When Chilli Thai Bistro opened its doors last month, it was faced with the challenge of filling the shoes of the beloved Bluestone Bistro, a pizza shop which had become a local mainstay in Brighton, Mass.
Chilli Thai Bistro, boasting a wide array of Thai food pleasing to both the eye and stomach, aims to garner the same amount of patronage that was faithfully given to Bluestone Bistro—“a pizza shop for 30 years,” Nuch Kittitrakul, the co-owner of Chilli Thai Bistro, said. With reliable, delicious staples like Pad Thai and fried rice, Chilli Thai Bistro appeals to customers who are familiar with Thai cuisine and those who are newcomers to Thai food. Sporting both spicy and non-spicy options in a price range affordable for the average college student, the menu at Chilli Thai Bistro allows for more adventurous diners to explore Thai cuisine, while also providing comforting, well-known items for more timid customers.
While Chilli Thai Bistro moved into 1799 Commonwealth Ave. in Brighton only three weeks ago, the restaurant is the product of over 13 years of culinary experience in and around Boston and Northampton, Mass.
“I moved here in February, and we took a month and a half for renovations, construction, and to do everything,” Kittitrakul said.
Before opening Chilli Thai Bistro, Kittitrakul and her partner owned another three restaurants in Northampton, and had their sights set on a location in Boston that was accessible to both the college demographic and the local residents of the Brighton neighborhood. Kittitrakul looks to win the love—and patronage—of these Brighton natives, having already won over the many college students that come through the doors of Chilli Thai Bistro.
“The customer base is a lot of students from BC,” Kittitrakul said. “Normally, the people around here don’t know us—they don’t know that we opened. It’s been a pizza shop for 30 years and then we changed it to Thai, and nobody knows yet.”
This feat should be no trouble for Kittitrakul and Chilli Thai Bistro. With the desire to introduce a family-owned restaurant with strong Thai culinary heritage and Western fusion dishes to the surrounding area of Brighton, Chilli Thai Bistro’s business is already steadily “increasing,” Kittitrakul said. By providing the same local, familiar atmosphere that Brighton residents enjoyed with Bluestone Bistro, paired with the introduction of both spicy and non-spicy Thai flavors, Kittitrakul and Chilli Thai Bistro are crafting a fresh, welcomingly familiar beginning in Brighton.
According to Kittitrakul, “a lot of students love Pad Thai, drunken noodles, and fried rice,” which are all comfortably situated on the mild to medium side of the heat spectrum. Drunken Noodles, an entree destined to become a classic due to its stir-fry familiarity and especially amusing name to certain hungry late-night diners, consists of authentic Thai rice noodles stir fried with a combination of not-too-hot chili soy sauce, chicken, red and green peppers, bamboo shoots, carrots, and basil leaves. The large menu at Chilli Thai Bistro acts as a sort of ladder, with the classics of Pad Thai, fried rice, and college student-targeted Drunken Noodles at the bottom, while dishes steeped in genuine, palpable Thai heritage such as Nam Sod and Pad See-ew.
The menu conveniently displays the spice rating of each dish, preventing first-time or inexperienced diners from setting their mouth on fire during their first culinary experience at Chilli Thai Bistro. For fans of spicy food, the spiciest dishes on the menu are the “Ocean’s Wave” for seafood and the “Siam Duck.” “That would be spicy, very spicy,” Kittitrakul added.
Ocean’s wave is an assortment of seafood—large shrimp, scallops, and mussels—sauteed with veggies in a hot chili sauce. If seafood is not up your spicy alley, then the Siam Duck, made up of thick slices of duck sauteed with veggies in a hot chili sauce is also a delectable choice for those with more impressive stomach abilities. Although these two dishes are stellar, satisfying choices, the menu is divided into sections that present a vast amount of Thai food selections, with two sections devoted to lunch and dinner specials. Chilli Thai Bistro’s wide selection is sure to appeal to fans of both spicy and non-spicy food, and those simply looking for bona fide Thai cuisine.
Looking to the future, Kittitrakul and her partner have plans for expansion through online delivery. “We are going to do the delivery online and we are going to send food on-demand to BC, to your dorm,” Kittitrakul said. Once Chilli Thai Bistro establishes itself in Brighton, it hopes to begin the online delivery service in the near future.
Featured Image Courtesy of Chilli Thai Bistro
