Enjoying lunch at Mawn felt like I had won the lottery!! If you know how hard it is to secure a…read morereservation than you know the feeling! So you might stumble across info for the best times to secure a walk-up reservation and they'll tell you to arrive at least by 10:30am Thursday through Saturday as Mawn opens at 11am. But let me tell you how I pulled up in front of Mawn at 10:40am on a Thursday and there was already a line of about 15 people!! Mind you, these people have PEOPLEZ as quite a few were holding spots in line for others in their party who could now casually stroll up to the line since their spot was secured by their people. I'm telling you have a game plan! If I knew then what I know now I probably would have got there at least by 9:30, seriously. My party got waitlisted as soon as we were just one person away from entering the restaurant and we had to wait for another 40 minutes. Fortunately it was a nice day so we just walked around the neighborhood and came back and got in. It's a small quaint place that only seats about 28 people. You'll feel like your visiting your favorite relatives home. You'll glance around at the other guest and feel like WOW i'm one of the few who finally made it into one of the most coveted highly acclaimed restaurants in Philly! Now let me see if it lives up to the hype! haha! I started out with the pear melon salad. It was light and refreshing. I thoroughly enjoyed the citrus notes and the pear slices. I would have never thought to add the pear but that really complimented the salad well. I was told that a MUST try is the head on soft shell shrimp. At first I wasn't thrilled about the thought of eating the head but said what the heck, lets go for the full experience! If you love softshell crabs you'll love this! There was nothing off putting about it. It simply taste like delicious premium shrimp in a fish caramel sauce with a hint of thai basil and chili. It was wonderful. I could have gone for a second round but I wanted to try other items. I enjoyed the seafood fried rice..this is similar to the crab fried rice but included uni roe and caviar with saracha on the side so you can regulate your heat level. I'll say this, while I enjoyed the seafood fried rice and the bonus elements of it, I was not a fan of the texture of the rice itself. Perhaps it's just my preference. The rice was light, fluffy and slightly sticky in texture whereas I prefer more of a thai fried rice which is dry, slightly firm and non-clumpy texture. But that's not taking any cool points away from Mawn. It's just my preference that i'm mentioning in case anyone else goes in expecting a different texture. I love the team service aspect at Mawn. Our waiter emphasized that we're not bugging anybody if we need anything we can stop any staff person walking by. I love that. Beef Noodle soup is delicous here. So is the yellow curry noodle soup. The fish is really good here too. I didn't realize I could have requested for it to be deboned (probably because I was talking to much lol) But my waiter was kind enough to come over and help me debone it when they saw I was struggling lol This was the first time I ever had a green thai tea! It was really a treat. Not overly sweet. Nothing but pure deliciousness here! And a super helpful warm friendly staff.

Great service and great food! The place is small so it makes sense that it's so hard to get a…read morereservation. I love a good BYO, so I can splurge a bit more on the food and not worry about the cost of alcohol. For a party of three, we order 5 appetizers and shared the all star fried rice, which was a perfect amount of food. We got the beef skewers, which were definitely a favorite - the meat absolutely melts in your mouth! The papaya salad paired well with this, as it was tangy and refreshing, especially on such a hot day. The scallop crudo was a special for the night, but I think they should add this to their permanent menu because it was definitely a standout! The all star fried rice at $54 was also well worth it. I am often disappointed by dishes like these due to the lack of "stuff", but there was crab throughout and a generous portion of roe. I was a little disappointed however that there were only 2 scallops at that price. Overall, each dish had impeccable flavor, great presentation, and a good amount of seafood for the price.

Came for a birthday celebration. One of the few nicer places on my short list of restaurants with…read morereservations available, so I decided to go for it. Service was excellent! Our staff were always looking out for us, and making suggestions and recommendations throughout our entire meal, and even helping us with some tips to better enjoy our meal (they saw me sweating in response to the Thai spice). Definitely made this a top-notch experience. Ambience here is great! Love places with *real* greenery indoors and a lot of natural light, like this place, and seats and tables were spread out sufficiently such that there was a nice background chatter without feel too infringed upon by other conversations. We ordered a good variety to share. The spare ribs and the glass noodles dishes were amazing! Everything came out as ready, but it was on a good cadence such that we were enjoying things as they were ready, hot and fresh. I'm no expert on legitimacy of flavors and dishes, but honestly this feels like the most legit stuff I've had in the Thai wheelhouse in a while. To boot, even though we said no to dessert because we had other plans, they came with a candle on a plate to still share birthday wishes. A nice touch! Definitely a fancy occasion kind of place in my books, but I'd definitely make a return trip on another occasion!

KenScale: 8.25/10 Visit: April 2026…read more One restaurant in Philadelphia that I had wanted to visit for a long time was Kalaya, which was featured in the Chef's Table documentary on Netflix in 2024. I was moved by the personal story of the chef Chutatip "Nok" Suntaranon in the show, and of course my wife Jun and I would never say no to some delicious Thai food. On our recent trip to Philly to celebrate our anniversary, Jun and I finally got to check out Kalaya (which is named for the chef's mother) on a rainy Sunday for lunch before driving back home. We were very pleased with the lunch at Kalaya, which in our mind really showcased the Thai spicy flavor well. The menu at Kalaya features Southern Thai dishes inspired by the chef's family history. The colorful display of the dishes stood out throughout our meal, but more importantly we also really liked the spicy flavor that felt genuine and soulful. The cute flower-shaped Shaw Muang dumplings with ground chicken were highly recommended by our server and the kick from the Thai chili set the right tone right away. We were also fond of the poached shrimp and cabbage salad with coconut cream (Yum Kalum Bplee) for the delightfully crispy texture. For the main dishes, we ordered one stir fry and one curry. If you have to order just one dish at Kalaya, I can't recommend the colossal crab stir fry with egg (Pu Pad Pong Karee) enough. Served with jasmine rice, this dish offered complex flavor of spicy, salty, sour and sweet that was quite unlike anything I had encountered in a while. As Jun and I were savoring this awesomeness, I wished that I could've eaten this every week. The goat and lamb curry (Gaeng Pae), served with pickled cucumbers and coconut turmeric rice, was also impressive, with rustic curry broth that suddenly hit my tongue with spice blend. Despite that powerful impact on my palate, I couldn't stop myself from enjoying the curry, especially with the coconut turmeric rice that neutralized the curry's spicy kick somewhat. We also shared a side dish of stir-fried local mushrooms (Hed Pad Kratiam) that was solid as well. We were running out of room in our stomach after cleaning up the savory dishes, so we settled with ordering a Thai iced coffee to go before hitting the road. Not surprisingly, Kalaya is a very popular restaurant in the Philly dining scene so getting a reservation in advance is essential. I was a bit nervous on our visit as we were running rather late (by around 30 minutes) from picking up our car from the parking lot, yet the restaurant was gracious enough to honor our reservation. The bright and lively dining space offered quite a fitting background to the character of the dishes. There is a full bar with Thai-inspired cocktails and concise wine list designed to complement the Thai spices well. Kalaya definitely lived up its hype as one of the most important restaurants in Philadelphia; Jun and I were glad to have visited and would be more than happy to come back for our next visit to the city.

My go to place for take out. I particularly enjoy their roti canai and their chicken chile…read moreselections. The mango cocoanut is a nice dessert.

I ordered from here since my regular Thai place was closed for renovations. The people were kind,…read moreand the food was ready when I went to pick it up. Besides that, the food was meh. The flavor in the tom kha was pretty nonexistent, couldn't even finish it tbh. Pad see ew had the flavor, but when you're paying $16-$20 for a dish, and you get smaller portions that what you're used to from the rest of the city, it's pretty difficult. The basil fried rice was also okay at best. With what I paid compared to what I got, I'd love a refund. Rather disappointed

Great for US standard…read more Pempek 2/5 Lacked fish smell and the sauce .. not tart.. only tasted sweet which was not supposed to taste like that. Lontong Sayur 5/5 Exploded with flavors.., on point Rendang with rice 5/5 the rice was a little hard.. rendang was on point. Sate ayam 4/5 Not bad at all Mie komplet 3/5 They gave generous toppings .. but the noodles were not special... not fragrant enough Total $73 cash price plus tips

We stopped by for a quick meal. The place was full in the late afternoon, that was already a good…read moresign. We ordered lamb and chicken satays as appetizers. Then had a few mains. The marinated short rib was nice and tender but a little too sweet for my taste. Still very good. I'm not big on fish, but this was pretty good. The beef rendang was by far the best dish we had. It had nice coconut flavors. The main issue was the service was extremely slow. We were served appetizers about 45 minutes after sitting down. I understand they were busy but this was a bit much.

I've been here multiple times since moving to Philly, and Penang has always been my go-to spot for…read moreMalaysian food... but honestly, that might be changing. The food quality has noticeably gone downhill over the past few months. To start, my party of four asked for a pot of hot tea. The server told us it would be $5, which is fine--especially since it was freezing outside and the restaurant itself was cold (the heat didn't seem to be on). But near the middle of the meal, I asked for a refill (literally just more hot water), and the server came back with the owner/manager and said it would be another $5. That's ridiculous. The tea is already made--charging another $5 for hot water is wild. The service didn't help either. The server was pretty stoic, and the whole interaction felt awkward, especially while I was trying to order off a QR code menu that had zero descriptions of the dishes. That lack of explanation definitely caused issues. For example, we ordered the Singapore rice noodles expecting something curry-based, but it tasted like a sweet-and-sour ketchup sauce instead. Not good--and totally avoidable if the menu actually explained what the dish was. As for the food, the roti canai was disappointing. The curry was watered down and lacked flavor compared to previous visits, though I'll give credit where it's due--the roti itself was nicely toasted. I don't know what changed, but something clearly did, and it feels like a leadership issue. Overall, this visit was really underwhelming, and I won't be coming back anytime soon unless things seriously turn around here.

Penang is a sit down Malaysian Restaurant who used to be, in my opinion, the gold star for…read moreMalaysian Restaurants in the city. But over the past decade or so, things have changed. Their chicken satay is having smaller pieces than ever, higher prices, and seems to be overcooked more often than not. Their Roti Canai seems to have smaller protein in the dipping sauce. The service seems to be more curt than it used to be and very transactional. There's no more free hot tea. And of course those dreaded QR Menus which are made worse since (1) the prices on those menus do not match what's on the website and (2) there is no description of the menu items on there so unless you really know your Malaysian Food, you may not know what you're getting yourself into. And these cuts have happened quite dramatically -- it's not just inflation at play. They're still good but they have started to cut corners which is a shame, because they were so good. It seems like they're starting to coast on their reputation and it shows. The other things nobody ever talks about: - Water: The water here has a funky taste... but you're in Philly so this is par for the course. - Restrooms: There are two Men & Women Restrooms though it can be tight getting there since the walkway is shared with where the waitstaff gets the food from the kitchen. - Accessibility: There is certainly seating options if you're in a wheelchair but the restaurant is certainly very tight to navigate so it could be tricky. - Seating: There's plenty of seating. - Will it fill you up? In general, yes, but it's less food than before for sure.

We went visited Xiandu Thai a year ago and the food was delicious minus one thing we didn't really…read morecare for. However overall it was some of the best Thai food we had in Philly and we used to live in the area years ago. We decided we had to come back and see if the food was still just as good and the results are in...IT WAS! First the customer service is still really good and the server was beyond friendly and attentive. The restaurant itself is still super quant and perfect for a girls dinner or a date night! Now onto the food! We ordered the Sexy Shrimp appetizer, Pad Thai, Dan Dan Noodles! The Sexy Shrimp appetizer was good but we weren't really a fan of the dipping sauce that came with it. It was like a chipotle dipping sauce but I think the a traditional Thai Sweet Chili would have been better. But my, my, my the Pad Thai and Dan Dan Noodles were Phenomenal! Portion size was HUGE, flavor and spice was spot on and honestly, I wish I could pick up this restaurant and move it to DC where we are located! Still phenomenal and we will continue to return everytime we come back to visit Philly!

Phenomenal place! I love Xiandu Thai and they offer a good deal Happy Hour and their menu overall…read morehas some great options. Drinks are made well and reasonably priced. I love good Hendricks martini But I also do stray away from some of their original cocktails. The Chicken Pad Thai is my absolute favorite here. I always ask for spice and extra peanuts! Never disappointed. The Drunken Noodles are also a go-to favorite. Their starter options are sized appropriately so you'll have room for dinner. Bonnie & Peter are remarkable and they have an amazing staff. Xiandu is such a kind and friendly atmosphere with a beautiful ambiance both indoor and outdoor. Located right on Walnut Street you'll see beautiful views from their full bar (with two TVs) and they also have a beautiful patio with spacious seating. I would recommend Xiandu for a cute lunch, beautiful romantic dinner and a place to really come have some amazing Thai cuisine!

Came here for a late lunch on a weekend and it wasn't busy. We ordered a bbq beef with egg on rice…read more(#208) and it was delicious. The meat portion is sufficiently big and the meal was about $14. The place is clean and the bathrooms are clean. I'm excited to come back for pho!

Came here around 3 pm on a sat and it was pretty empty. We got seated immediately. The server was…read morenice and the food was really good! I shared this dish with a friend for only $13 and it was so so so filling for the both of us. They accept cash and card at no surcharge.

The sign and goolge listings says this locatioin is "Nadia Thai Chef". I ordered vegetarian red…read morecurry with tofu and it was soooo good. My favorite thing in curry is bamboo, and green beans, and I'm very happy they didn't overwhelm it with red bell peppers. The chili oil was delicious and the coconut flavor was divine. Next time I will get extra bamboo, it is my favorite thing but many other restaurants use canned products which to me taste and smell very sulfurous and are completely unpalatable. This location uses fresh real young bamboo. Decent portions too, I was very happy with my meal and will return to try drunken noodles and pineapple fried rice.

Had a great experience at Nooddi Thai in Media. Didn't have any expectations but was pleasantly…read moresurprised. Very relaxed vibe in the restaurant and the staff was very kind and attentive. We ordered the Satay Chicken, Crab and Shrimp dumplings, edamame as appetizers. The satay skewers was really good and generous portions, I liked both sauce offerings. Dumplings were also really good with the plum sauce. For entrees we ordered the Crispy Tempura Duck and Chicken Pad Thai. The duck was delicious and the pad thai was great. Overall, I'm glad Nooddi is in my area. Will definitely be stopping by often.

I came here with some friends for lunch! The place was very…read morecute inside and a big tree was up for Christmas. Felt very comfy and at home. We sat down and ordered food. We were all starving :) My vegan friend was craving pho so she got the vegetable pho (we double checked that it is made with vegetarian stock since it did not say this on the menu and it was!). My other friend got this spicy chicken stir fry (forgot the name). I got my usual pad sew ew but subbed with shrimp. I also got a thai ice tea to go with my meal. The food came out fairly fast and we chowed down. The pad sew ew noodles had great flavor and cooked perfectly. It came with a lot of Chinese broccoli and carrots. The only disappointing thing is that I only got 4 shrimp :/ they were good but would have liked to see more especially since it costs $3 more to sub with shrimp. Either way the portions are a good size. My friends both enjoyed their meals immensely. We all had a good time hanging out and eating. The Thai ice tea was also very good :) Def. would come back and try some other dishes one day! A great place for lunch.

Food is below average. Misses the mark on Thai food…read more Service is poor, waited 15 minutes to be seated. No one greeted in front and restaurant was empty.

This building has been in Penndel for years and today was my first time visiting. Found them on…read moreYelp while looking for Pho. Walking in the door, I got excited! Ambience was great, music was great, and the hostess was super friendly. We were seated immediately in the cutest semi private table for 2. I ordered the Pho with beef and my daughter ordered the pineapple fried rice with shrimp. Didn't take long for the food to come out. Large portions and simply delicious!!! I will definitely be back! By the way, they are BYOB, and you can get seating for large crowds. Yeah...this will not be my last time here!!

Always very flavorful and beautifully presented Thai food, friendly and helpful staff and…read moretastefully decorated atmosphere.