Kala Thai Cookery is a made-to-order Thai restaurant, located in downtown Boston near the Haymarket orange line stop and one block away from the Boston Public Market and Boston City Hall. Some of the popular items on its menu include short rib curry, kee mao, dumplings, and corn fritters.
Kala Thai Cookery
Overall Rating: ★★★★ out of 5 stars
Address: 151 Hanover Street, Boston, MA 02109
Neighborhood: Downtown
Perfect For: Weekday lunch takeout or casual lunch for two people
Hours: Mon 11:30am – 9pm, Tue closed, Wed – Sat 11:30am – 9pm, Sun 12pm – 9pm
Reservations: Available
Parking: Street, Haymarket Garage
Links: Website, Online Ordering
Cost: $20 per person (food only)
I arrived on a weekday before noon for lunch, with no reservation. I was able to secure a table despite interior seating being a bit limited. I counted about seven 2-person tables plus five bar seats. Almost all tables were taken by the time I left. Service is average and as expected during busy lunch hours; the wait time for my dishes to arrive was longer than I expected, likely due to the fact that everything is made to order.
I ordered a mango salad, which came with long strips of fresh mango and red onion, with some cilantro, scallions, cashews, and chili flakes mixed in. I enjoyed the simultaneous sweet, sour, and spicy flavors. The only downside is that I generally dislike julienne-cut food because long thin strips are more annoying to eat and splatter-prone than something cut into small cubes.
I also ordered a kee mao with chicken, which includes wide rice noodles that are stir-fried with green beans, carrots, bell peppers, basil, and a garlic chili paste. I thought that the noodles were excellently cooked to the right texture, and the sauce was flavorful and moderately spicy. I would have liked to see smaller and thinner chunks of chicken, which would have allowed them to be cooked to a more tender finish and also easier to eat when bite-sized.
Overall, I think that Kala Thai Cookery is an excellent place for lunch takeout. I probably wouldn’t dine-in again, as the tables are very close together and the interior is a bit cramped, with customers and servers bustling about. I also wouldn’t recommend coming here for a private or quiet conversation.
I would be interested in returning to this place a second time if I were in the area. The kee mao was a bit spicer than I usually enjoy, so I’d love to try out their milder offerings, such as corn fritters, pad see ew, roasted duck breast, and short rib curry.
