Green Papaya — Restaurant in River Edge

This is one of those homey neighborhood restaurants which happens to focus on Thai and Malaysian cuisine. This is the kind of place where you go with a good group of close friends after work. It's like the kind of place you go after dating for a couple months and then regularly after that. It's not flashy despite the cheery colors in the decor and plates.

If restaurants are girls, this is neither the blonde bombshell nor quite the girl next door - Green Papaya is the girl from the next town over who moved there during high school from overseas and kinda made a name for herself by being good at ceramics class and 1st doubles in varsity tennis. She won't wow you right away, but once you come over, her qualities and comfortableness will win you over.

Speaking of qualities, what should stand out, but isn't flaunted out there, is the tofu here is made in-house and fresh. It's good, very good, and one of their signatures (or should be a signature, but once again, they don't flaunt it) is their small plate with hunks of deep fried tofu.

The bubble tea is good here and on-par with others in the area.

I haven't gotten much in the way of their curries, but I only hear good things about those.

The flavor profile here is very brown, whereas a traditional Japanese restaurant, for example, would have a clean, white flavor profile where individual elements are stark and simple, this place is brown - that is, a mixing of flavors, with both an earthiness and exoticness. The boundaries of the ingredients blur, but in good ways (in fact, while I was there, I would try dipping whatever I was eating into the roti canal sauce, the satay sauce, and the tom kha soup - it worked!).

So why not 5-stars? It's more about execution, and certain tweaks would...

This restaurant is a town staple. A must-go if you are passing through, are new to the area, or if you’ve always been curious whether the food here is good. It is the best Thai/Asian fusion restaurant for miles! Their menu is extensive and I’ve have almost everything on it without disappointment.

Although just about everything is mouth watering, I’ll LIST A FEW OF MY FAVORITES: Satay Chicken Appetizer (tender, juicy chicken on a skewer with a peanut sauce to dip). Roti Canai Appetizer (soft, melt in your mouth dough triangles with a potato curry dipping sauce). Tom Kha (coconut based soup w veggies & protein) Thai Basil Fried Rice THIS IS A MUST (fried rice tossed with basil leaves, veggies, egg, and protein. It is the only rice I can reheat later and still enjoy like it’s fresh. It doesn’t harden or become stale). Red Curry Soup Entree (very flavorful and amazing soup - a little spicy) Saigon Beef Entree (sizzling beef cubes tossed in a brown sauce with onions and broccoli - my favorite entree).

They also refill your tea constantly for FREE.

I’ve been coming here for a long time. This is a family owned restaurant and they take time to get to know their customers. I recently hit my head and got stitches. The owner of the restaurant came to my table and expressed such concern and care for my well-being. It was heartwarming that she cared enough to make sure I was okay. At this point we treat each other like family. Very nice people.

I love the atmosphere here and the staff is always very patient and sweet. Some of them don’t speak perfect English so make sure you treat them with the same respect...

We ordered the Malaysian Curry Noodle Soup, Crispy Tofu, Roti Canai, and Pineapple Roll.

To start, the Roti Canai is very soft and tasty itself. It is like a thin flat bread that is meant for dipping. It comes paired with light curry. This time was coconut curry. I would prefer a thicker and more flavorful sauce so it sticks. But since we ordered the Malaysian curry it made up for it as a substitute.

The crispy tofu was made fresh, living up to the name. Any vegetarian would be able to appreciate the quality. Dipped in their curry, it made it very smooth and creamy, and melts in your mouth.

The noodle soup came with a choice of meat. We had beef. It came out slightly pink which was perfect for a hot soup base entree. If pink isn't to your liking, you could easily let it sit in longer. It was soft and precooked, packed with flavor of the curry.

The Pineapple Roll, I highly recommend as a final dish. Crunchy exterior and soft sweet interior. It came off quite sweet and tasty, extremely suitable as a healthy dessert alternative.

We were sat for a table of 2 easily. Most parties are 3 to 4. Couples will be more easily accommodated.

Service was quick, and they always checked frequently to refill our tea, and the waiters cleared our plates actively.

Oh right, and their Thai Ice Tea is amazing. Their bubbles are always fresh and very sweet. That won me over alone.

Food would realistically be 4.5, with 5/5 service. Definitely one of the best options locally.

I will certainly be...