The Similans

tasty fresh non greasy well spiced generous Thai in a welcoming interior.
service friendly but too rushed as we sat down at nine pm and apparently they really wanted to close at ten on Saturday.
varied drinks cocktail menu but definite way overpriced wines.
started with $ 16 appetizer platter– all very good our favorite was ribs chicken filled egg roll
mains shared roast duck special pad Thai and crispy pork belly with Chinese broccoli
pad Thai was way too spicy for me and everything else was not spicy enough (entrees ranged 12 – 16 $). A little on pricey side for Thai.
but all was very good and would come here again if in area.
wine we shared bottle of California Pinot noir which was pretty tasty but for low $ 30 s pricy to accompany Thai

The food was phenomenal! I had the combo platter with a friend and everything was cooked just right. The meats were perfectly seared, tender, and juicy. The fried foods were crunchy and fresh, not greasy or heavy. I had the friend rice and chili duck for my min course and both were delicious! The duck was tender and nicely cooked with some fat on it, but more meat than fat. Delicious flavor with the duck and rice.

Great duck! If you’re a duck fan you have to try this place, 3+ ways to have crispy duck and I tried two on this last trip. Nice ambiance to the place and reasonable prices.

This is probably one of the better thai places I’ve had around the greater boston area.
The appetizer yummy wrap was yummy. The portion is meant to be for 5 people or one person’s entrée entirely. The seafood volcano was innovative in presentation (what’s there not to like for a ball of food in aluminum foil on fire!) but the taste falls short. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, just not as good as it looked. The red curry is okay, hits the spot, tastes as expected but nothing special or fancy. If you look around the dining room, you’ll see people’s fried rice and fried noodles in the portions that are meant to be a family meal.
The tables, though old and pretty beat up (chipped, cracked, you name it) are set beautifully for a restaurant like this. However, they are so close to each other that my friend and I essentially unwillingly experienced the first date of the table next to us. The restaurant is pretty much only ¼ full but everyone is seated all in the same area. I understand that this is probably easier for service but with tables this close, I think they can afford spacing guests at every other table.
Overall, I think its okay. On a cold rainy evening, it does warm the soul a little.

This place is close to work, which is the only reason I go here. I do like it, though, because they have healthy choices on the menu and a lot of vegetarian, possibly vegan options as well. Service is usually quick and efficient (I assume they are used to Kendall Sq lunch crowds).
My favorite dishes are the curries (esp panang) but usually I get the rama garden over steamed brown rice.
I didn’t really like the vegetarian ham, it tasted too meaty for me making me wonder what’s actually in it (it looks like spam).
I also like their sister restaurant (Brown Sugar on Comm Ave).

Came here with a party of ~20.
Generally agreeable staff and order wait-​times.
Menu itself is quite extensive so do yourself a favor — go ahead and order the BBQ Seafood.
The title doesn’t necessary sell itself, but it will satisfy that craving from the gulf.
And for the price, it definitely doesn’t skimp on the proteins.

One dish to challenge them all: Deep-​Fried Soft-​Shell Crab Pad Thai.
While this is only on the dinner menu, the chefs were kind enough to cook up 2 orders when I brought my family for lunch the other day. It’s a little pricey at about $ 15 a plate, but hey, how can you say no to a delicious crab topping?
I first heard about this place from a friend who used to live nearby, and it was convenient enough to stop by for lunch when I worked in the area a few summers ago. The service is always amazing, and the décor is definitely more authentic (or maybe just much less cheesy) compared to many MANY other Thai places I’ve seen. The menu is nearly identical to Brown Sugar Café, so feel free to stop on by over there as well!

As the sister restaurant to Brown Sugar, the food is definitely comparable if not better. I thought the chicken satay appetizer was very good. Juicy, flame broiled taste. Penang curry with chicken is also yummy with an array of vegetables like peppers, carrots and bamboo shoots. Pad See Ew and Pad Thai are decent.

Aside from their food being delicious from an adult perspective, they happily accommodated my über-​picky 4 yr old. We didn’t see a dedicated kids’ menu, but they did make him some fried rice with salted fish and egg (my 4 yr old is weird). He inhaled about two thirds of it — it was a massive pile of food — and when they packed up the leftovers, they drew a little boy on the bag! He felt so special and had a full, happy tummy when we left.
Overall, it was reasonably priced with generous portions. Their noodle dishes were on point.

Average food for the price. Pad Thai was not good. Sour soup was good but overall experience is not satisfactory including the service.

Went for lunch, prices are high but its Cambridge nothings cheap, food was awesome, I hate 7 page menus though, great variety, amazing creatibity there mango brown rice dishes rocked. Only one quam I don’t say extra spicy in thai places, I say Thai spicy it was mild I mean that burn that thai food should deliver was not there, and when I told the waitress she didn’t offer to make it better, she said this is how we do it
You aren’t a 5 star with no substitutions you are a nice thai spot

This is my favorite eat-​in Thai restaurant in Cambridge! Food and service is always excellent. I love all of my Thai dishes extra spicy and they always deliver. I have had the drunken noodles, tom yum soup, and papaya salad so far and they are all very tasty. The Thai-​iced tea here is also my favorite! Great atmosphere, polite staff, and great service. Would highly recommend.

5 minutes before they closed, I stormed in begging for thai food to go. Nowhere else was open and I was haaaangry. They were so gracious and happy to make me some pad thai to go. It was done in 5 minutes. By the time I got back to my hotel, it was still piping hot… and ON POINT. This did NOT taste like pad thai that was thrown together in 5 minutes. It’s fresh, subtly sweet with a hint of fish sauce. Perfect.
If this is what they can do that quickly, I can only imagine what their food must taste like on a regular basis.

I was in Boston for work and had a terrible craving for some Thai food. Staying in Sommerville, I found this place was relatively close and had great reviews so I went for it. I ordered take-​out and was really excited to fulfill my craving, but I was sad to discover the food didn’t quite live up to the expectations that had been set by other Unilocalers.
Don’t get me wrong, the food wasn’t bad. It was pretty good, but it just wasn’t amazing. I got the papaya salad (wish they would have had a smaller than entrée size) and some red curry. I’d be willing to give it another shot sometime, but I wasn’t super impressed so I’ll likely continue the search for great Thai food elsewhere next time I am in Boston.

I believe this restaurant is run by the same owners as Brown Sugar Café in Allston/​Brighton… Which is to say you can expect perfection.
I simultaneously love and hate the Similans. I love it because I could literally eat nothing but their Pad Thai with vegetarian ham for the rest of my life and die a happy woman from raging scurvy (calm down, thats vitamin C deficiency, not a foodborne infection)
I hate the similans because it has ruined Thai food at every single OTHER thai establishment I have tried to go to. This has become my required eating for anything Thai food related. I’m still attempting to eat other things off the menu because I just cannot believe how good the pad thai with veggie ham is… And I’ve been eating here for years! Please do yourself a favor and ditch those other restaurants you swore served the best Thai food and try either the Similans or Brown Sugar Café. You’ll be hooked.

+best thai food I have had
+thai iced tea
+near my friends house
+usually empty
+regional (asian) beers
+not too dark
–overwhelming menu… number of choices is literally offensive

The Similans surprised me! In a good way of course. I work across from this restaurant and I always see many people coming into this restaurant so I thought to myself «wow, this must be a really good thai restaurant». After work one day, I decided to get a take out order (I didn’t have time to dine in because I had to study). I was surprised how big the restaurant was. It doesn’t look big from the front of the restaurant.
Anyways, I ordered pad thai, crab rangoons, fried ice cream, and a hot coffee. I was really skeptical about ordering a fried ice cream because I thought it would melt by the time I got home, but it was still frozen and the breading was still crispy!
Pad Thai
The pad thai was okay. It was dried up by the time I got home. I think I waited too long to eat it, so I don’t think it’s the restaurants fault. I am pretty sure it’s amazing if I dined in. They give you a generous amount of noodles and chicken.
Crab Rangoons
So delicious! They are in the shape of wontons and it was perfectly crispy. I love their sweet and sour sauce that they give you. I devoured it within seconds. Definitely ordering this next time I come back.
Fried Ice Cream
Holy crap! Their fried ice cream blew me away! Even in 12 degrees weather!!! I never ate fried ice cream like this before. Restaurants usually deep fry it in Sara Lee pound cake or tempura flakes, but this is different. I don’t know how to describe it. Instead of complementing it with whipped cream and/​or chocolate syrup, they drizzle it with honey. It’s the absolute perfect touch!!! So worth the money and the brain freeze. I can eat like two of these in one setting.
Hot Coffee
I know what you’re thinking… why write a review about the coffee? But this coffee comes with rock candy that you stir into it. It doesn’t make the coffee sweet. It’s still little black, but I love my coffee black so it was the perfect amount of sugar. If you like really sweet coffee, I suggest adding more sugar. It kept me awake for 5 hours (I didn’t sleep until 5:30AM).
Overall a great place and I cannot wait to try it again!

Excellent customer service. The pad thai was some of the best I ever had. Stopped in here for lunch on my trip to Boston. Chicken and shrimp was just 8.95 and also had their thai hot tea which was good.
The atmosphere is very good, with light music playing.

3.5 Stars.
This is okay Thai food. If you know Thai food not so much. But heck they deliver quickly and the food was pretty decent. Prices were okay and they offer plenty of vegetarian options.
Highlights were the pad se ew which had nice noodles and spices and vegetables. The tofu yellow curry was okay not the best seasoning but passable. The rest was rather forgettable.
If you have a hankering in Cambridge for Thai this place is okay.

The room grew dark, lights flashed, and music played as our cake was delivered to our table. Yup, they do something for birthdays here.
The food was fine. Our waters refilled a number of times. Their Thai Iced Tea $ 2.95 tasted fine, but had too much ice, so it got diluted too much half way through.
All the better to find this place — it is located right next door to Helmand, land of the lamb chops and kaddo.