent! We were visiting town and staying in a condo just above the restaurant. Tried it out and loved it! Pad see ew was awesome, and also really loved the house special curry noodles. Even the fried rice was exceptionally tasty!

Get one level of spice under the one you think you can handle.
Love the Pad See-​Ew ! The Yellow curry is really tasty too!
The Portions are generous, and its pretty cheap, you won’t be deceived!

I have ordered from here a few different times and each time the food is sub-​par. Today I went with the basic Pad Thai. In the menu, it states that it has rice noodle, egg, bean sprouts, green onion and sweet radish — what I received was rice noodle, egg and bean sprouts. Um… how hard is Pad Thai? It has 5 ingredients! It’s the «safe» dish that most people order, but somehow, they couldn’t deliver. Sadly, I won’t be going back, no matter how convenient.

Summary: passable food with bad service. A group of six, we came in around noon and waited a couple minutes to get seated. (Worth noting the place was hot at capacity.) The server just pointed at the table – didn’t walk us to it. Once we ordered it took about 40 minutes to get our food, with about five minutes elapsing between the first person’s plate and the last, meaning by the time we could all start eating half of it was cold. Our server didn’t show any common courtesies. Not a smile, hello, or thank you. We’re not asking to be treated like kings, but some acknowledgment that we’re human would be nice. As for the food, it was a good price and of decent quality. Nothing to rave about, but one of my party did really like the curry. I was disappointed we did not have any sauces at our table – I’m used to Thai with some heat, but my dish was very bland and I didn’t have the option to compensate with chili sauce or anything. I’d recommend this as a stop only if the food carts are closed or it’s too far of a travel. Sadly it’s the only sit-​down Thai place in the Pearl.

The food was great although not exactly what I had expected… I have never had house curry served like a soup dish but it was delicious! The service was good but we were told we couldn’t pay with American Express, even though the menu indicated otherwise. It felt awkward to haggle with the waiter but in my opinion an outdated menu is not the fault of the customer!

This is a reliable restaurant with great thai food. We love the people who work there as well. They are all so sweet and take such good care of you. The dinner portions are generous and generally allow for lots of left overs! If you are looking for delicious thai, this is the place!

This used to be PeemKaew, but changed owners. Nothing else changed. It’s still the same staff, location, value, etc, but with a few new options and a different name.
I work in the Pearl and it is filled with overpriced pretentious restaurants where you pay too much for too little. But then there’s CKs. My kind of place and the restaurant I go to more than any other. I love a great restaurant on a special occasion and I’ll pay more if I think it’s worth it, but I rarely do think they are worth it. Mostly I think they are just overpriced and trendy. Portland is full of overpriced Thai and there’s also plenty of cheap Thai, but there’s not as much in that in-​between area. For an overall combination of value and quality, I know no better place than CKs.
Many folks in my office go there often, to the point were we joke they are the closest thing to a work cafeteria that we have. I’ve been a regular since 2008 and others here have been regulars longer than that. I sometimes go there several times a week. The Pad Se Ew is awesome and so are most of the noodle dishes, and I’m fond of the Pad Kratiam too. The salad rolls are a delivery mechanism for the best peanut sauce in town.
If you do lunch be sure to get a punch card. Every 10 lunches get’s you a free lunch.
Service is decent and the food comes out faster than any other place I go. Love them. My favorite Thai in Portland.

Pretty sad food here. I got the chu-​chee catfish to go and it was really disappointing. Half of the ingredients listed in the dish appeared to be missing (at least I couldn’t find them). The flavors were marginal at best. This dish looked completely sloppy and was drenched in oil. Won’t be going back. There are some great Thai eateries a few blocks S. on the other side of Burnside that are delicious, so why bother?

Just got the Pad Thai. It was good. I’ve had better. Wasn’t as spicy as I’d hoped for (ordered it as a 5), and the noodles were kind of a big sticky mound.
Meh. I’ve had better.

I’m not impressed. Nice place. Portions on the larger side. However not enough flavor. I like Thai food for its unique tastes. I also asked for hot and got very mild. This is on the bottom end of my very long list of Thai in Portland. I’d actually strongly consider going to Silk, Vietnamese, up the street before coming back here. Lots of flavor and less expensive. Coming back to Chakam at this time will be reserved for convenience only.

One of the only Thai places close to the Pearl district. The food is good here but far from outstanding and is a little overpriced compared to other downtown Thai restaurants.
I still use this place for take out frequently because it’s so close to home and sometimes you need your curry fix.
The curries are tasty and they can make them crazy hot. Salad rolls are just ok. Also have had the pad thai noodles several times here and they are done well.
If you are walking by or live close feel free to indulge, otherwise you can save some money and hit some of the other area Thai places.