TOM GRALISH / Staff Photographer
Atchara Cooley in her Chestnut Hill restaurant Thai Kuu. After working at other Thai restaurants, she wanted to open one of her own. (Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer)
Rating: 
This Thai cafe has brought some white-leather style and D.I.Y. hot-rock cooking to a portico-covered strip-mall space atop Chestnut Hill. Unfortunately, the totally hapless service (slow, disorganized, confused) only emphasized the mediocre fare, which was bland to boring and made with prefab ingredients that, as a whole, did not even come close to meriting the upscale prices.
A recent revisit for lunch was far from perfect, with inclinations still leaning toward dull. But the service showed some snap. And the kitchen also had enough lively moments (juicy and crisp duck dumplings, herbaceous tom yum soup) and showed a willingness to use a chile pepper when called upon (for pungent green curry, fiery lab chicken salad) to finally scratch out a bell.
Reviewed with No Bells on Aug. 21, 2011; revisited and upgraded December 2011.