Reviews

What Our Fans Are Saying About Us

Here are just a few reviews that we've found online:

Robert Bieselin from The NJ Record's Second Helpings Blog
If you checked out Jeff Page's feature on Green Papaya, then you already know that the small spot in River Edge seems almost too good to be true. If you've actually eaten there yourself in the last three months, then you know it is... even the pineapple fried rice, which Mr. Page thought "bland." With all due respect to Jeff (who could easily write and eat circles around me), I had the dish twice in the last two weeks and "bland" was the last word that came to mind.
How can something with pineapple, raisins and spot-on seasoning ever be bland? Throw in cashews and the restaurant's wonderful homemade tofu and, in my opinion, it is indeed "something to get excited about."
(Also worth getting excited over, as Jeff agreed, is the service, the atmosphere and the remainder of the menu (especially the Thai basil tofu, pad Thai and red curry.)
I'll tell ya what - go there, try the pineapple fried rice and if you don't like it, stop by The Record with your receipt and I'll buy you dessert.
Seriously -- Ice cream sandwiches on me!

MiouMiou from Trip Advisor:
My daughter took me to lunch here on my recent visit with her. She and her husband eat here at least once a week, so she could not wait for me to try it. The menu is not large, but every single thing that came out of the kitchen looked wonderful and smelled delicious. Since the appetizers looked so intriguing, we ordered three of them. We started with the roti canai, which is a Malaysian pancake, fried, and served with a curry chicken sauce. This was my least favorite of the appetizers, it is basically a large piece of fried roti bread, though the curry chicken dipping sauce was tasty. Our next appetizer was the homemade crispy tofu, cubes of homemade tofu (which itself is an impressive feat) fried and served with a special sauce. This was my favorite appetizer. The tofu was golden yellow and creamy and delicious, even fried. Our third appetizer, which my daughter swears by, was the pineapple roll. It is a spring roll made with a creamy pineapple filling. It was interesting, well made, but I guess I am just too used to a "regular" spring roll.
I had the Sambal style fish for my main course. The fish was catfish, perfectly cooked, served with crisply cooked vegetables and fried rice. At $7.00, the meal was a bargain. My daughter had her favorite, the Malaysian Curry Noodle soup, which she said she always gets. It is a whole bowl of fresh egg noodles with a coconut curry broth and onions and bean sprouts, and her chosen addition of chicken. Again, for $7.00, this was such a large meal she ended up taking half of it back home.
The owners are present in the restaurant, walking around making sure everything is okay, that your tea is constantly filled, and generally just making you feel welcome. I enjoyed this restaurant and would love to come back again to try some other interesting item on their menu.

Calvin Y. from Yelp:
Soooo Good...I love the atmosphere, it's homey, the local family owned/run restaurant serving Thai fusion and bubble tea too. The prices range from the $9 dinner entrees to the $15 house favorites, all dishes served with either white or brown rice. Even though my fiancee and I live about 25 minutes away by car, we continue to visit this restaurant especially for the Sizzling Tofu, Coconut Shrimp, and Sambal Beef dish. And the pineapple spring rolls are a nice treat as an appetizer or dessert. It's true that Green Papaya may not be the most authentic Thai restaurant, but you leave feeling happy because the staff was attentive and friendly, and full but not sick from a greasy meal. We have visited almost once a month now and each time it's a crowded restaurant. Surely it's just not us who are excited and happy that there's a restaurant like Green Papaya around. And it's a few minutes drive from Garden State Plaza.

KTB from Google Reviews:
I have eaten here a few times and the food is great. It is a family run business and the staff is very friendly and attentive. My favorites are the Thai Basil Fried Rice (I get it with tofu and it's SUPER fresh and tasty--not oily like typical fried rice), Tom Yum soup, Sizzling Tofu. They have a large selection of teas, both hot and cold and I'm still trying to make my way through the flavors but so far they all taste great. It's a comfortable dining area and there is always enough parking even when they are very busy. They also deliver in the area and the takeout is quick when you call ahead. Don't forget to BYOB. Green Papaya is great, affordable food.

Readyben from Yahoo! Local:
Excellent food and a pretty good deal for your dollars! This place opened about 9 months ago and I've been driving past it wondering what it was about. Not exactly an upscale place, but pretty nice nonetheless. The food could be served in a fancier place that charges 2 or 3 times as much. The presentations are very impressive - pretty food with lots of color in elaborate asian dishware! ... Like food that's pretty spicy? Pick the green curry. A delicious blend of chopped vegetables with a you-get-to-pick addition, e.g. chicken, tofu, etc. This is a lovingly created and very well worked out sauce. Spicy, yes, but about right for me! Brown or white rice accompany it. I've got to mention the tofu. I'm not a big tofu fan, but this tofu was unlike any I've ever had - a thin crispy shell (from the way they cook it) around a savory creamy interior. You gotta try it!

alanz from eG Forums:
I was delighted on a couple of levels. First the food... very fresh ingredients, prepared with care. The service was very attentive.
Only as we were preparing to leave did I talk to one of the owners, and said that she looked familiar. It turns out that Mary (and her sister) were the owners of China Tea House, and own the building. I'm VERY happy to have this place so close to home, and very happy that they decided to come out of retirement.

purebodhisattva from Chowhound:
i LOVED the green papaya! i went on a casual double date with my hubby, cousin and her bf last friday night. i'm really glad that there were four of us because we got to try lots of different things and the food was amazing! ...i'm looking forward to going back and highly recommend it! the staff is really friendly. i think it's a family restaurant and like the whole family works there! the owner was really sweet and came to chat with us, which is a nice personal touch that you don't see a lot anymore.

Plus check out our review from the NJ Record - Eating Out on $50: Green Papaya in River Edge