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Symphony (Green)
Massachusetts Ave (Orange)
Mon-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Sun. 2:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
This is a Thai restaurant run by Thai people! (It's something I like to know... hehe)
Their pad thai is honestly mediocre... but their mango sticky rice is delicious! Sticky rice soaked in sweet coconut milk with half a mango on the side... I LOVE IT. I think it's about 5 bucks - I to-go this dessert often! It's like eating dinner and dessert.... right? ;)
I live so disgustingly close to Pan Thai that if I didn't go here once every month, it would be crazy! They have a good student discount, which is cool for young ladies like me. Unfortunately, that's really the best thing Pan Thai has to offer.
The food is average at best. The quality of the meat isn't very good and the vegetables are obviously the frozen variety. The peanut sauce in the Rama Garden is the best thing on the menu, the sweet and sour sauce sucks, the Paw See Ew is pretty gross, and the Pad Thai is alright.
I don't want to go back, but sometimes I am just so effing lazy.
Looks inviting ...but we left hungry :(
The duck was too dry, small portions
It was freezing cold and raining (and later snowing) today. I was early for a concert at Jordan Hall and needed some hot lunch. I don't think I've ever been here before, but maybe once, a long time ago. The front room is small, and a large group of young people were in there. I was taken to the back, a large room, where only one couple was about to order lunch--the rest of the room was empty. But it was later than normal lunch time. They were very dressed up, probably on their way to Symphony Hall. I listened to their conversation and tried to decide if they were husband and wife or brother & sister. They never laughed once. Well, maybe once.
Anyway, I ordered Chicken Curry Noodles. I thought they would be yellow noodles, but they weren't. I'm not sure if I thought that because of the menu? (I simply don't recall). They were soup noodles, not dry, and the flavor and heat were just right for the cold wet day outside. The portion was large and only cost $6.50. The menu looked to be fairly standard Thai and quite cheap, at least at lunch. Some people in the front room were sharing an enormous piece of cake when I left. There's a Whole Foods across the street though if you want something else for dessert (rugelach? a fancy chocolate bar?)
I think this sort of place is just what one needs in this area, fast, appealing and inexpensive.
The only bad thing about the place as far as I experienced it is that the nice, attentive server smelled rather a lot of cigarette smoke. That's a problem.
Best Thai food I had outside of NYC. Great food, good service, friendly staff, good drinks and good desserts. What else can you ask! I definitely recommend this place if you want good Thai food. Their fried bananas are amazing. Also really good pad thai.
Not great for atmosphere, but you can't get a better deal. With student discount, you can get enough pad thai to have an extra one or two meals with leftovers. Their chai iced tea is delicious! I would only go there if I was a student and use my discount. I had there sweet and sour chicken and didn't think it was that good.
With so many other Thai places in the area, Pan Thai should really be the last on your list. Pretty sad too considering the waitress was very very nice. I felt the need to leave my standard tip.
They have a sandwich board outside with specials of the day.. but those have actually been there for months. And they don't always have everything in the menu, so I wouldn't get your hopes up for a particular dish. The lunch options are on the cheaper side and you get soup with your order.. but the main dishes and the soup are so lackluster. The pad thai isn't the worst I've ever had but it's just slightly below 'okay'. The portions are large though and the food comes out quick.. maybe it needs to be made with a little more love?
If you don't see anybody inside during primetime eatin' times.. the place is usually the city's best kept secret or it's a dud. This place is the latter.
We've tried Pan Thai on half a dozen occasions. We, and guests we've taken there, have been totally pleased with our meals and the service. Prices are very reasonable, and the portions and quality are outstanding. We live in the 'burbs, and generally only go to Pan Thai when we're going to an event at Symphony Hall. I wish we lived closer - it could be habit forming...
Very polite and welcoming waitstaff, b.t.w. Their Pad Thai is great!
Very reasonable student menu selections and prices, adequate space, but funky service. It's like the servers are overzealous and want to refill your water if you drink a sip, take your plate away the instant you are done, etc. So that's not so hot for ambiance and atmosphere, but the food is standard, delicious Thai. I ordered one of the student lunch menus with chicken pad thai and Thai hot tea and had more than enough pad thai for dinner that same night. Come by if you're in the neighborhood and crave some good food. Nothing super-special, but a nice place for a quick bite.
Quick overview: Ambiance... mediocre at best, Pad Thai... so-so, dessert... awesome, service... great, price (for quantity)... pretty good.
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Food: Well, I've tried the Pad Thai here twice. Once take-out and once sit-in. The first time I had it with just chicken. The noodles aren't bad but the chicken isn't as tasty as it could be. They do give you extra chili on the side to make it spicier if you like... which I thought was nice! When I ordered take-out I accidentally forgot to say *just chicken please* so I ended up with their normal dish which includes chicken AND shrimp. However, all you shrimp lovers would be disappointed--there were only 2 shrimp in the whole dish! Their Thai iced teas are very good as is their Mango + sweet rice! The portion for the dessert is quite big... considering most thai restaurants give you a tiny square of sweet rice w/ a couple mango slices!
Price: Decent
Service: The staff here are wonderful. They are all very nice; however, they do take a bit long for the check AND they tend not to come over and "visit" to see how things are doing as often as they probably should.
Environment: EEK! This place needs a serious make-over! It has dark walls with dark green carpet. I'd also like to confirm (as I've read several of the reviews below)... the place does smell like mold... not good! I don't understand why it doesn't air out... they keep the window out front open ALL the time! Either way... their look is not something to keep you coming back. I honestly wouldn't bring a group in here either... it's just too gloomy (space wise it would work though).
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Quick tips: Take-out is good (may have to wait a bit though... even if they are not busy--which has been my experience).
So many lunch choices and so cheap! All of the lunch specials come with your two choices of either house salad, soup, or golden triangles (tofu). The veggie soup is very light and felt super healthy. Nothing but clear broth, tofu and vegetables.
I got the tofu & veggie basil. Their lunch specials menu didn't have that many veggie choices. The dish was pretty good. It was JUST spicy enough for my taste.
It was hot today though, and they had their window open. Wasn't a big fan of the un-air-conditioned room.
Service is fast ... Too fast. Incredibly fast.
I ordered pad thai--I know, I'm soooo adventurous--and it was literally sitting in front of me in about five minutes. How in the hell?!?
I mean, it wasn't very busy. I had an early dinner with a friend, and it was only about 5:00. The Ethiopean place we wanted to eat at on Tremont wasn't open yet, so we kind of walked in a big circle and got to this place right around the corner from my house.
P.S.: People were stabbed outside Symphony Hall?! At the end of my street?!
Anyway, although it was suspiciously speedy, the food was wonderful. My noodles tasted a bit undercooked, but whatever.
If you're looking for authentic Thai, don't go here. The peanut sauce wasn't spicy at all. But I'm a wimp when it comes to spicy, so that's cool.
I also enjoyed the decor. It was a nice setting--intimate, but not too awkward for dinner with one other person.
A little pricey...I didn't know about the college menu! I'll hit that up next time.
My favorite place to order Pad Thai from in all the cities I've lived in!! I used to frequent this place often as a Northeastern student for their student special...Pad Thai, Golden Triangles and that delicious salad! When I first started going here they used to give you the regular sized portions which was enough for two!! But in recent visits I've noticed the student special now comes on these cafeteria type plates, still plenty of food though! I will admit, the waitstaff is a little over zealous about refilling your water but they are always so nice about it I feel inclined to leave a very generous tip. It is a pretty tight space so I usually try to sit near the big front windows (which they open up during the summer months), but hey...what can you complain about when your three-course meal costs you $6.95?!
Before you begin reading this you should know that I've only had their Pan Thai Fried Rice. It's a meal in and of itself and is so amazing that I gave this place 4 stars. Just for the fried rice. It comes with chicken and shrimp (I get it sans shrimp because I hate seafood, but if you like shrimp they use the huge ones) and veggies and I'm pretty sure it's not super authentic. Does that matter? No. As far as I'm concerned, it tastes great and is my favorite quicky dinner/comfort food. I used to live next door so I was there almost everyday. They had my voice and order down pat.
As far as service goes, they're very nice and I've never had to wait long at all. 10 minutes max (although I've always done pick up). Also prices aren't bad, however I was unaware of the college menu, so check into that for cheaper prices. Oh and the lunch prices are cheaper and the serving size about the same.
Anywho, I love this place, I don't care if it's not the most authentic or has the best ambiance or whatever. I'll be munching on the fried rice until the day I leave Boston.
Came here often, lived across the street, re visited on my last trip. It's reliable. They have pretty good student specials, they come on little cafeteria trays. The service is a bit unstable. Sometimes they are awesome and right on top of it, other times they don't refill the water. Stay away from the soup, it smells like wet dog. the pad thai is good
Nice employees, horrendous pad thai. Why am I plagued the flavorless excuse for this could-be delicious dish? Serves me right for being a slave to convenience, I suppose. Came in on a Monday night to an entirely empty but immaculately clean restaurant. Such a sweet staff. Went to the restroom downstairs to freshen up, popped back up and magic, they were bagging up my to-go order! Sad to report that I'll have to trudge the extra blocks for an alternative.
i don't know how people could say pad thai cafe is better than this place..i found my meal at pan thai to be infinitely more flavorful, service friendlier, and everything had much fresher ingredients. i am a fan of little holes in the wall and this place is it -- we were going to whole foods for grocery shopping when i saw this place across the street and decided to go in. the staff were very friendly and our food came out quickly, but not TOO quickly, and the price was right ($15 for lunch for two, one veg and one non-veg). AND they didn't charge me extra for asking for brown rice...excellent. it's not the best thai place ever, but it gets the job done for a reasonable price around symphony.
p.s. my boyfriend says that if you are a tall guy you won't be able to fully stand up in the bathroom cause the ceilings are so low!
I've been here a couple of times years ago, and liked the food. The last time I went, however, the place was filled with busloads of elderly people who were going to an afternoon symphony concert, and I ended up getting back to work late due to bad service that day.
I was in the mood for something different today, so decided to give it another try. OK ~ I actually was going to try the Brown Sugar Cafe, but didn't really know how to find it, and was too lazy to walk far. So I walked into the Pan Thai restaurant, and the place smelled of mold. NOT GOOD. But the waitress jumped up when I walked in and seated me at a nice table in the front.
The lunch menu was huge, and I had no idea what to order. I decided to stay away from the typical rice dishes I always get at Bangkok City, and ordered the Gai Noodle soup. It arrived at my table in probably less than five minutes ~~ all steamy and yummy looking and MAN it smelled delicious! I had an adventure trying to eat the noodles with my chopsticks, but by the time I was full I had it down. A really good soup with lots of white meat chicken, rice noodles, bamboo shoots, and basil leaves. The broth was tasty, too.
The other times I was there I had the pineapple fried rice, which I also liked and recommend.
I'm only giving this 3 stars, due to the mold smell, and the service could've been a little better. No one came to ask how I liked my food, and didn't even ask when the food was taken away.
Good for a quick lunch, they seem to have a room in the back that could accomodate groups, but I've never seen it filled.
The food here is great. They've changed their menu in the past few months, so it's not the same, but still delicious. Best fried ice cream I've ever had. I usually get some kind of curry with chicken, but the duck dishes are good, as are the noodles. Appetizers (yes, I realize I've done the menu in reverse order)- I've only ever had the beef and/or chicken satay and the crab rangoon. Crab rangoon leaves something to be desires, it's a little too liquid to eat easily. The satay, on the other hand, is delicious with a perfectly textured peanut sauce.
The food is just ok. The thing that makes this place special is their speedy delivery service. I have gotten food delivered to my door in 15 minutes flat, that has got to be a record for food delivery in Boston. They have a very extensive menu and a few quality dishes. Try their Chicken Mango, Pad Thai, and dumplings.
Definitely not as good as Pad Thai, but decent enough. Pretty good Chicken Mango, though my usual dish was the Honey Pork--yummy! My main disappointment about Pan Thai is their smaller portion of sticky rice with mango compared to Pad Thai---I love this stuff and can't deal with small portion, though it's still yummy!!
Great food, the interior is helplessly ugly, very squeezed space. I had paid my bill, paid a good tip by cash basically paid $7 on a $27 bill. When I was walking to go take the train on Mass Ave, someone was shouting, calling me...only to see the waitress coming after me with a bill. I told her that I had paid, then she reminded me that the $7 tip was not enough and threatened to charge the rest on the credit card I used to pay! It was so embarrassing because people would have thought that I dined and Dashed! Just to help you out, avoid a waitress who is chubby, 4'9" and has a round face. She was polite in the restaurant..but I have never been threatened to leave a tip! to me leaving a tip is an appreciation of service..not paying someone's wage! and if someone is crappy and expects me on a college budget to dish out money..that will never happen.
This place has pretty decent Thai food. Not the best around, but the college menu is a good deal. You have to ask for it, though. The atmosphere is calming, but there is nothing particularly unique about it. If you live around the Westland Ave area, I would recommend it.
Good little whole in the wall spot, nothing fancy, good food for what you pay for, great Thai Iced Tea and Coffee
i got food to go, and it took quite a while (a 20 minute wait - and the place wasn't particularly busy), but the food was really good. great curry, great fried rice. typical hole-in-the-wall place, don't expect too much as far as ambiance goes, but great place for good food.
Neighborhood: South End
Category: Thai
Boston, MA
Category: Restaurants
Boston, MA
Category: Middle Eastern
Neighborhood: South End
Category: Restaurants
Neighborhood: Back Bay
Category: Thai
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