Chimm - Thai & Southeast Asian Restaurant - Southeast Asian restaurant in Charlottesville - 365 Merchant Walk Sq, USA

TL;DR: Well-designed restaurant, friendly servers, interesting food presentation. Thai food is decently good but some of the dishes are a miss. The $1-3 premium they have on their prices is unnecessary for the level of their food. When the food came out, black flies followed (not on the food) Specific Foods: Basil Fried Rice: 5.0/10 Red Curry: 7.3/10 Pork Belly Garlic Stir Fry: 5.5/10 (I may be biased on this one since this was my first time eating pork belly outside of kBBQ, but I was also not a fan of steamed broccoli as an accompaniment) Basil Stir Fry: 8.2/10 Tom Yum Soup: 8.0/10 Summer Rolls Tofu: 8.0/10 Tea: 9/10 Special Attention: Probably about 35 actual seats inside but was not busy during peak Saturday afternoon. General Wait Time for 1/2 dishes: 30 min General Comments: For some reason, when the food came out, we started getting annoyed by regular black house flies. Not sure what was going on with that. Room For Improvement: 1. Flies

Very delicious and authentic Thai food. The staff were very friendly and service was prompt. Highly recommended for their curry and pad Thai. The ambiance is simple and no frills but the quality of the food more than satisfies. Best Thai food in Charlottesville.

My hubby and I arrived on a Monday in August about 6:00 PM. First alarm bell was a sign at the entrance that they were short staffed - hmmm. Except for the colorful umbrellas hanging from the ceiling, the atmosphere inside the restaurant is plain with maybe a dozen tables. Only one table was occupied so it wasn’t busy. A few people came in to pick up to go orders. Our waiter was new – which we knew because he told us immediately. He wasn’t familiar with the menu so any questions we had were answered after he went into the kitchen to ask someone. I get it that COVID put a fly in the ointment, but did someone say minimal training? And speaking of flies, yes, there were plenty of those annoying buggers vying for attention. Moving on. Smack dab in the middle of wine country, and they only serve wine in those little airplane type bottles from who knows what origin (the waiter shrugged his shoulders). So, we opted for water. Wine snobs, I know. For dinner, we ordered Chicken Panang Curry and Chicken and Cashews. It took about 15 minutes for my meal to arrive and another few minutes for hubby’s dinner to be delivered. Both meals were decent sized servings, and both were also chock full of slices of chicken, which was a tad tough. The Panang came with 3 florets of broccoli, and a few strips of red pepper. The sauce was flavorful and a bit spicy as a good Panang should be. The Chicken and Cashews had a variety of vegetables (onion, scallions, and carrots), and the Chimm sauce which was tasty. We didn’t enjoy the rice as it was dry and crunchy. An hour later, there were 3 occupied tables – again, not busy. But we had to flag down the waiter to get the check, and he left the dirty dishes on the table which is a pet peeve of mine. Overall, the food was pretty good so we’d order takeout but we wouldn’t eat at the restaurant again.

The taste of the food was good but the portion for the price was a little too skimpy on the main dish. Ask to take out the tomato and add cabbage which was no problem according to the server but didn't add it. I wanted cabbage badly so was disappointed. I saw it on the receipt but the cook didn't see it I guess. All the dishes ask for what protein to add which was also for an extra $3, $4 which adds up and is a bit strange. Why not just add the protein price to the meal and ask what we choose? I want to see all the shops/restaurants here to do well so I hope they pay attention to what reviewers and customers are saying.

NO MILITARY DISCOUNT Food was very very good. The satay was very flavorful with a great peanut sauce. I enjoyed the pad Thai chicken with only a level 1 spice. The pork belly stole the show! Loved the flavor and the pork was cooked to perfection! Overall a very good experience.

Very good place to get Thai basil fried rice. The service was great. I got it to go and I ordered in person. It was right at lunchtime but they were able to take my order right away. I waited around 15 minutes and it was well worth the wait. I I look forward to coming back.

Lunch at Chimm and ordered papaya salad, green curry with tofu and red curry with tofu. Was very pleased with the flavors and mix of vegetables in my curry dishes. The green curry was my favorite because I love the complex flavor profiles. Papaya salad (Thai style) was also nice. Red curry was delicious. Service was fast and polite. Great selection of dishes. I will return soon and try more entrees. Returned today for lunch and again ordered the papaya salad and green curry with tofu. Also ordered the stir fried eggplant with mixed vegetables. My favorite is the green curry because it is so fragrant and I love the mix of veggies they include. The stir fried eggplant with basil and mixed veggies tasted awesome. Love the flavor profiles here. This time, I took a few photos. Also seated immediately, no wait time. Same friendly waiter as last time, great service. Overall a relaxing and flavorful experience.

Awesome place! This is the best Thai food we've found in the area by far. The service was really kind, and both meat eaters and vegetarians will be happy here (they even offer Beyond Meat as an option). We dined in this time but have also been very happy with delivery.