Chanpen Thai Restaurant

I pass by this location last week and I think it is close down.

Popped in here on a Friday night with a few friends to get a quick dinner. The restaurant was full, but there was no wait.
Orders were taken quickly and drinks were brought out quickly. Nothing after that was quick, but I’ll give that a pass because there were six of us.
If we’re just talking about the food, this should be a two-​star review. My pad thai was easily the worst pad thai I’ve eaten in New York. Some of my friends looked like they were enjoying their dishes, but if a Thai restaurant can’t make an edible pad thai, I’m not coming back.
If you want good Thai, try Pongsri or Qi (both pretty close by).

Because I had passed Chanpen so many times, I asked myself, why not? Which is why I decided to eat here. However, having recently eaten excellent Thai food the week before, combined with other factors, Chanpen was a disappointing experience.
The two stars are because I got the massaman curry, which is pretty hard to mess up. It was decent, though they serve all their food in these dishes that look deep but actually are not. My friend got the red curry which was alright, but the real disappointment was the dish my friend’s boyfriend got. I don’t remember what it was but he got it within five minute of ordering, and the entire plate was cold. We told them, they took it back, and brought it to him two minutes later, leading us to believe that they had simply microwaved it as the whole thing was still not heated up properly.
Other factors include how we waited for nearly twenty minutes before they took our order, they did not really refill water, but the one time they did the waitress was in such a hurry that she accidentally knocked down a glass and it went all over the table and into my friends briefcase. It was just not a great experience. I don’t think I would make any exceptions to stop by here again.

The most disgusting Thai food I’ve ever had.
The vegetarian pad thai was soupy, grey and tasted like it had been made a few days ago. My friend’s shrimp dish was so revolting he didn’t have more than two bites. The rice tasted as if it had been sitting in dirty water for a week. The vegetarian dumplings were chewy to the point where I had to bite down hard just to tear off a piece.
As I’m writing this my stomach is churning from how revolting the food was. Can’t I give it zero stars?

I very much enjoyed my meal at Chanpen.
I LOVED the peanut sauce that came on the salads. I think it was the best I have ever had.
I also very much enjoyed my yellow curry with tofu. Good flavor. The crab rangoon was good as was the service.
That said, I agree with what other reviewers had to say about the pad thai. Not only was it not as great as the menu claims, I might even rank it as somewhat subpar. Not much flavor or texture.
But everything else was good to excellent.

ABSOLUTELY HEINOUS.
I ordered the Pad See Ew with duck; the noodles were rubbery and clumped together, the duck was stringy and mostly bone, and the parts that weren’t were stringy and dry and barely edible. I kept spitting out chunks of bone and gristle. The whole thing was covered with some sort of horrible gloppy sauce that was like some overly corn-​starched knockoff of soy sauce. My friend’s rice was clumped together and cold.
DO NOT GO.

Pretty good Thai restaurant that’s on more formal side (a few points ritzier than your typical Thai place). Came here with dinner for a friend and ordered the prix fix menu — nicely cooked food that’s presented pretty well. Relatively small portions. Good but not super remarkable/​differentiated.
Good service and pretty nice, quiet, dark dinner atmosphere.

As I’m yet to find Thai that I like (enough to come back to more than once) in Hoboken, I’ve been trying out different spots in the city for my thai-​cravings.
Spice is my go-​to, but the lady and I got a Groupon for this place, so I flagged a yellow travel box after work and made my way east to west via the green square.
I have to say, this place throws down a decent pad thai (not as magical as the menu promised) and as well as an admirable yellow curry. While Spice is definitely more of something I would refer to as «trendy thai», Chanpen is a little more old school with lighting fast service and a nice, quiet (comparatively) atmosphere.
The Groupon was definitely a good deal, and I wouldn’t hesitate to come back with another one. I just don’t know that I would make my way over here with the intent of getting Thai.
Don’t break your back traveling to get here, but if you are in the area (or a fan of Groupon-​type food deals) this would be a nice meal out.

I only came here because Pure Thai was super packed. I must say, this was one of the most disappointing Thai experiences I’ve had in NYC. I got the Panang curry and it was way too watery. The dish would have been a thousand times improved if only they did not put so much water into the curry. In addition, my husband had a tummy ache right after leaving the place. Oh dear…
The only benefit of this place is the spacious real estate they have, thus one would not have to wait. However, meals here are easily forgotten or regretted. The waitress also took a really long time to get us the check. I wished a better Thai place would move into this spot (a.k.a. Pure Thai).

Ordered vegetable & tofu curry noodle soup, but didn’t get a choice of the curry. It was a large dish, so I had leftovers for later, which was great. However, I would have liked it spicier (there was a pepper next to it on the menu to indicate it was spicy… but it wasn’t). Friends ordered vegetable & tofu pad thai and chicken pad thai. The veggie one comes without fish oils used, so it really is veggie. Their portions were significantly smaller, but suitable for them.
There weren’t a whole lot of folks there, but it was a Wednesday night near 8:30.
Service wasn’t great.

This is one of the first Thai restaurants I found when I first moved here. The 4 course dinner deal is awesome if you are hungry, looking for huge quantities of food with decent quality at a reasonable price ($ 19).
Décor– nice.
Price– reasonable
Taste– delicious!
First course: shrimp dumplings. They served 4 dumplings, each on a small dish, and all these 4 dishes were placed on top of another dish. So much better than seeing your dumplings all lumped together and throw into a bowl.
Second course: tofu soup. It was that or tom yam and I can’t eat spicy… so I had no choice. It was not bad. Not too starchy.
Third course: chicken pha graw. I asked them to make it mild but it was still too spicy for me. Therefore I had some difficulty eating it.
Fourth course: vanilla ice cream. Not Haagan Daz but not bad.

This place looks ok and is more of a simpler decorated restaurant, with tiny carnations set on each table.
Let’s see-​the beef pat see ewe for $ 9.50 was ok. I felt like the beef was scrawny and a bit charred. The noodles were not cut up into pieces, they were just huge chunks I had to cut up with my fork. The leaves were also old or something… maybe they just burned my whole batch.
My friend’s chicken pat thai was just average. We also got the Thai Iced Tea/​Crème Brulee dessert but was disappointed-​it sounds great in theory but was really of a strange texture and even the sugar on top could not satisfy us enough to finish it.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this place. For a late dinner on a Saturday night, this place was not packed like some of the other Thai joints on 9^th Ave. It wasn’t completely dead either. I suppose it’s because Chanpen is a lot roomier than some of those other places that only have a dozen tables or so.
Service was really good. Reasonable prices. Dishes had good flavor. I’m not looking for a culinary experience at a place like this.
All in all, this is exactly what I want when I go to 9^th Ave. for Thai. Good food, good service, no wait.

One of my favorite Thai restaurants. The staff is so friendly and accommodating.
We walked in on a cold April day, and I was feeling a little under the weather with a runny nose.
After we ordered, the waiter came and gave me a stack on tissues, as he saw I was sniffling so much and needed to blow my nose. That’s what I call exceptional service. We never once needed to get their attention to fill our water. They always came at the perfect timing to check up on us.
The food was very good. I ordered the Prix Fixe Menu consisting of Tom Yum Soup, Spring Roll, Pad Thai and Ice Cream. Tom Yum Soup was a very yummy appetite opener — just enough flavor to make you want to drink more. Spring was good but not great. My Pad Thai is superb, made the way I like it; not too sweet not to savory. Ice cream is a no-​brainer, they even chilled the spoon which shows how much they pay attention to details.
My bf ordered the Pad Kra Proaw and his entrée was huge! He always eat that at Thai restaurants and even he was surprised how big the portion was.
We really enjoyed our food and rated this one of the top Thai places we’ve been to – We tried over 30 Thai places in the city, yes we are Thai food fanatics :)

Summary: Unilocal Coupon is nice. Service is very nice and atmosphere makes it delightful. Food is average. Too many better options nearby.
Atmosphere: Floor to ceiling windows make it an ideal location. A window seat allows you to see outside. In a «scene» like Hells Kitchen that can be a truly wonderful thing (as my friend who was checked out by a cute guy passing by can attest to).
The Service: They are just so sweet. It makes you truly love Thai culture let alone their food.
The Food: Yeah. not so much my deal. The portions are on the smaller side, thought it’s fine for NYC. The lunch specials do come with a nice appetizer. I just didn’t feel it was dazzling. The Tom Kha was bland. Tasted like milky water. The curry puffs had great ingredients and a nice flavor, but I didn’t care for the manner in which it was breaded. My Basil beef was ok, but not amazing.
If it were not that this is the most densely populated Thai food area, I would say, not a bad choice. The problem is there are just SO many better options within a very close proximity.

O boy o boy, «you’ve tried the rest now try the best» Pad Thai?! OKAY! Unfortunately, this dish did not live up to their boasting words. The shrimp dish my fiancé ordered did not have fresh shrimp and the frozen peas mixed with the rice was still frozen. One plus side is our waitress was extremely helpful and friendly, the ambiance was also desirable.

Every time I eat here or order out, im always happy.
Whenever I don’t feel like cooking or just feel lazy on the weekends this is the perfect place to go to, not only are they fast and friendly but the food is always great and cheap. i recommend the pad kee mao with duck and the pad thai with shrimp is honestly one of the best ive had around the city. This place never fails, each time the food is delicious and the staff is super friendly.

With Wondee packed to the gills and an impending thunderstorm on the horizon, my buddy and I made a quick substitution for Thai last Friday. We scuttled into Chanpen with barely a minute to spare before the heavens opened up in a revival of Noah’s Ark.
What had attracted us to Chanpen was the clean modern exterior with large windows, the tasteful Thai furniture and woodwork, and the fact that there was no wait. What surprised me about Chanpen was the very affordable prix fix menu — four dishes for $ 20. Say what? That’s a steal.
Of the spring rolls, shumai, tofu soup, tom yum, vegetarian duck, basil chicken, and dessert, nothing really stood out. Everything was okay. Nothing was flaming spicy or overly seasoned. Perhaps next time I should be more adventurous and order off the real menu…
Service was amiable and was super nice about letting us casually sit around for a long time catching up. The ambiance is nice, an odd juxtoposition of traditional and modern, but comfortable and cool.

My boyfriend and i happened upon this place while strolling for a late dinner (9:45pm on a sat) and what a find! Before we got the check he was
already asking when the next time would be that we could come back.
The service was excellent: glasses always full, dirty plates got taken away when we were finished, friendly and welcoming staff and entrees came in a timely manner. We really had not 1 complaint. We love thai and the quality of food was excellent. It gets a 5 in our book, just can’t believe it took us so long to eat here after passing it so many times!

I ate here with a couple of Thai friends who insisted to the waitress that we get the ‘real Thai version’. Apparently this roughly translates as ‘VERY HOT’. The Thais confessed that the food had set them ‘on fire’. I, the Filipino, was actually doing better until I decided to eat a Thai chili pepper. Then I was burning! These little fire bombs come in orange, red, or green and the restaurant actually has a chili bush out front (see photo) maybe as a warning of some sort. I don’t recommend eating these unless you’re a pain slut. But if you decide to indulge, dear masochist, you’ll find that after the seemingly unbearable burn you’ll eventually get the most amazing relaxing endorphin high.
The chicken green bean vermicelli salad was my favorite of the three dishes we had. It has a nice balance of flavors and textures: heat from the chili, fragrance from the red shallot, and sourness from the lemon. The pork salad was also pretty good and the lemon juice, pepper, and peppermint helped the pork shine. The chicken krapow (thai basil) had a more earthy quality and relied more on saltiness than aroma. The service was good as far as I could tell (they were all speaking Thai) and the ambience was pleasant and casual. I’ll be back.