| My Thai Vegan Cafe, Brief Review | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Service | Food Quality | Atmosphere | Vegan Options |
| 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| Location: 3 Beach Street Boston, MA | ||||
| Recommended Dish: Soup of the Day | ||||
| Hours: 11am-10pm |
Times Visited: 1 | |||
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From the Stumptown Vegans Travel Log
Location
In 2008, My Thai Vegan Cafe moved into the second floor restaurant space above Pho Pasteur at the corner of Beach and Washington in Boston’s Chinatown. Prior to that, the space was occupied by a long-standing favorite of the veg-community, Buddha’s Delight (which it seems like would move downstairs, and then back up, every few years, but that’s a whole other story and part of this reviewer’s college memories). Adding a bit more history to this dramatic back-story, My Thai first opened in a former Buddha’s Delight location in Brookline. This original location closed in 2009. Both establishments were part of Boston’s vegetarian dining history.
Entering the current My Thai includes walking up one of the creakiest staircases I’ve ever experienced. It’s the type of stairs, regardless of being just one floor up, that would give your non-vegan family just cause to likely never visit the restaurant again. The dining area is quite calming, in contrast. I wouldn’t call it ambiance, but I would slightly credit the large room and the glimpse into the city below.
The Food
My Thai’s entirely vegan menu features 10 lunch specials of Thai and Vietnamese influence for $6.95-$7.50. I won’t go into detail about the rest of the menu, as this is a New England based travel review specifically about a lunch special.
The restaurant was empty on a Friday afternoon for a late lunch. The server approached quickly to fill my water and take my order. I chose the Pad Thai lunch special with vegan chicken. The two-course lunch started with a minor oddity – my waitress did not seem to know what my request for “medium heat”, or “spicy” was about. I had to second guess myself if that was a freakish request on the East Coast. The first course to my table was the Soup of the Day, which actually contained a nice level of slowly increasing heat, one spoonful at a time. It had a light, red curry tinged broth with cubes of firm tofu and sliced vegetables. The vegetables were just cooked enough to stand up in a soup, unlike the soups of the day where soggy vegetables may have entered days before.
All lunch specials at My Thai come with a complimentary side, and I chose the vegetable dumplings. The two medium-sized dumplings served alongside my entrée were pan-fried, stuffed with a savory protein filling, and served with a generous amount of sweet dipping sauce. I was left with the impression that these were stuffed in-house, due to the custom folding. The Pad Thai itself was presently greatly, topped with fresh bean sprouts and christened with a slice of lime and crushed peanuts. Flavor was another matter. The ample serving of hot rice noodles, a bit of garnish, and slices of soy chicken was reminiscent of a Pad Thai requested vegan at many omnivorous restaurants – incredibly bland. It was missing sauciness and any heat whatsoever. I can recall squeezing every last drop out of the lime! I can’t credit the addition of soy chicken strips, because those too, was odd, with a strangely burnt aftertaste.
In a city that shares the glory of Grasshopper in Allston, the recently closed but impressive raw dishes of Grezzo, and growing pride of Peace O’Pie, my lunch at My Thai was a real lackluster experience.
However, as all vegan alternative conveniently located downtown, I would be up for giving it another try. Any recommendations?
House Soup
Pad Thai Lunch Special with dumplings
Exterior
Stumptown Vegans Map
