This was a wonderful restaurant experience. At first, I was nervous to try something other than Pad Thai, but the massaman curry was delicious! It was full of chicken, peanuts, and well-cooked veggies. I would especially suggest this dish for anyone who loves carrots. I can't wait to return. read more

I ordered the fried roti to start which came with a curry dipping sauce. Very crispy bread but I wish the sauce they served it with was warm. For my entree I ordered the chicken pad see ew. It was a little bit spicy and full of vegetables! I really enjoyed it. We were sat immediately, the waitress was friendly, and the food came out quick. Couldn't ask for a better chill dinner. read more

See all

Had Beef satay, coconut soup with chicken, brown rice, spider roll, and cashew nut stir fry. Food was good and standard, the coconut soup and spider rolls were stand outs to us. I wasn't overly blown away by the food coming from NYC but it was an overall positive experience. Service was excellent and attentive, ambiance was quiet and chill. Ambiance: 5/5 Taste: 5/5 Service: 5/5 read more

Laughing Monk Cafe - Sushi Bars Near Me - Wellesley, Massachusetts

Very quiet on a Wednesday evening, very easy to get seated. I can imagine it picks up later in the day and during the weekends, especially because it's very small inside. They did not accept table reservations at this location when I called though so it's first come first serve! We started with the crab rangoons which everyone enjoyed. I had the chicken drunken noodles, very very tasty! Plenty of food and the perfect level of spice. Our orders also included chicken pad Thai, veggie pad Thai, and green curry with tofu. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meal. Waitress was very kind and service was fast. Great evening out! read more

Laughing Monk Cafe - Drunken Noodle with Chicken - Sushi Bars Near Me - Wellesley, Massachusetts

Sushi - one star I would not recommend the sushi from this restaurant. The rice on the rolls is improperly cooked. The rice is just a gooey / chewy texture. The avocado that was in my rolls tasted rancid and overpowered the other flavors. Warm entrees - four stars We got the drunken noodles (veg with fried tofu - extra spicy), green curry and mango fried rice with chicken and shrimp. All dishes were excellent! Good portions, flavorful, and spicy! Probably won't be a repeat customer since I would rather order from a restaurant that can offer well prepared sushi and other entrees. read more

This review is for my takeout experience only - I think the food was pretty decent. I got the pad see ew and moo ping. The moo ping /pork belly was nice and tender. However, the pad see ew serving size was extremely small. You definitely need a second entree to be full, unfortunately. read more

Laughing Monk Cafe - Pad See Ew - Sushi Bars Near Me - Wellesley, Massachusetts

See all

Excellent food, appearance and taste. Spotty service: 1. Would not substitute mushrooms for peppers and eggplant 2. One set of chopsticks for two 3. Brought our main course sushi as an appetizer 4. Took :15 minutes to bring a side order of rice. Comfortable space, will try again. read more

See all

A casual little sushi cafe in the heart of Wellesley. Not exactly date night ambiance and definitely not great for a large group. The sushi was fresh and delish. Pad Thai, Drunken noodles, basil fried rice were all good. The reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because their alcohol menu is limited and not updated. We tried to order 3 different bottles that were sold out. read more

3 for the Wellesley location, the other two locations may very well be mind-glowingly good. But the food/service here was not up to par, especially for the prices. Of the dishes we ordered, only two or three were vaguely memorable. Yelp, you led me wrong with this one. *shakes fist at the sky* Food: The menu is split between Thai and Japanese. We ordered the shrimp shumai as an appetizer, which was one of the better things we ordered: thin wrapper, flavorful filling. The Thai entrees were where things fell apart. I got the hot ginger dish with tofu, with a medley of veggies. Taste was all right and the tofu amount was generous but nothing stood out to me with this dish. It certainly didn't contain anything that justified the $17 price tag (not counting the side of rice, which you have to order separately, see rant below). Also tried the unagi nigiri and the fatty salmon belly, both were not bad. Everything else, including the royal broccoli, was similarly mid and had the same "brown sauce" flavor. Portions were criminally small for the price. I had to eat a snack at home afterwards (and I don't have the largest appetite in the world). Indulge me with a mini-rant. Laughing Monk charges extra for a side of rice for all the entrees that normally come with rice. Ask any self-respecting Asian person if they will eat a stir fry or anything sauce-y without rice. I don't like it when restaurants do this sort of nickel and diming. Just make the entree more expensive to build in the cost of rice. Don't even get me started on the $2 side of wasabi and pickled ginger. Their online menu, which featured a number of sushi options that made us want to go (a chirashi bowl, an Uni don) is takeout only, with no mention of it being such. We didn't find that out until we got to the restaurant. Prices on the online menu aren't updated. All in all - pretty misleading. Service: Not particularly warm or friendly. We came on a busy Saturday night, which probably explains it. Parking: I have a soft spot for downtown Wellesley because parking is super easy and abundant. They even put little green hoods over the parking meters reading "Compliments of Wellesley." How nice is that? We found a spot right behind the restaurant. Overall, I don't think I'll be back. Eating out right now is too expensive to justify mediocre food/service. read more

Laughing Monk Cafe - Hot Ginger with tofu - Sushi Bars Near Me - Wellesley, Massachusetts

Laughing Monk is delicious. Hard to get in, but take away is just as excellent! Service is quick, and the pad Thai is heavenly!

The Tom Yum Koong (spicy shrimp soup) was very good. Great proportion of coconut milk. We got attracted by the Boston location and came to this location instead when near the area. There aren't that many items in the menu compared to the Boston location. However, the food is still very good and worth a visit. Both the Thai dishes and the Japanese dishes are good. Would recommend this place. Service is fine. read more

See all

Completely unexpected visit! You must try the mushroom roll. AND The Silver Roll even if it's just for the visual - it's a pretty presentation. One of those that draws eyes & comments from other patrons! It wasn't necessarily the best roll I've ever tasted, but it was a good experience none-the-less. Per usual, my 4 year old son loved the edamame. We also ordered him a broccoli and tofu dish he enjoyed. Im not a drinker, but from the looks of things (I saw the mixologist in action), they serve those types of cocktails that are like eye-candy. Logistically, it's a very tight spot. A few table-tops and bout 3 or 4 bar seats. However, they were able to accommodate our 2adult, 1child party as walkins with a 15min wait. Not bad at all. But I would suggest making resi's (reservations). Prices aren't cheap. Specialty rolls run about $25. This might be the best sushi for our neck of the woods! read more

See all

Wellesley has many choices for Thai food. Laughing Monk is a small restaurant. About 10 tables. There are also 5 or so stools at the sushi bar. We have been many times and the food is consistently good. The curries are delicious. One of our faves is the simple egg fried rice. Simple decor, kind staff, great food! Recommend their take out too! read more

Laughing Monk Cafe - Egg Fried Rice - Sushi Bars Near Me - Wellesley, Massachusetts

See all

At great personal dining peril, I post this review (meaning: I'm hoping this review will not add to our difficulty getting a table as the food here is no "laughing" matter. ;-) Headline: One of the best Thai meals -- and meals PERIOD -- that we've had. Ever! This was our second time dining at the Wellesley location and it is small, intimate, cozy and comfortable. (additional detail in prior review.) We ordered the dishes below, and I highly recommend all! Vegetable Gyoza: these were hot, fresh, tasty, and satisfying. Nothing unusual, but very solid. Now the great stuff... Caterpillar Roll: WOW! Just outstanding. One of the single best sushi rolls/apps we can recall. This was an explosion of flavors; rich, creamy, salty, sweet, crunchy. FANTASTIC! Before we'd finished, we wanted another one. Chicken Panang Curry: Tender chicken, crispy veggies, and the sauce should be sold immediately in 50 gallon drums for filling one's bathtub. It was seriously delicious and we ordered extra rice to sop up every drop. (My wife threatened to lick her plate!) An amazing dish! Shrimp Pad Thai: we've had a lot of Pad Thai over the years. This is simply the best version that we've had (and it surpassed the prior visit's version.) It hit all the right notes -- rich taste, properly cooked shrimp, tender noodles, crunchiness from the peanuts and bean sprouts. It had an almost creamy texture. It was fresh and delicious! One small fly in the ointment. We ordered rice with the curry dish and it was a TINY serving. We asked for another as we ate (to soak up the sauce) and ultimately found we were charged $5.00 for the second bowl (the charge was $3.00 for the rice that we ordered with our dish.) I have to say two things here (note to Management.) One, the price is crazy for the tiny amount of rice that you receive and, 2) Really? You're going to charge us a different price if ordering with an entree/dish vs. ordering later in the meal without an entree/dish?? Very nickle-and-dimey, and it marred an otherwise tremendous meal. The above "Rice-gate" aside, this was truly some of the best tasting, most flavorful food that we've ever had. The chefs here are -- clearly -- not Monk-eying around. ;-) read more

See all

I don't know if this place changed management or chef of what but the food was way worse than the previous times we have been there. First of all, the order on which the food arrived was odd. We got our sushi first, then gyozas and three the drinks and at last the soup. My drink was awful, sugary fruity juice with no noticeable alcohol. The tempura in the sushi was old and chewy, the tom yum soup lacked any flavor and the rest of the sushi was mediocre at best. This used to be a place we enjoyed going but after this experience, I cannot recommend. read more

Best Thai in the area, not even close! I tried Laughing Monk for the first time last week, and went back again tonight. So far I've had the Mango Curry and Hot Ginger stir fry for my entrees, and both were excellent. I also tried some of their sushi, which was terrific as well. And for an appetizer, don't miss out on their delicious dumplings-- the vegetable and chicken gyoza are both great, as were the shumai. The service is very friendly, and the restaurant is well-decorated but small. Be aware that it tends to fill up and they don't take reservations except for omakase, so get there early or expect a wait! But the food is well worth it. I can't wait to go back and sample more of their menu! read more

See all

Stopped for lunch at the Wellesley location. It's a small place. All of the tables were full but we we're happy to sit at the bar. We ordered a variety of items including sushi, hot dishes and even dessert. The sushi was super fresh and the dishes were delicious. Would not hesitate to return and get an omakase here or wt the Boston location. read more

See all

I've eaten here a few times. The apps are very nice but many of the main dishes with noodles all taste the same. We ordered soup, a few appetizers and main dishes and asked that they be served one at a time. It was disappointing when everything was delivered to the small table at once! The veggies in many dishes often arrive quite hard, not just crunchy. read more

very delicious, good price , excellent service and you can always park at stop and shop cross the street for 90 minute free parking best deal in town read more

Laughing Monk is definitely more of an upscale Thai place. We did takeout but the inside was very nice and more formal. The portion sizes we got were small for the price we paid but everything was good. I'm used to pad see ew being just broccoli, noodles, and meat but there were some other additional things in this one like carrots and egg. They also have an omakase bar and a sushi menu. Would be interested in trying that out another time. read more

Laughing Monk Cafe - Pad See Ew, Chicken Satay, Scallion Pancake - Sushi Bars Near Me - Wellesley, Massachusetts

Maybe it was built up too much but thought it was just okay. In my opinion, the drunken noodles were too mushy and lacked flavor

Cute place for sure but I had some real problems with it. Portions are laughably small. A roti starter for $10 looks like they forgot to put the other half in. The $20 pad thai (extra $4 for beef instead of chicken) was enough for two people tops. The container is small and they didn't even fill it. It tasted good but it's hard to recommend a place that is so stingy with noodles. My deep fried madness sushi was incredibly fishy tasting so it didn't get eaten at all. Edamame criminally overcooked. A huge thing for me too is the packaging. It looks like microwave packaging- complete with packets of the sauce. That $10 tiny roti came with the tiny sauce packet of peanut sauce. Those packets just scream CHEAP and packaged to me...not something I expect from an expensive restaurant... this felt like fast food packaging. See the pictures. I ordered 4 sushi rolls, 2 orders of gyoza, chicken satay, roti, Edamame, pad thai and pineapple fried rice. Total came out to $150. Last thing .. I ordered online and the estimated time for pickup said 45 minutes. I arrived 40 minutes later and my food was waiting for me. Yay! But it quickly became clear that my food had been ready for probably 20 minutes just sitting there. Sushi was hot, food was cold. Not great. read more

See all

I loved the laughing monk cafe in Allston and decided to give the one in Wellesley a try. I ordered Philly roll thinking it would come with some fresh salmon, crème cheese and cucumber- which is my favorite combination for sushi. Then - it came with crème cheese and "smoked" salmon. Yes you didn't hear me wrong - it's "smoked" salmon in my sushi! Besides, the rolls are tiny and the proportions of rice, crème cheese, fish are off. I think the Philadelphia roll I brought from Wegman tasted better than this, and I feel so bad that I have to pay restaurant price plus tips for this. Will not come back. read more

The waitress refused to sit our party of two because only tables of four were available, and asked us to wait for 40 minutes instead. Did not appreciate this service :( read more

- food tastes amazing!! (I even started digging into the caterpillar roll prior to taking a picture). They never miss - parking is super easy - weekdays there is a lunch menu with specials and lower prices - great ambiance, light music playing and a small bar area read more

See all

I love getting takeout here. Their Thai iced tea and coffee are both refreshing. The sashimi rice bowl I got today had thick pieces of fish and I was very full after. I hope they keep adding in new items! read more

Laughing Monk Cafe - Omakase Don Dinner (NEW) - Sushi Bars Near Me - Wellesley, Massachusetts

I've always been a fan of their original Huntington Ave. location, and so coming here to try my first omakase experience was a no brainer! Everything we had was fantastic, and there was absolutely no complaints. Some highlights for us were the Japanese uni (so good that we ordered 7 orders of this a la carte), kanpachi, kinmedai, salmon belly, yellowtail belly and hot stone wagyu beef. We also got to try an appetizer they're thinking of adding to the menu - kanpachi with lemongrass and coconut cream? We thought this was pretty good and it reminded me of curry. The black sesame lychee dessert (odd at first but strangely very addicting) was also a great way to end the night. Highly recommend this location and I can't wait to try out their other new location in Allston (I believe it's thai food only)! read more

See all

We were in Wellesley today for the tulip mania festival and decided to stop by Laughing Monk for some lunch. We got the "philly roll" which come with cream cheese, smoked salmon, tobiko, sesame, the "crispy roll" which comes with Crabstick, salmon, avocado, tobiko and the "fujihama" which comes with Cooked shrimp, cucumber, avocado, cream cheese topped with baked spicy mayo sauce (contains mayo, ebi, tamago, crabstick, tobiko, sesame, hot sauce). My favorite was the Fujihama since it was delicious and full or flavor! The service pretty quick. It's a pretty small restaurant with a minimalist atmosphere. read more

See all

Quite annoying, even infuriating, that they charge $3 for a small portion of white rice, and $4 for a Coke. Portions, in general are not large, and the service is efficient but not particularly friendly. That said, the atmosphere is pleasant and the Thai food is quite good. Haven't tried the sushi. If they can fix the value issue, we would come back. read more

I think this is the best sushi I've ever had in my life, and that includes San Diego. The ambience is nice, the service is on par, and they also have cooked delicacies from my friends who don't like raw fish. Unfortunately, I've moved to Connecticut recently, but I still stop in Wellesley on the way to Cape Cod to dine at the laughing Monk!!! read more

First time at Laughing Monk. We will return!! The food was spectacular. Best I've had. Small, cozy, and fast service. I'll pay the higher prices for the quality! read more

See all

This one of the nicest Thai places around Wellesley area. Interior is upscale classy. Staff is friendly. Unfortunately they don't take reservations online or over phone. They only take reservations for dine in Omakase experience. Drinks I started with a glass of Chardonnay. It was good. Food We then ordered a couple of sushi's . They were fabulous. Veggie tempura is delectable. Highly recommend trying it. For mains I ordered Drunken noodles. They were delicious. They are flavorful, spicy, served with lots veggie. And portions size good too. I definitely recommend trying this place. But I wish online reservation was possible here. read more

Laughing Monk Cafe - Sushi Bars Near Me - Wellesley, Massachusetts

See all

Food and ambience is good. Service is sometimes overwhelmed if the 6 tables in there are full. It shouldn't be so. Also the reco we got from the server was for the most expensive sushi, but it did not deliver in taste. Their curries (I've tasted red and green) are good, and I have to pick the sushi myself next time before I can share how that is. They must work to improve service. read more

We have only had to go but food is fantastic. Enjoyed the pad Thai, sticky rice, chicken and shrimp dishes.

My family has ordered take-out several times and finally dined in recently. We were pleased. Food was excellent; service was good. It's a nice setting. read more

Curries, satay skewers, and scallion pancake were delicious. Cool ambience too with a huge screen showing an aquarium

The food here is phenomenal! Service is top-notch! The ambience is so nice! read more

Laughing Monk Cafe - Sushi Bars Near Me - Wellesley, Massachusetts

See all

Been a loyal customer for a very long time and til this day I can say there's no where else doing innovative sushi like this. The staff are amazing and give the best service. Everything they produce is beautiful and leaves you wanting to come back for more! read more

See all

We did the Omakase at Laughing Monk and it was great! We were really excited that there was a place that did Omakase near Boston! It wasn't the best Omakase I've every had, but they did a really good job. There were lots of unique and expensive cuts and unique pairings (lot's of uni - yum!). I also liked all of the presentations (one came out in a treasure chest!) They did get started a bit late, but made up for it with the quick service. The drinks were also excellent. I would definitely go back if I were in the area. Did they accommodate for dairy free, as most of the items were dairy free anyway. read more

Laughing Monk Cafe has some of the best tasting vegetarian/vegan sushi that I've had! I ordered the Veggie Tempura Roll and No Meat Roll. I liked the soy sauce seasoning on the Veggie Tempura Roll. It wasn't too salty and had a good balance of sweetness. I also enjoyed the texture of the yam tempura, and the avocado was a tasty addition, too. The No Meat Roll was a solid roll. I particularly liked the meaty texture and seasoning of the tofu! The server was also really friendly, and our food came pretty quickly, given we came near closing and there was only one other group of two. I don't think I got my money's worth considering the small portions, and I was still hungry afterwords, but it was still very tasty. Probably will only come back if I'm looking to splurge. read more

Laughing Monk Cafe - Veggie Tempura Roll and No Meat Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Wellesley, Massachusetts