Crystal's Kitchen — Restaurant in West Bridgewater

Let me start by saying, I don’t know how this place hasn’t been on Phantom Gourmet or DDD yet. In a way I’m glad because this hidden gem is a true treasure. We were driving past Brockton and wanted to stop somewhere for lunch. Amongst the many lists of places to eat on google I stumbled on to Crystals kitchen. Reviews were all great, after a quick glimpse at the menu, we decided to give it a go. A quick detour off Rt24 we pulled up to a quaint plaza where Crystals is located. The immense menu is full of original fusions ranging from authentic Thai, original takes on classics and fresh made to order sushi. We were starving from a 40 min drive to our original destination. So we ordered the raves about “crazy Roll. OMG! This thing is massive. Their fusion of classic nim chow fresh Thai roll, dipped into tempura batter and flash fried. These beasts were the size of burritos and you get 3 cut into half. The super freshness you get from Thai rolls( fresh mint, vermicelli , shrimp, basil ect) was extremely refreshing while encased imma super crispy, light crunch on outside. These are a meal on there own. Yes we knew when these came to the table we were in trouble with over ordering. In the end it was great to have some of our entrees as left overs for dinner😜. I had also ordered the Tom yum soup app size with chicken. And another instant hit! Jam packed with chicken, veg and the broth. For the love Thai!!!! The broth! Now for our entrees. I got the drunkin noodles extra spicy. It was loaded with meat, vegetables and noodles. The flavor was intoxicating. And spicy was perfect for me. Being a chili head ,I absolutely love spicy and flavorful that food. My wife got the penang curry. She likes spicy but not to the level I do. Hers was labeled at 1 but it was at my level of spice. The flavors were superb. Slight nuances of lime, basil and other exotic spices perfectly blended with coconut milk with a kick at the back of your palette. I got a Thai iced tea as well. Here’s the kicker, Everything we ate and took home came to $44. That’s it!!! All in all, this place is amazing. We were fans of another local that place but after today. This will be our replacement. I can’t state enough that this place is “ A PLACE WORTH DRIVING TO” I’d drive over two hours for the quality of food and friendliness of the white stuff anytime. This being a family owned family ran establishment makes me want to support...

Honestly, it’s a hit or miss. I’ve been going to Crystal’s since the first OG staff back in 2015. That team was always courteous and nice with being able to ask for recommendations when trying new things off the menu, they would be personable, and ask how you are or how your day was going. This new staff, while they are respectful, are on their phones when not handling customers and it seems pretty unhygienic when also handling food. That disconnect makes them seem unfriendly and care more about themselves then making customers feel like they are at Crystal’s Kitchen.

The seating can be pretty difficult if a two party takes a table that seats four. While, the staff reserves two tables to eat on, do paperwork, and handle budget and inventory. No hate at all, I just feel they could maximize that space for guests to sit at like in previous years.

Today, I went and ordered the same items I always order which are crab rangoons, caterpillar roll, and pad thai w/ chicken tonkatsu on top and a fried egg. The crab rangoon was perfect. However, the caterpillar roll tasted not fresh at all. The fried egg was a bit undercooked and cold in the center yet piping hot on the outside. The pad thai was supposed to be a level two spicy upon placing my order. That was not the case. It was bland and lacked any spice at all. I had asked the waitress if there was any spice added to this and she confirmed there was but I had told her it was not spicy at all and lacked flavor. She offered to bring me a chili paste to add to my dish but I declined. I went last Sunday and the dish was superb with the level of spice I had expected. I asked the waitress if there were different cooks and she stated it’s always the same cooks six days a week.

I’m a bit disappointed as the reason I come here is because I know the food is always fresh, served well, and a memory of my teen years. Today was not the case, unfortunately. I hope each time I go it’s as good as when I order on days the...

When you live in NYC, you get spoiled for all the food options that this wonderful city provides. You really feel it when you go out of the town, to more suburban area. When we were traveling through Massachusetts a couple of months ago, we were looking for Thai food. After some searches, we found this restaurant that came with high rating. Now, it says “Malaysian, Thai and Japanese Cuisine” which usually is not a good sign to me. When they are not specialized in one type of cuisine, then that means they are not really authentic. But hey, why not give them a try, maybe I get a pleasant surprise.

The inside was a good space and bright with natural light coming in from large windows. We arrived shortly after they opened, so it was empty. It did get a bit crowded within 30 min or so, seems like it is a popular place among the locals.

We ordered Drunken Noodle (Pad Kee Mao) and Thai Dirty Fried Brown Rice. After having a real authentic Thai food at awesome restaurant in NYC, it is not easy to go back to those typical American-Thai food…just brown noodle or rice dish. They are good though, comforting and I liked the spiciness.

We added one dessert to share, Homemade Eggnog Bread Pudding. The eggnog flavor was a seasonal special. It was a bit smaller than I expected, since bread pudding is usually a bigger sized dessert. It had mountain of whipped cream and caramel rum sauce and cinnamon on top.

The staffs were really nice, even though they have thick accent and we had a very slight problem communicating, but they were polite and helpful. If you like those typical, more Americanized version of Thai food, they do offer generous amount of those at good, affordable price. Read my full review of this restaurant and food on my food blog,...