Zen Thai Cafe

Shan (Shan The Leo) 6 months ago

10/10 everything was SO GOOD! I highly recommend the beef drunken noodles. Don’t underestimate it by color, the flavor is there trust me! The panang curry was good as well along with the potstickers. I definitely suggest going for happy hour during the week which starts at 3 p.m. The only thing I ordered that I wouldn’t want again is the Thai Tea Long Island but I think that’s a personal preference thing! Service was great. I live in Atlanta, but will definitely be making a pit stop every time I’m in PHX.

Pranjali Sharma 8 months ago

3.5 stars. We came here as a group of 7 and got seated quickly. The restaurant has a nice ambiance with some Thai/Buddha accents. Service is slow so you have to be prepared for a wait. We were here for lunch but they have some interesting cocktails. One of our friends tried the coffee martini and liked it. We ordered the massaman curry, red curry, pad thai, drunken noodles and the shrimp tempura. The dishes were all good flavor wise. On a heat scale, they were not at all spicy. My brother and I love spicy food. We ordered their Thai hot level, which is one step below their hottest (double Thai hot) level. The Thai hot was about 7/10. We could have easily managed the double hot. Among our friends, the ones who ordered medium spice felt that they would have managed the higher levels of spice. So, keep that in mind when you order food here. The food is much milder than other Thai restaurants. Pricing wise, they are on par with the area. We were there on a weekend so we paid a little more. Their weekday lunch prices are cheaper.

Jessi 7 months ago

I had such an amazing experience at Zen Restaurant! The food was so bomb — every single dish had incredible flavor and came out perfectly fresh. Our waiter was super attentive, friendly, and made sure we had everything we needed the whole time. The service truly made the meal even better.

Elisabeth Bik 4 months ago

Great food, but our order was messed up. This restaurant is right opposite of the back entrance of the Renaissance Hotel, so very convenient if you stay there. We ordered satay chicken, Pad See Ew with BBQ pork, and Duck Curry with brown rice. The satay came very fast and was great. But our drinks did not come. Then the curry was brought to our table with two bowls of white rice, and a plate with BBQ pork but no Pad See Ew. So the wrong main dish and the wrong type of rice were served, and our drinks were forgotten. The restaurant did quickly fix this and brought the right rice and our drinks, and later the Pad See Ew, but no plates and no serving spoons. They fixed those things as well after we asked, but at that time we were a bit annoyed about the service. The food was good though. Maybe we caught them on a bad night.

Bradley Bormuth 2 months ago

I stopped by Zen Thai Cafe in downtown Phoenix for lunch and tried the Panang Curry with chicken. The curry base itself was the standout—it was incredibly well-balanced, thick, and noticeably richer than your average Panang. If you love a strong, nutty profile, this is definitely the spot for you. The great thing here is that you can choose your own spice level, which they nailed. My only gripe was the protein; the chicken breast was thinly sliced but unfortunately a bit dry and overcooked. However, the depth of flavor in that sauce almost made up for it!