Chanpen Thai Cuisine — Restaurant in Phoenix

Update 7/27/2023 3 stars: Still as personable as ever, service is great. They opened a second location. I have been to both locations many times. I loved Chanpen. It was authentic, flavorful, and full of life. Then something happened. Food has gone downhill since I first stumbled across this place. Everything is way too sweet. Muted flavors. Spiciness is muted. I am sad because this was my go-to Thai place. I have been looking for a new Thai restaurant since the last time I came here didn't satisfy my cravings. I'll periodiclly check in to see if things improve, but quality went down, I think, when they went to a second location.

Update 03/03/2020 5 stars: I have been here so many times I have lost count. I come everytime I drive into or out of phoenix all the way from Yuma. I will never try anywhere else. The customer service is spot on. The food, everything I have tried is soo good you'll wonder where it has been all your life. Even if you order food to go and you are waiting for the order they will provide you with free dessert. Whenever they hear I am driving a long ways they offer free bottled water. It may be rough around the edges but inside the people, food, and atmosphere are a hidden gem! Thank you Chanpen!

Original Review 08/13/2019 5 stars: Dont let your eyes deceive you, listen to your stomach. Location and building are a little sketchy but once inside with food in front of you there is no question of if you should go any where else. Staff very attentive. Royal Curry, pineapple fried rice, pad thai, and ice cream were all delicious. Close to authentic thai food. Will never go anywhere else for my...

If you asked me Friday of last week for a review this would have been 5 stars.... im on vacation and was looking for some highly rated food in the area. This came up and boy oh boy were we impressed!!! So impressed that we needed to have it again before leaving town.. we ordered take out this time but got exactly the same order as last time with the exception of adding wings to our order (yummy!) And tried to order a side of Broccoli in the sauce that the Broccoli and carrots meal is cooked in.. there was definitely a lack of understanding what I meant because it was just sitting in a pool of soy sauce. Very salty.. inedible. There also were some serious inconsistencies with our meals. Got Broccoli and carrots, obviously, with chicken at a level 3 spice and pad Thai at a level 3 spice. Both absolutely perfect last time.. this time both of them were considerably spicier! Broccoli and carrots w/ chicken was still edible but my god the pad Thai we couldn't eat more than 2 bites!!! It was unbearable.. easily a level 9 spice and that's not even an option. It was like the whole spice jar fell into it. Really upsetting and should have just let the perfection live on in our heads instead of revisiting. This is what we chose for our last meal.. so that sucks. 5 stars for the first time, 1 star for this time... averaged a 3 star and only because the first time was so spectacular did I even rate it that...

Portions are smaller here than the majority of Asian cuisine restaurants we visit

The Thai tea was delicious but they do not offer boba here

Crap puffs were overcooked very dry and no flavor, a disappointment

The Spicy garlic medium was delicious but barely spicy, we will try it hot next time

Shrimp in the shrimp fried rice was delicious and already de-tailed I like Thai Rama's rice better, here the shrimp fried rice, egg pieces were really salty, it was over powering in my bites

The Pad thai noodles and veggies were delicious and good the chicken was flavorful but they meat was a tiny bit dry like chicken breast

They gave us a free fried banana and coconut ice cream, but it was bland and mushy, the fbi at Thai Rama is 1000 times better Here it doesn't taste like coconut ice cream, maybe vanilla... and we think they used the tiny green bananas because here they weren't sweet, just mush in a fried ball

The staff here is amazing and they have a constant flow of customers, their more similar to like a little dingy looking food truck, with delicious food. We'll be back to try more, as overall our...