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House-made sauces & curry pastes
Where it makes sense, we prepare our own bases. This lets us control flavour, quality and composition with intention.
Why Chaima?
Freshly cooked. House-made. Honest.
Since 2014, we have been cooking Thai food in Zurich Wipkingen the way we like to eat it ourselves: aromatic, balanced, freshly prepared and made with respect for the ingredients.
Our kitchen
Not as complicated as possible. Deliberate.
Good Thai cooking is not about using as many ingredients as possible. It is about balance and knowing what belongs in a particular dish.
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No artificial additives
We want flavour to come from ingredients, herbs, spices and carefully balanced recipes – not from artificial additives.
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Vegetables chosen for the dish
Thitikarn Chaima chooses seasonal European vegetables according to the character of each dish. Strong dishes can carry more assertive vegetables; in mild dishes, no single ingredient should dominate.
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Freshly cooked to order
Our ingredients are professionally prepared in advance – but the actual dish is only finished in the wok or pan after you place your order.
Vegetables by conviction
The love of vegetables did not begin with Chaima. It was already there.
“Every vegetable has to suit the dish – not the other way round.”
Thitikarn Chaima grew up surrounded by a wide variety of vegetables, fruit, herbs and home-grown foods. Vegetables were a natural part of everyday eating from childhood.
Later, she developed her own way of cooking from that experience: classic Thai dishes keep their character, but at Chaima they are deliberately given more vegetable variety – only where those vegetables genuinely suit the flavour of the dish.
Depending on the season, she therefore also uses vegetables from Europe and the surrounding region. Not to make the plate look bigger, but because she loves vegetables and because, to her, a dish feels right when aroma, texture and vegetables work together.
That also means extra handwork: choosing, trimming, washing, cutting and preparing each vegetable to suit the dish. This work is part of Thitikarn’s signature – not better than the classic form, simply consciously different.
House-made.
Vegetables by conviction.
Cooking with a signature of our own.
What does “fresh” actually mean?
Good preparation begins long before the wok.
Professional cooking does not mean waiting for the phone to ring before cutting every carrot. Vegetables are prepped, sauces are cooked, curry pastes are ready and the workflow is organised.
The important difference is this: at Chaima, a fully cooked dish is not simply waiting to be reheated. The decisive final minutes only happen after you place your order.
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PreparationVegetables, sauces, curry pastes and mise en place are prepared with care.
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Your orderOnly now do we know which version and which requests need to be prepared.
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Wok & panThe dish is freshly finished and served or packed straight away.
Gluten-free at Chaima
Enjoy gluten-free food – with no gluten-free surcharge.
Our regular menu is gluten-free and lactose-free. Many dishes can also be prepared vegan.
For people with coeliac disease, eating gluten-free often means paying extra. At Chaima, we do not want gluten-free preparation to come with an extra charge: you do not pay more for the gluten-free preparation of our dishes.
As a restaurant member of IG Zöliakie der Deutschen Schweiz, it matters to us that “gluten-free” is not simply a marketing promise. We are open about ingredients and preparation and are happy to answer questions before you order.
Individual weekly specials may be exceptions. If you have allergies, coeliac disease or strong intolerances, please ask us briefly before ordering so we can check the dish you would like.
SENZA · member restaurant · Guide Celiac · press
Gluten-free is not an add-on at Chaima.
Gluten-free cooking has been part of everyday life at Chaima for many years. As a SENZA member restaurant, we want to show that gluten-free preparation is not merely a note on the menu, but part of our daily kitchen practice.
The restaurant portrait introduced Chaima, Thitikarn’s cooking, our philosophy and the personal background of the business. External portraits like this matter to us because they offer an outside view of what we try to put into practice every day.
SENZA member restaurant
Chaima is also listed on Guide Celiac.
Our Guide Celiac listing includes Chaima as a member of IG Zöliakie. For guests specifically looking for gluten-free restaurants, this external listing provides useful orientation.
View Chaima on Guide Celiac →
HelloZurich has also featured Chaima.
The detailed portrait tells the story of Thitikarn, her freshly cooked food, house-made curry pastes and sauces, and the story behind the takeaway in Wipkingen.
Read the portrait on HelloZurich →Why we do not always say “yes, of course”
Honesty is part of our cooking.
We try to make special requests possible. But sometimes a change would alter the character of a dish so much that we would rather say no and explain why.
Special requests: gladly – when they make sense.
Some ingredients are already part of our house-made sauces or base recipes. In those cases, they cannot simply be removed at the end.
A Pad Krapao without chilli, garlic and krapao would be a little like a cappuccino without coffee: technically, many things are possible – but at some point it is no longer the dish listed on the menu. 😉
Flavour before pleasing everyone.
We adapt our cooking to our guests without making the dishes arbitrary. That applies to heat, vegetables and sweetness, as well as vegan and other variations.
We would rather explain briefly what makes sense than promise something that does not work technically or in terms of flavour.
In the end, flavour is what matters
Enough philosophy. Time to eat.
You can find the current selection in our menu.