ThaiBowL Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Watertown

For anyone that has read my review on another local Thai place called "Thai in Love", this review will have a familiar ring to it. For those who haven't read that review, you may feel a little out of the loop, as it were. So you know what, if you haven't...just go read it now. I'll wait.....

So anyway, being the Thai food expert that I am, I was super anxious to try this place after the grand re-opening. We had given the former place a try before it closed and were not impressed with the portions or prices. The food was great, but yeah...I had a feeling it wouldn't last long. Shortly after the re-opening, a friend and I were discussing the current Thai situation and he had mentioned that him and his wife had been here a few times and loved it. He raved about it to great lengths. So, coming from the guy who initially recommended Thai in Love to me, I had to assume that this was going to be a slam dunk. Compound that with the fact that it's about 10 minutes closer? Let's do this.

For an opening take out order, we went with a couple chef's specials (Garlic Beef and Crispy Chicken with Basil) and a couple "standard" noodle selections (Pad Thai and Drunken Noodle). Placed the order over the phone and was given a 20 minute wait. Not bad! I also liked the fact that they read the order back to me very carefully to assure accuracy.

Showed up for pick up 20 minutes later, food was warm and ready to go. I was also super impressed with the dining room and overall atmosphere of the place. I wasn't staying to eat, but once I walked in I kind of wished I was. Very contemporary and clean looking. As I was ringing out, a friend of mine who WAS dining in called me over to say hello. I asked him what his and his family thought and they all loved it. Was feeling super positive now!

Got the food home and dug in, and instantaneously could taste the awesomeness. I'm not saying it's way beyond Thai in Love, it's comparable to better depending on the dish. But as far as portions go, Thai bowl takes the medal there. I could have stopped eating and been full half way through, but I decided to play the fat guy card and power through. Spices were amazing, noodle texture on point, meats were juicy and flavorful. Couldn't ask much more as far as quality and taste go. And being the guy that always orders everything at a "5" heat level, I will say that Thai Bowl's 5 is one of the best I've had.

Went back for seconds the weekend after (which we almost never do the 2 weekend in a row double down) and again, everything was excellent. Overall, this is just another in a string of amazing Watertown culinary gems. My Thai grandmother would...

Recent update: I received my food and I had asked for mild spicy , and when I got it home it was so spicy I couldn’t even eat it. I called them, and it was pulling teeth to get it re-made. I was told they won’t give me a refund and when I told them I just wanted it made correctly they said to bring in the old one and they would make it again and then they would never exchange out any food again in the future…as if I was the one who made it wrong. being in the food industry myself, ya figure you’d want your customers to be satisfied. If my customers weren’t satisfied with the meal they could send it back and get something else or a refund. My sister ordered broccoli on her meal and didn’t get it and was charged $2 extra for something she never received and i also tried the yellow curry, it was decent however, the portions have definitely gotten way smaller, I measured the white rice I got with it and it was less than a 1/4 cup, white rice is probably the cheapest thing and they get it in bulk smh. It’s pitiful given the price..expect lunch portions but pay dinner prices, other than having any issues with food the staff are really friendly and nice. . (Original review):been coming here the the last 2 since I moved to Watertown…Flavor of food is decent although not always consistent, but what makes me upset is the portion size when you take out. I ordered a dinner sized Thai fried rice and my 4 year old ate the whole thing and was still starving !! So I went back and got another and there was literally 3-4 spoonfuls of rice in there and the rest was veggies. I was told to order extra rice , which they charge me for. I ordered for the Thai fried rice , not just a container full of sautéed veggies. Then the soup. They gave me a Ben and Jerry’s pint sized container that was only a little over half full of broth. For $8. Then I spent $16 on pad Thai with duck, and there was only THREE edible pieces of duck. The rest was bone and grizzle. So if you’re ordering take out for 2 people be prepared to spend a minimum of $45 for a portion that’s not even big enough to satisfy the appetite of a picky...

So the not so great Lucky Thai is closed and its place now is Thai BowL (capital L), a legitimate Thai restaurant in downtown Watertown.

The "BowL" signs out front had me wondering exactly what the restaurant would be, but the bottom line is that it is a full menuThai restaurant, which also serves Vietnamese Pho soup. The interior is very modern and clean. The waitress was very friendly and attentive, and the food was brought out quickly. The menu is slightly confusing because there is no separate lunch section, but it is broken into lunch and dinner prices for most of the items available.

Nowhere was it listed, but the lunch items apparently do come with a salad. The salad was fine but it had a somewhat odd heavy kind of sesame dressing. I would definitely appreciate the option to have soup over salad for the lunch special, and can only wonder what their hot and sour soup would have been like.

I ordered the Pad Thai just to get a sense of where they stand relative to other Thai restaurants. The serving I got was extremely generous, and was served hot and very fresh. It hit all the right notes as far as the peanut flavor and the fresh herbs that were included, and it was very good overall.

As far as the overall score, I would probably give it a 4.5 mostly because of the questionable salad/dressing but since they don't let you rate in half stars I'll give it a 5.

The bottom line is that this is an authentic Thai restaurant in the middle of downtown Watertown, far better than the oddity that was Lucky Thai. I look forward to going back and trying their Pho, hopefully it is as good as their...