Mahaniyom — Restaurant in Brookline

Vegetarians beware. I personally eat everything and can review from my perspective but I went with a friend who is vegetarian and he had a very different experience. My friend regularly eats Thai food and has lots of options but at Mahaniyom he was informed that there was only one thing on the menu he could eat: a tiny mushroom dish. Yes this place is tapas style, yes it is an appetizer but he finished his few bites and stared at the rest of us. I felt horrible recommending this place. On the menu itself it looks like there are various options for vegetarians but our server informed us that they are made with oyster or fish sauce in all cases and there's nothing they can do to change that. In my opinion especially in the modern era where many others are looking for a more plant-based diets, I think it's crazy that they don't really have any vegetarian options and if they are only going to offer one, don't make it tiny and extremely boring. He said the mushrooms tasted good but did not leave feeling like he had eaten a meal. I think they should offer pad Thai or At least one or two more dishes without fish sauce for those with dietary preferences / allergies.

As for my meal, I got the crab curry which was very tasty. There was very little crab meat in it what was there was shredded to the point that it was hard to telln if It was really crab. That said, the curry itself was so good I had a hard time caring one way or another. The curry was pretty thin and had no larger ingredients for texture. The dish is served with a side of vermicelli noodles bean sprouts and some greens / herbs. Adding all of that in made it feel more substantial.

Another friend got the whole fish and we agreed it was excellent, a great portion and totally worth the $35. I would ask for a little bit more sauce. Also, it ended up being fine because I love spicy food and She tolerates it but she came in with an upset stomach and so asked for significantly less spice and it was still pretty hot with LOTS of peppers on it. No regrets in eating it because it was so good but if she really had a bad spice to tolerance she would be miserable with her dish.

The crab over rice cakes was tasty but not too special and didn't feel like a cohesive dish.

Lastly, the drinks were fantastic. Very small though. I got a daiquiri with their homemade herb infused rum. It was tasty and packed with flavor. A little bit medicinal but I actually liked it. However it comes in a very small glass. The other drinks come in a bigger glass but with ice cubes filling the entire thing or one giant ice cube in a rock glass. Out of curiosity I poured the liquid into my empty water glass and it was only about quarter full for all of them. Despite this the taste was good.

Going to a tapas place You expect to pay a lot and need to eat multiple dishes. I wasn't bothered by that but did think the menu should talk about how much to expect (two chicken wings, enough Curry for 2 people to share appetizer etc) to better allow people to order accurately.

All in all, I am not ecstatic to go back but may give it another try... Just not when I have any friends who are trying to...

We went a couple years ago and loved it, so we were excited to go back again. We made a reservation since we know the place is small. We were pretty disappointed, to be honest. I’m not sure we’ll come back again. The food and drinks were just okay (more details below), the restaurant AC had a hard time keeping up with the heat and the very tight seating, and the service was fine but not anything great.

For food, we got the pomelo salad, razor clams, pig cheek, crab fried rice, fried chicken, and then their sticky rice dessert. The pomelo salad was the best - nice textures, some nice spice, delicious ingredients. It was the first dish to hit the table and we were excited to get more. But then everything else was sort of sad. The fried chicken was crispy but not really what I expect for fried chicken (was barely breaded). The razor clams were a bit gritty (but the flavor was nice). The pork cheek tasted a lot more like pork belly, and maybe that’s an unfair assumption, but it overall lacked flavor and was really chewy. The crab fried rice was really lackluster too. It needed way more seasoning and more crab. The dessert was tasty at least. The table next to us actually asked for more salt and seasoning for their food. I didn’t notice what they had, but that doesn’t seem like a great sign to me.

The cocktails were just okay. My partner and I each had two, and we didn’t even really like one drink each. We love pandan but the flavoring was so strong that it was off-putting. If they are using a pandan essence, they can use less of it. There was nothing that wowed us about the other cocktails we each had.

I don’t mind an intimate restaurant setting with really tight tables, truly, but the real candles on the table are scary when you’re trying to slide through tables to get up. And it’s not their fault the weather is gross and hot, but the restaurant felt really uncomfortable to sit in. We were all sweating.

Last, the service. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. No explanation of anything, no recommendations, no description of food when it hits the table. They did check in on us, cleared the table, made sure we had water, and didn’t let our cocktail glasses sit empty. But for what we knew we were going to spend on the meal, I wanted a little more.

Overall, I’m sad it wasn’t as good as I remembered. Maybe we ordered the wrong things. Maybe the server being more interactive and helping us build out choices better would’ve helped. Maybe they are having an off day. But for the price we pay, I don’t know I’ll give them another try and risk a...

Mahaniyom is a Thai Tapas place, well known in the Boston area located right outside of the Longwood area and in the heart of Brookline.

The staff are quite friendly in this location, seating us nearly instantly and making sure things such as drinks are taken care of, food is brought out in a timely manner, and ensuring the night was enjoyable. It is a bit crowded and loud in the place, though it could just be our seating we were in.

We got a wide range of dishes to try, such as the Khao Tang Na Tung, Salted pepper Pork Cheek with Sticky Rice, Kang Puu (Crab Curry), and the BBQ & Crispy Pork Rice, before ending with Lod Chong for dessert.

The Khao Tang Na Tung was quite good, with a nice chili coconut sauce on it. The toppings blended together nicely, though it was kind of messy to eat.

The Salted Pepper Pork Cheek was on the spicier side, with the salt and pepper packing a punch but not too overwhelming. With the Sticky rice, it was quite good and went really well with it.

The BBQ & Crispy Pork Rice wasn't too special in our opinion, as it felt very average, and almost tasted similar to Char Siu sauce and like a Siu Yuk. The dish did well to satisfy though, and came with a dipping sauce similar to what we believe is Tamarind.

The highlight of the night was the Kang Puu, The crab curry. It was very distinct, with vermicelli noodles and bean sprouts served on the side, and coconut smell. The coconut smell was a bit overwhelming, but the curry was quite good, not too spicy and not oily at all. The vermicelli went well with it, but I think that the sticky rice paired with it just as well.

We also tried the Lod Chong, which was like a pandan coconut dessert with jelly on the inside. It was a bit of a disappointment due to the size and also it didn't really taste like much, but we were already stuffed by the end of it.

Overall, a wonderful experience and definitely...