Ridge Thai: Ridgewood, NJ

being no stranger to Ridgewood for the past 10 years or so, i've always wondered why there were no proper thai restaurants in a town with so many others. kailash doesn't count, although it's a decent enough indian/thai place.  a few years ago, Malee opened, with little fanfare.  it's quite good for the most part, but their menu is painfully limited.

but in the past year, 2 more thai restaurants opened up.  first it was  A Taste of Thai on broad street.  and more recently, Ridge Thai at 50 chestnut street.

Ridge Thai is a nicely-decorated 24 seat storefront restaurant.  the menu is typical of thai restaurants in this area in number of selections and depth.  a recent meal included beef salad, a dish with chicken, bamboo shoots, peppers and chili, and pad thai (the tried-and-true baseline).

generally speaking, pad thai comes in two types:  the gloppy sweet mess type, and the light and delicate type.  i'm a fan of the latter, and that's just what Ridge Thai is serving.

the beef salad was exploding with spice, acidity, and herbs.  a super rendition of this dish.  ordered "thai spicy", the dish was probably 7 on a spiciness scale of 1 to 10.  very hot for most i'm sure, but certainly not "thai spicy" to my mind.

our chicken dish wasn't as flavorful as i had hoped, but was certainly not a failure.  in fact, most restaurants might have killed this dish with an overly-sweet sauce, but Ridge Thai shows restraint in that department.

the portions are big, which i suppose is a plus for some people.  the entrees come in at about 15 bucks or so.  the 3 dishes above came to 44 bucks before tip. 

the restaurant is BYO and has better-than-average stemware.  there's a parking lot across the street that will charge you 2 dollars, assuming it's not full.  not a bad deal.  no delivery.

this one's a keeper.

ridge thai -50 chestnut street -201.493.9929

the website

Comments

[K]

ridge thai have delivery :)

[tommyeats]

thanks for the update. both ridge thai and Taste of Thai deliver now. We had Ridge Thai deliver a meal after I wrote the above, and found the food absolutely horrible. the chicken dish (basil and chili) was actually tasteless. Maybe it was an anomaly, but we haven't been back since.

[chefdave]

I live just down the street from Taste of Thai and am somewhat addicted to their Crispy Duck in Red Curry. I've actually had a number of diffeerent things from there...all very good. NOthing to light the world on fire, but good solid Thai.

[lutece]

Had a great lunch at Ridge Thai today. The pad thai was excellent, with a light but flavorful sauce with big shrimp. The tofu with vegetables came with an interesting mix of asian veggies and a light delicious sauce
The green curry with shrimp was also very good.

The best in Ridgewood for sure.
Was very impressed.

[Pete]

Excellent Thai with very fresh ingredients and wholesome preparation. Nothing greasy or sloppy here.

[supafly]

I haven't eaten at either of these restaurants, but have to say I LOVE Malee, even if the menu is limited. Their Pad Thai is good,and so is the red curry (chicken)... and their pork fried rice is the best fried rice I've ever had. Another bonus - they do well, but you can usually get a table fairly quicky on a Friday or Saturday night, and they have a nice lunch menu.