Laughing Monk Cafe — Restaurant in Boston

My cousin recommended this place while I was in town. I thought why not, I'll save this restaurant for my last day here. I came here right at 11 with my girlfriends, it was lunch time. I didn't realize that they did thai by day and Sushi by night. Once we sat, my friends and I were a little upset. We ended up asking our server to see if they can accommodate since this will be our last day. They were extremely nice and was able to bring us the dinner menu with many recommendations. We basically chose everything off of the chef special. the only downside was they do not use white sushi rice, they use Brown sushi rice. This was just texturally wrong for me. I felt that it took away from the flavors too. We ordered the following:

Toro Salmon Tom yum curry chicken Dragon seed Mermaid Torched hamachi Mackerel Smoked salmon Lychee and Sesame mousse Larb tuna

The Toro was marbled deliciously I definitely eat with my eyes. Nice and soft when you chew it. 5/5

The salmon was good. I think it didn't taste as fresh as I imagined it. I did have higher expectations for this type of sashimi, but it wasn't bad. 4/5

The Tom yum curry chicken soup was so flavorful. It reminded me of a sweet and sour Vietnamese soup combined with our Vietnamese Curry dish. It definitely packs a punch with the tanginess and the chicken was well done. So much flavor in one bowl. 5/5

Dragon seed had truffle and an interesting berry in it. That one bite had me dazed. the only thing is, all of these interesting flavors took away from the fresh fish itself. Although it did that, I've never had so much interesting textures play as my taste buds started dancing! It was very interesting and well worth it! 5/5

The mermaid was very cute! It had these man-made fish egg looking balls on top. These balls had a citrus punch. They were colored gold and the sushi looked like a mermaid tail. It was a shrimp on top the brown rice and again, it was very good! This was probably my favorite out of all. 5/5

The torch how had a nice chard flavor. It was kind of the texture of cooked scallops. It had way too much rice and that took away from most of the flavor. I learned that now. Don't take that full bite. 4/5

The mackerel sushi had three different types of sauces. Thai chili, mango, Olive. There was so much going on, but again, I felt like the chef knew how to play around with these flavors because they were great with this fish. Normally mackerel is supposed to be extremely fishy, but with all of those flavors it kind of takes that away. 5/5

The smoke salmon was probably my least. It was beautifully presented in a bowl above and smoke inside, but I think there was just too much smoke. Overwhelming. 2/5

The Larb tuna combined with so many things. Kind of like how Ceviche would be but minced. I actually really like this one. Again, too much rice but I learned from the last time. 5/5

The only thing that I do not like about the sushi was the amount of rice they put. The seaweed wasn't too much because it was presented like a fence. Many holes and you can see what all is in your piece.

The sesame and lychee mousse was good. I think next time I want to try that coconut dessert but we did not have enough time.

We had such a great time here as everyone was extremely sweet. I wish that there was another sushi chef because we waited about 10 minutes per order. Since we ordered so much, we were here for almost an hour and a half. Aside from that, you are going to get Instagram worthy sushi along with delicious bites. A place to see and try, check out the...

I would recommend this place if you're looking for higher quality food of what they have on the menu, but I'm not sure if it would be recommended because they have a special item. I'd also like to note that this place is $10-20 because they have dishes like the Thai noodles that can fill you up, but can also get expensive if you decide to add other dishes.

When you enter you'll see another door and a window. The window is for pick up and the door is to enter for dining in. It says don't enter, but unless it's packed it seems like it's okay to just walk in.

For my dine-in I ordered the crab rangoon, chicken drunken noodle, and 2 orders of 2 piece amaebi nigiri.

I received my crab rangoon about 5 minutes after ordering. The shell had a nice crunch! Thickness of it and temperature of the filling is warm which made it easy to bite into. The filling also is seasoned well, plus has a nice cheesy pull and creaminess when I bit into it. The shreds of crab is sizable and gives the filling a nice texture as well. The size and the shape of the rangoon allows for a full and more filling than something like Panda's, which I appreciate. The only negative note I'd like to mention is that the dish with the sauce isn't big enough for the rangoon to be dipped in, but I appreciate that they have the small spoon for the sauce to be scooped for people to pour.

The chicken drunken noodle came out right as I finished the app. All the veggies and the noodle were cooked well and had the sauce incorporated very well. The basil was fresh and added generously enough to give the dish a nice flavor! Chicken is a little on the drier side but still absorbed the sauce flavor very well. The flavor overall was strong and well seasoned, though it could be a little salty for some.

The amaebi had a nice sweetness and 말랑말랑 texture! The first order I had, the wasabi taste was too overwhelming as someone who is sensitive to it. The rice was a good amount but typical slightly vinegar'ed flavor. The amaebi alone could give a little 텁텁함, and the topped roe was helping to reduce that but did add a bit more fishiness as a result, but this is where the wasabi would balance it out.

The server that helped me today is superb. The server let me know that the drunken noodle could be spicy and asked if I was okay with that. They also checked in to make sure everything was okay, plus fill my water when they noticed it half empty. I also appreciated that they remembered that I didn't want my water refilled, but also asked me several times whether I was okay on the water in case I might want some. They also took the time to follow up with the chef to ask where my order is. Also something that I didn't realize is that the staff in the front isn't a server so I had to wait for the waitress to come take my 2nd order. They also apologized that I received my...

I have marked this place for years as “want-to-go” as I like their newer branch in Allston. I’m glad that I finally checked it off my bucket list, but I’m not sure about coming here again.

To put it nicely, this is a good place for rich and casual student couples to share some small bites, snap some food pørn for Instagram, get tipsy together, and still have a flat stomach afterwards for aerobic “businesses.”

For working adults funding their life with paychecks and conscious of their spending during rampant inflation, this place’s value doesn’t offer an attractive ROI (return on investment) for either practical or vanity reasons.

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Everything scores fair, and I enclosed more detailed reviews for each aspect below. My key complaint is their price.

The bill for a heterosexual couple without drinks came up just under $100 before tips. We ordered three entrees—two sushi rolls ($22+$25) and later added a $20 pad see ewe (stirred fried wide noodles) because the rolls still left us hungry. We each had a $9 watery soup that tastes like diluted paste, and I had a $6 garden salad that fits in a bowl. With tax, these add up to about $98.

If the serving size was bigger for the entrees, or the quality of the appetizers was better, I would have agreed with the prices, but sadly neither was the case.

This is not to say I don’t want to spend money dining out. In fact I probably frequent restaurants way too often than I should. If I were to set their price based on other restaurants that I like returning to in Boston, this owner should slash 15% off the current price to remain attractive in the market, if everything else stays the same.

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The food is decent. The Japanese dishes are the best a non-Japanese can do, but their stirred fried Thai dish is truly the specialty. Not sure about the Tom Yum soup though, which tastes like paste stirred with hot water and then added in some sliced mushrooms and cooked meat.

The service is fair, not the most attentive initially, but after you started asking for napkin, water refills, and so forth, the service improved. Regardless, the attitude is always good and smiley.

As for the atmosphere, they are going for a romantic tavern vibe good for dating, but things turned out to be more like a dim semi-casual restaurant. There are some nice dishwares but...