Papaya Kantstraße — Restaurant in Berlin

So I booked a table for 3, but we ended up in the wrong Papaya :) did you know that there are two Papayas right next to each other? I did not. But when we went in, I directly said that we have booked a table for 3 people. The girl did not say anything and sat us down at the first small table at the door, when there are multiple big tables inside that might be better for 3 people, without 'Reserved' sign on them.I asked to change table, so we did. But then I got very confused with their menu after I sat down, because it did not look the same as what I saw online. After ordering I realised that there is actually another Papaya next door and I booked the table actually next door and not here... The waiter said, this one right here is not on google and people can not book a table here, it is more streetfood style.. but WHY did the girl not say anything when I told her that I have booked a table at the very beginning?? Instead she totally ignored me, sat us down, which led me think that we were at the right place.... this ruined my evening honestly. The food is also okayish average Thai food, nothing special. The Meatballs skewer that we ordered, was with the beef meatball that I literally have in my freezer... the frozen beef meatball.. so not recommended. it was also much more expensive than I expected for 'Steetfood' style, it was around 30€ per person in the end for us and we only ordered one beer one cola zero with the meal. So unfortunately I do not recommend this place at all, I can't say about the food next door, because we were not...

Updated in July, 2023 -

The food and service at Papaya remains a good standard, but it is unbelievable and highly inconvenient to find that this restaurant does not, in 2023, take any form of card!

There are small gelato shops, tiny imbisses and a plethora of other venues with a smaller daily turnover that accept cards, so there is no reason not to accept cards. This is a huge disadvantage for tourists who have digital Euros and do not want to pay fees for withdrawing cash from overseas.

You must fix this issue.

During the past two summers, my wife and I have frequented Papaya on many, many, many occasions, and we have always found the food of a very high quality and as 'authentic' as one would find in Thailand.

The restaurant is full of Thais who live in Berlin, and this is always a good indication of how the food is, after all, Thais and food go together like Brits and complaining :)

Despite always being busy, the food arrives in pretty swift fashion, although sometimes you can be left waiting a little too long for one dish, which is sometimes frustrating, but don't let that put you off. The portion size, quality, consistency and price more than make up for this and you will always leave the restaurant with a smile on your face.

There are too many dishes to recommend, so it's up to you to find what you want and sit back and enjoy.

There are two Papaya restaurants in Berlin, so don't confuse this with the other Papaya on Krossener...

Ordered:

papaya salad: 3 stars. papaya and dressing were authentic except that the shrimp, as other reviewers pointed out, were hard as rock and not crispy,as they should be

green curry with duck: 2 stars, curry was watery and soupy. It was thin and lacked the coconut cream flavor like I’ve experienced in many authentic Thai places all over the world. It was easy for me to taste that Canned bamboo shoots were used rather than fresh and they may have been old as the entire dish had an odor of smelly feet.

fried duck rice plate: excellent 4 stars. Duck was crispy and a decent sized portion was served. Sauce was delicious but not authentic thai

sticky rice with mango: 3 stars; mango was sour and underripe, unlike the serving provided to the neighboring table which had a dark orange mango (I only ordered it because I saw their Dish and expected ours to be a similar quality).

Service: 1 star. We moved a total of three times since we arrived at the restaurant. We called in advance and asked in German if we could make a reservation and they said they do not take reservations. When we arrived, they sat at a table and told us that we would have to finish in an hour because they had a new reservation. Within five minutes, they asked us to move to a second table. When we finished our meal at the second table, (which had no time limit) they asked us to move to a third table for us to finish...