Boda

I always walked by this restaurant and never paid my attention to it until I meet my former at this restaurant. She is a regular here. Beef penaeng is AWESOME! Mushroom salad is also very delicious with spicy, sweet and salty flavor altogether. It's a bit pricey and crowded in the evenings as it's a popular restaurant. Will come back again and try something different.

Boda! On a weekend trip up to Maine we stumbled upon this place…. Well we originally had added our name to a wait list at a highly reviewed restaurant across the street and told we had an hour plus wait… and what do you do while you wait.. well you sit at the bar and start enjoying your evening with drinks however, this place didn’t have a bar to sit at.. lost opportunity and missed out on extra $… Nonetheless, we venture across the street to Boda and opt to sit at the bar… because that was the whole point not to wait to be seated at yet another restaurant… we order 2 apps and 2 drinks while we wait… and OMG both apps were good but the mussels! We’re exceptional and the bartender Max gave us a tip on how he prefers to eat them… take the time to remove them all from their shell add the side of sticky rice it comes with to the pot and well, enjoy! It was soo good! We talked about just sitting there and continuing to enjoy the food but because it was our last night we decided to take advantage of being in Portland and keep our next reservation. We left when the other restaurant said our table was ready, put our hoods and hats on walked in through the rain across the street and was seated.. we were underwhelmed by the menu and the options… before we ordered anything put our coats back on said thank you and walked back to Boda for a proper dinner! Back at Boda we were welcomed back and seated within 10mins..We tried the wings (another great app) i had more mussels and my BF tired a crab noodle dish which he said was really good as well! Such a great find for us and really good food!

Good food and fresh ingredients but could definitely have more developed flavors. The duck spring rolls were great ! Good service. Very noisy.

Not a big Thai food guy, but man this noodle dish was AMAZING! Will definitely be back. Don’t forget your mango sticky rice!

Cannot recommend this place enough. Just the right amount of creative Thai / avant-garde Asian and cozy Maine atmosphere. Do come for the texture and spice. Do not come here with a full stomach. Do order the special. Do not order your usual Thai dish. Staff rocks and the location is perfect. Saddle up to the bar with a book and dumplings. I did and turned out okay.

We were so exceptionally pleased with our dinner last night! We have come to Boda before, but last night was phenomenal. The special menu shrimp was the best shrimp I have ever had! I even recommended it to the table next to me when they asked what we were eating. Sticky rice balls are always good, but a bit on the salty side so buyer beware. We split a salad with level two spice and added vermicelli, as well as the tofu pad Thai. I love the omelet presentation and thin noodles that’s used for the pad Thai here. Service was on the slower side but the food came out so fast that it made up for it. Thank you, we will be back soon!

Celebrating our anniversary 🎉❤️ It was a wonderful experience from start to finish. We shared starters duck spring rolls and chicken curry puffs. Then we shared skewers of shrimp, beef, shitake, and crispy garlicky rice cake, followed by decadent tofu red curry. I had no room for dessert. So, I got my mango sticky rice to go. One of my favorite Thai restaurants ❤️🙏

Boda has always been a reliably good take out place for me, and for whatever reason in all this time I’d never dined in! We decided to change that and went in the other day. It was late enough so their had their late night menu and a smaller crowd. Their drunken noodle is good as ever. And for dessert we tried the coconut custard thing instead of the usual thai tea cheesecake..I now have another favorite dessert in town!

Amazing! Some of the best Thai food I've ever had! We stumbled upon this little cozy Thai restaurant and we were so grateful they let us sit down as it was almost closing time. The service, food and atmosphere was awesome!

Great food, friendly service, accommodating to vegetarians, and a nice restaurant atmosphere. What's more to like? It's a tad off the beaten path, just a little outside the main area of the city, but worth the visit!

I'm not usually a fan of fusion type places, but I loved this restaurant! We had a big group and tried a ton of stuff, including a bunch of appetizers and entrées. All of the skewers were delicious, especially the bacon-wrapped dates! For the entrées, all of the curry dishes were phenomenal. The service at the restaurant was great and they were able to accommodate for a gluten allergy. For a Thai place, this was on the nicer side, with a decent ambiance. I would totally come back for another big group dinner!

So we finally ate at Boda. We had a 30 minute wait but was well the wait. Service is impeccable. We started with Beef skewers- good flavor but a little chewy. The meat was definitely not velveted. The chicken dumplings had no flavor, The sticky rice was awesome as was the box choy. It was nice to have that vegetable crunch. We ordered the pad thai wrapped in a crepe like omelet, it was very good. The drunken noodles were also a good choice. For dessert the girls shared the cheesecake - they raved how good it was. For me I couldn't eat another bite of anything. So to sum it up I enjoyed Boda but I left without feeling like WOW that was incredible. I must say the place was hopping busy on a Sunday night. Overall Boda keeps packing people in day after day, year after year. 11-11-2024 One day later: Honestly my leftovers tasted better cold than when it was served at the restaurant. Go figure- my taste buds are exploding right now

My daughter and I were in Portland for the evening and we stopped in at Pai Men Miyake. The wait was an hour so we decided to try Boda. It was amazing! What a lucky find!!! Innovative menu with a mix of truly distinct dishes in a modern Thai style with other really traditional dishes! We had the chicken dumplings, roasted quail eggs, drunken noodles, and pad Thai. Each dish was excellent! Great spot!

10/10!!!! Best food we had in Portland this week. Cozy intimate thai restaurant- gather with friends & order lots of food to share. We loved everything we ordered, but here's the highlights: 1) mussels in a curry broth with sticky rice. Mussels were plump and fresh and the broth I wanted to drink it! So many layers of flavor without being spicy. 2) quail eggs- cute presentation, you can decide how well done you would like them. Very tasty 3) drunken noodles with tofu- tons of fresh veggies & nicely sauced Wait staff was great! Great value for such tasty comfort food. Loved every bite

Good food. Cozy Restaurant. Waiters are super kind. I got the shrimp skewer, chicken skewers and the pad Thai noodles. I enjoyed all. Definitely recommend.

TLDR: phenomenal Thai food Some of the best Thai food I've ever had. Food has thaf "it" factor. Loved my Paloma as well. Inside is lively with some bar seating as well.

Definitely overhyped.. it smelled great but the flavors did not deliver. Papaya salad was sour and spicy but lacked salt and sweet and overall tasted bland. Got the vermicelli add on but it was just served on the side with no dressing so it was really hard to mix into the salad. Shrimp confit fried rice was overly seasoned and heavy and lacked balance. Did not get the whole shrimp with head as stated on the menu and the shrimp were overcooked and frankly didn't taste fresh. Lamb curry with roti special flavor was good and lamb was tender but their take on roti was disappointing. It was very greasy and deep fried and tasted more like a scallion pancake without scallion than any other roti I've ever had. Service was kind but overall food was disappointing. There seem to be a lot of other Thai places in town that I'd try.

Boda is such a great spot with very inventive dishes. It felt like one of those places that is unique and exciting. Everything here is good- the drunk noodles were great. The dumplings were some of the best I've had. They had some fun specials and fried dishes that were also great. You can't go wrong with anything here! Our server was great at recommending food.

I LOVED THIS PLACE. We came here for a quick dinner and even though the place was packed, we got quickly seated at the bar. Our bartenders gave us lovely drinks, honestly I liked sitting there just to see how they made them. We ordered the mussels, pad kee mao, pork belly skewers. The mussels were good, the sticky rice it came with was sticky but so hard it was hard to break apart. The sauce the mussels were in so good! The pork belly was cooked perfectly. My favorite was the pad kee mao. We got it with chicken and the flavor and the amount of sauce, everything was delicious.

A beloved Portland staple for a reason. Excellent quality food for a reasonable price, attentive, knowledgeable, and friendly waitstaff, and nice (if busy) atmosphere. I particularly recommend the Brussels Sprouts, Pork Belly Skewers, and Chicken Panaeng! Reservations: Boda does not accept reservations, and can get quite busy. That said, I arrived at around 5:30pm on a Friday evening and there were still a few tables available. By around 6:30, there was a line of people waiting.

One the list of top restaurants in Portland and I can see why. Casual, unique Thai dishes that are appetizing and delicious. Enjoyed the pad that blanketed I. Thin layer of egg. Service was solid and ambiance is what you'd expect for a local Thai restaurant. There's a lot of Thai restaurants so go to this one since it's already been vetted by the critics.

I was actually heading to king of the roll but when I passed Boda, it looked practically empty. It always looks so full so I took the opportunity to get a table and try it out finally. Good thing too, it immediately filled right up!! I ordered the margarita, the mussels, and the goi moo, a salad made with pork belly. Tom Yum Margarita - this was a really great drink. A classic margarita, but also spicy, and in kind of a unique way. Gaeng Kha local mussels - an enormous portion of mussels - they were really crammed in the bowl - with a spicy curry broth and basil. It comes with sticky rice, so I ate all the mussels first and then put the rice in the broth to soak it all up. So good! Goi Moo - pork belly salad with greens, shallots, etc. I ordered it at a '3' which might have been 1 too much. Though actually the mussels turned out to be spicier, and the somewhat sweet sauce (from the fish sauce) in this dish became a welcome respite. Getting two smaller dishes was the right move. My eyes always tell me I want an entree and an app, but sticking to the tapas/small plates/apps lets me try more things. When I can do it anyway. Getting three spicy items though, maybe that wasn't the best idea. Boda tends to be crowded, but if you're ever walking past and it looks empty... uh go somewhere else and let me have the table instead! hahahaa

Amazing, amazing restaurant on the west end of Portland. It was highly recommended by many locals so we knew we had to go. The menu was so unique and had something for everyone. Our table had the drunken noodles, sprouts, steak skewer, mussels, bacon wrapped asparagus and pork bowl. Everything was unreal. The cocktails were all good too, especially the Thai basil collins. The only bad part for us was that there was a shift change while we were there and apparently our server never put our order in before leaving. We watched parties come and go for quite some time before we were able to ask a waiter what was going on. After one hour, our order was actually put in and we promptly got our food. The manager took care of us so we tried hard not to let this part of our experience take away from the amazing food.

I came back to Boda for dinner for the first time in several years due to nothing else being open the day after a snowstorm. For this, I'll always be grateful. The food was much better than I remembered, though my husband and I also ordered completely different dishes this time. We started with the ma-hor, which was intriguing though not something I'd rush to get again. Then we split a pork belly salad (I notice it's not on the menu anymore), which was super bright, refreshing, and flavorful, though just a little too salty. For our main, we split the beef panaeng, which made me want to stand up and applaud. The beef was tender perfection and just falling apart with the slightest pressure from my fork. The sauce was deep, rich, and satisfying while also carrying some good heat. We savored every last bite of this. Based on this strong showing, I'd definitely go back for more!

I had the red curry-it was delicious! The ambience is excellent-people watching on Congress st across from Longfellow square. The wait staff is always welcoming-I believe Amber was my server and she clearly loves her job!

You want good or you want open late night? Cause you rarely get both. At 9pm we were ready to eat dinner which works in a city like New York but a little less so in other places. I took a chance on Boda and by chance I mean my mom was hangry and impatient and lecturing me on "being respectful of older people's time-sensitive stomachs (ma'am what??) and my cousin had a poker face but also probably wanted to kill me. Mind you we were all laid up napping in the AirBnB past dinner time so how was I the one responsible?? When we walked in at 930 we had to wait a little. Good sign as far as I'm concerned. We each had a drink while we waited and that seemed to take the edge off. Once at the table we basically ordered it all. Who knew Thai tapas would be the thing that made us stop hating each other? Highlights: Lychee martini Thai iced tea Shrimp skewers Bok Choy Tofu Fried rice Brussels sprouts Rice pudding The service The place was buzzing at 1130 when we left. So glad we went. My mom can't stop raving about it and my cousin the pescatarian left the place properly stuffed. And I emerged a culinary hero. "Amanda always choose the best places." ;)

Haven't been back to the Portland area in quite some time (11 years to be exact). Wanted to visit an oldie but goodie and was not disappointed. Had my usual quail eggs and Thai sticky rice...coupled with Thai Basil Colins...all is good in the world. Highly recommend after a 11 year hiatus. Food remained constant, hospitality and atmosphere was the same. Boda is a keeper for Portland!

Oh Boda, I want to love you as much as everyone else does. This is one of the most raved about restaurants in Portland, and has been for years. The service is always awesome. The ambience and lighting is really cozy. BUT... the food is so beyond salty every single time that I don't think I can go anymore. At this point, everything comes out over cooked and so salty it's hard to eat. The flavor is usually good- still love that- but it's hours after my meal and I'm still chugging water. Ugh! I am probably just too sensitive to salt, but just giving a warning to others who may also be!!

Great Thai food! We were visiting and looking for a good Thai resturant and came to the perfect place. Good customer service and quick food. Started with the dumplings and wings. Dumplings were really good, we wanted more. The wings were crispy and had a really good sauce. For our meals we ordered the Drunked Noodles with Shrimp. It was a little spicy. Overall great experience!

My SIL recommended this place as a must go place whenever she's in Portland. My bf and I came here not too long after they opened. We luckily got a table right when we walked in. Appetizers: quail eggs, crab curry, beef skewers, strawberry watermelon with shallot, sugar Mains: woon sen pad thai & pineapple shrimp fried rice Drink: thai tea Everything we ate was so delicious and flavorful. I've never had pad thai with the egg wrap over it nor have I had cashews and pork floss in my fried rice. It was definitely a nice contrast of texture. One of the seasonal items was the strawberry and watermelon skewers. It was so refreshing to eat on a hot summer day. Why the 4 stars? I felt like everything was a tad too salty, i noticed myself reaching for my thai iced tea between bites to offset the saltiness. if they used maybe 30% less salt it would've been perfect. I would definitely be back again as I can't get this kind of thai food where I live.

Such kind service and the food was delicious! Got the chicken curry pastry appetizer, pad Thai, and drunken noodles! It was a hit :) the inside is clean and low lighting (which is cute) and I would 100% go back if I lived in the area!

Probably my new favorite Thai restaurant! Came here on vacation and this place was great. Loved the food and atmosphere inside.

My history with Thai food goes back to Jit Pochana in Bangkok way back in 1979. That's when my love affair with this cuisine started. There has been so many cities with so much excellent Thai food over the years I couldn't possibly count. Rarely, does a restaurant pop up out of nowhere that could hold its own with a: Uncle Boons - NYC Love2eat Thai Bistro - Los Angeles Lotus Siam - Las Vegas Immm Rice - Chicago But tonight, in of all place's, Portland, Maine, Boda came at us and hit us right in the solar plexus. This Thai food was not only excellent, but it was extremely creative. This unassuming little restaurant within an array of many other neighborhood Thai restaurants just stands out with its innovative and original dishes. My wife and I were stunned with: * Quail Eggs plated so well that they were as beautiful as they were delicious * Shrimp Fried Rice that was so packed with so much goodness we ate every kernel * Beef on Skewers with Thai flavors was my favorite. I could have eaten 10 skewers and not batted an eye * Green Curry with Crab that was so good it was the show stopper. * My two Singa beers brought this dinner together like a really good Cabernet compliments a ribeye steak My favorite thing about feasting is when you least expect a "Shocker" you get shocked. Whenever that happens, it puts a smile on my face! Guess who was smiling last night at Boda - correctomundo, me!

Make sure to get here early- and expect to wait. They don't take reservations but you can put your name in. The restaurant is small and cute, and the bar only has a few seats. Just like every review says the quail eggs are as good as they say they are. I actually crave these sometimes. Upscale Thai food done right. I'm not a huge fan of all Thai food but many things on the menu I love. And the person I came with said the pad Thai was on the best he has ever had. Definitely worth a visit!

Ordered the pad that and beef skewers. The flavor of the beef skewer was on point, really enjoyed. The pad thai was good, nothing spectacular. Vibe is nice, overall good experience

Delicious delicious delicious 4 of us came in and got seated right away. We all ordered different entrees and split some appetizers. The flavor of everything was outstanding. We had one hang up as our original server who took our food order left after his shift with out putting our food in. We wondered why we hadn't gotten food in over an hour and that's when the manager realized what happened. He gave us 25% off everything and it wasn't that big of an inconvenience we were in not hurry and enjoying our company. One of the better Thai restaurants I have had the pleasure to dine at.

This place is incredible! We love everything we tried. The pad kee mao was delicious and the fried rice balls (order with quail eggs) were out of this world. I literally dream about this place!

Solid curry puffs. I can vouched that they are the best curry puff in town. All the meal is yummy and the portion is decent for the price. I'm so happy to Try their duck entree. Nicely cook, tender and juicy. They also have chicken wing that they can make XXX spicy.

Fantastic food and staff as well as an amazing ambiance. Everything was delicious and made for an excellent dinner while on our visit to Portland. Well done!

Wow!! Absolutely amazing dinner we had! It's a tiny restaurant so I recommend getting there early. They turn over tables quickly. The food was incredible! One of the best Thai places I have ever been too!

This place is absolutely delicious! We started with the beef skewers based on other Yelp recommendations and this did not disappoint! Sooo tasty! We then had the curry puffs which was on the specials menu, which is a no brainer bc curry puffs are the best damn thing! For our entrees we ordered the beef panang - amazinggggg. The beef was so tender and the curry was perfectly tasty. We also had another special which was the spicy crab curry which was a small portion, served with cute little noodle nests - this was also very flavorful and definitely not that spicy. As for drinks, their Thai basil Tom collins is so good! Took off one star bc the host/server was just not friendly when you first walk in with welcoming you and honestly, all of them don't really smile? Weird! It's a good thing the food is amazing!

Some of the best Thai we ever had. My girlfriend is Cambodian and she's very critical of Asian food, and we were getting second rounds of appetizers and the Pad Thai. Absolutely outstanding

Heard great things about this place from friends so it was on our must try list for our quick getaway. They don't take reservations but they do allow for an online waitlist check-in on their website. We didn't know this so we had to wait. Bar seating is also part of their dining room so you can't just go to the bar and have some drinks before your table is ready. They are only open for dinner, so plan your meals accordingly. After reading reviews, the fried rice and beef lemongrass skewers were very popular items we didn't get to try. Our friends rave about their khao soi, so we had to try that. It was very good, it had a nice texture with chewy noodles, and enough curry flavor. I think overall their curries are too heavy handed with the coconut milk, diluting the curry spices. The crab curry was well presented but suffered from the same issue, too much coconut milk and very little crab meat. The price was only $14 so I'm not going to hurt the review due to the lack of crab. The crispy squid was very familiar with very sweet chili sauce, more robust than a duck sauce but just as sweet. I can see someone crushing that as a snack and a couple of alcoholic beverages. The dessert was good, we don't usually see black rice pudding on menus. I hate coconut so we got everything on the side, but wifey loves coconut and enjoyed everything mixed together. Boss is tied with street and co as the second best place we went to in our short trip. The restaurant is broken up into two rooms with decent seating. Groups larger than 6 may have trouble but I didn't see the back room, which could accommodate larger parties. The plates are decorated similarly to things you would find in Asia, bringing some authenticity to the dish ware.

Excellent food and cocktails! I recently visited this restaurant and I was really thrilled with the amount of dishes and drinks. Huge menu with options for everyone. I had a seasonal special - chicken pad thai. Boda serves this dish with some lettuce and croutons. It sounds weird, but makes for a delicious dinner. The leftovers also tasted great the next day! Looking forward to coming back here soon

Terrific food. Not your run-of-the-mill thai spot. The quail eggs are an absolute must. Also loved the noodles used for the pad thai - much better for sauce absorbtion than the regular kind.

Wow! Best red curry we've ever tasted! Just the right amount of spices and consistency. Should have ordered more! Lol We'll definitely be back!

*****Review 1K****** Hands down Boda was our favorite recent to eat at while visiting Portland. Not only was service fantastic from the moment we walked into the restaurant until we left, the food was amazing. Everything was so flavorful! Boda takes Thai food to another level. They offer a variety of soups, salads, small plates, skewers (2/order), and entrees. The skewers, especially the beef skewers, were a big hit. So much so that we ordered a few of these. I'm normally not a huge fan of lemon grass, but these were so good. You could taste the lemon grass, soy, garlic, and ginger in each tender bite of beef you took. The pork belly skewers weren't bad, a tad on the dry side. The Thai sticky rice ball was also very good. It was savory, crispy, and grilled well. Definitely a must to go with your skewers. We also shared the kee mao (drunken noodles) with chicken and shrimp. Although we asked for it to be spicy, it came out pretty mild. We still enjoyed it, though. I was pleasantly surprised with how big the shrimp were. They also gave you a generous amount too (along with the chicken, which was very tender and seasoned well). Luckily I didn't taste the bamboo shoots in the dish as I'm not a fan. I also tried some of the shrimp fried rice, which again came with a generous amount of plump shrimp. This rice was super flavorful and probably one of the best fried rice dishes I've had in awhile. This one is definitely a must, especially for little ones. To drink I had the Thai iced tea, which was smooth and creamy. Not super sweet. Definitely went well with all the dishes we had. They don't take reservations, but there is an online wait list you can put yourself on. We came about 30 minute after opening, and were able to grab a table with no wait even though the restaurant was already pretty busy. Plenty of metered parking nearby, also a couple parking garages as well. If you're in the Portland area, do yourself a favor and eat at Boda.

This was our first meal in Portland and it didn't disappoint! The grilled octopus special was so good and we just about licked the delicious sauce off the plate, the chicken curry puffs were wonderful and the beef skewers were so tender. Great choice to kick off our son's wedding weekend. Staff was very friendly

This meal will forever be a very memorable meal to our trip to Portland. I ate the beef patang and it was EXCELLENT. My husband had the pad Thai and loved it and we shared the quail eggs. The flavors were so fresh and great fast service.

Our absolute favorite Thai place in Portland. Everything is authentic and perfectly seasoned. Pictured here are our go to dishes. Forgot to take a photo of the skewer stuff but the beef, pork belly and tofu is a must AND an order of quail eggs. Make sure you get there way ahead of time or later in the evening as it can be a long wait between their rush hours.

Love Boda. For years this has been extremely reliable for delicious and creative food. Never have had a disappointing experience. In addition o great food, the design and atmosphere is great and the service is wonderful. I had the pork belly special tonight and it was delicious. As was the cheesecake with seasonal berries.

On my list of places to eat in Portland, this place is a must try. My friend and I got here early afternoon and our wait was very short. We were promptly seated at a table for two and handed both a menu and a drink menu. We both ordered a take on a ginger mule along with gyoza for an appetizer. For our main courses my friend ordered pad Thai and I ordered curry. The gyoza were perfect, had great texture and the dipping sauce complemented perfectly. My curry was delicious and flavorful but lacked heat. They don't have options for spice levels here but have a chili oil you can ask for. My friend said her pad Thai was delicious and the noodles were tender and soft. Overall, this place was wonderful and should be on your list of places to go to in Portland.

We were so happy to hear that after some light relaxing of Covid restrictions that Boda was open to dining in again! Taking social distancing seriously tables are reduced to accommodate and the service is spot on. We have missed the food here so we went loose on the orders and trie drew dishes. As always never a disappointment. From drinks to apps and unable to get dessert as we were stuffed. Welcome Back Boda and we look forward to returning to our regular scheduled visits. Get Resi and book your visit!! Do your part as this is one of the diamond spots in Portland for authentic Thai!

Delicious as always. So happy they are open and they have their late night menu back. Our favorite Thai place and they never let us down

I was not impressed with the food at boda. I was served an almost completely raw shrimp in my combo drunken noodle. In the restaurant I thought the shrimp texture was strange so I only ate one. When preparing the leftovers at home i cut into the shrimp and was disgusted to realize the texture was weird because they were RAW. The drinks were really good and the service was good but I would never go back

Found this place while walking around heading to out to get some drinks was a little suspicious at first looked like the same old hipster rubbish but it's was an Epic place for epic food , good portions for the price , it's in a great location . Good hours if you find yourself going out at night . It was everything I wanted .

Ordered takeaway. Lots of good options, flavors good, food prep good, definitely worth a visit.