Cha Yen Thai Cookery

"Decent Thai place. Some of the dishes were great, some of them were not. I highly recommend the drunken noodles and fried rice. I had the drunken noodles with duck and it was super good. The corn fritters were also great but the dipping sauce was too sweet/syrupy. The quail eggs weren’t anything special. It tastes exactly how it appears: like a small fried egg with soy glaze. The roti was super good and flaky but unfortunately the curry dipping sauce was cold — not even lukewarm but refrigerated cold. It would’ve been great had it been heated up. The papaya salad was missing dried shrimp like it traditionally should have. We ate here for lunch and the server was hard to reach at times. Overall, not the best thai food in Boston but there were definitely some great dishes. I would order from here again since its close by to me."

"I love Cha Yen! I go here at least twice a week for lunch and the food is great! The staff are very nice as well and they’re very quick. Thanks for the tasty Thai food!"

"A quaint upgrade from your usual neighborhood Thai spot, offering a charming café ambiance. Cha Yen was one of the first restaurants l've been to in the city, so I recently came back out of nostalgia. I really liked its casual cafe-like atmosphere, but having tried some amazing Thai restaurants in Brookline and Brighton, I was a bit disappointed with their food. The appetizers I had were just okay. Curry puff had meager amount of fillings, making it slightly bland. Shrimp donut was better, but the shrimp paste inside was a bit undercooked. It was also not very flavorful, but the plum dressing added a pleasant hint of sweetness and tang. For the entree, I had the Roast duck and the Pad Thai. Crispy Broccolini and soy marinated eggs were excellent accompaniments with the fatty duck pieces, so the Roasted duck was my favorite from the meal. Pad Thai was just solid. Among Thai food options in Watertown, Cha Yen is undoubtedly a great option. However, if you would like to try something more authentic and trendy, I would recommend going across the river to try them."

"Updated: Came back here again and gave it another try. The shrimp donut was good, a little bit burnt that I could taste the bitterness. The Khao Soi was okay, and the Spicy noodle soup was a bit salty. It was still consistent with my last experience, but the flavor did improve a little bit, so I bumped it up a star here, but still a weak 4 imo. =============== Checked out this place since I live close by, and mostly due to the reviews. However, I was unfortunately fairly disappointed with the results. My friend and I also came here after a 4-hour winter hike, so we were exhausted and hungry, so any food would do us wonder then. Sadly, it was only ok. I ordered the Kao Soi, and my friend ordered the Spicy Noodle Soup. The Kao Soi was quite salty, and didn't taste flavorful. The brisket was a hit or miss, some pieces were tender, some pieces were dry. The dry egg noodle was also bland. My friend didn't like like his spicy noodle as well, I tried it the broth was also really bland. The only good one (that I forgot to take pictures of) was their grilled beef. Very tender and well seasoned. I would go here again to prove myself wrong, as I do like the vibe and want to support local restaurants. Hopefully it will be a better experience next time."