Chalawan

Everything we tried here was delicious!! I came here as a party of four and the restaurant seemed mid-sized. Once the sun set, they dimmed the lights and lit candles on everyone's tables, which was a nice personalized touch. First of all, when you order individual rice, they scoop you however much rice you want into your plate, and can give you more if you finish throughout the night. This was perfect for pairing with all the different curries and sauces we tried. The shrimp "salad" like dish was so yummy, and this sauce was tangy and sweet. Their pork belly dish had what I think was the best sauce, full of a dense, meaty flavor. The broccolini was also delicious, but less special than the other dishes as it tasted like a simple oyster sauce blend. Lastly, their soft shell crab was interestingly really yummy! Again, this one came with a lot of sauce for our rice. I really enjoyed dining here as our server was so nice and understanding, I can't wait to try more!

The dishes are all very flavorful. The Seared Alaska Scallop was a bit too sour for my taste. The crispy whole fish was quite difficult to eat with trying to get the fish meat off the bone. The stir fry soft shell crab was standard. The beef was tender. My favorite was the curry duck. The meat was tender and soaked with curry broth. I would definitely order this again!The waiter was very friendly. My friends and I (party of 4) went for a Wednesday dinner and we didn't need to wait at all for a table. The restaurant was on the quiet side, great for catching up with friends over a meal!

Things I want to like:1) Sports. Some kind of sports.2) Finance. I just really can't even.3) ChalawanThe place is really nice, giant dramatic painting on the wall of something I wish I was cultured enough to understand. Nice couches for seating with pillows, if you can believe it. Attentive staff.But the place suffers from a really bad case of the tone-down. It's my new word for the ubiquitous practice of places with really good food cutting the spice to avoid scaring off the whites. The food was really fresh and tasty, but it was just plain bland. You could taste a flicker of what it was supposed to be, like a flashlight running out of batteries. But, ya'll, if I'm gonna drop $30 a dish, I want that light in my goddamn face. I know you're close to Harvard and anything that's not stone archways and English breakfasts is risque, but take a chance, here.I was also a bit confused by the dish description. Their stir fried eggplant is a stew and their cod fish stew is fried. All can be forgiven - just give it some spice!

Super tasty food - only wish I could have tried more from the appetizers section. They run a nice HH special from 5-7 on weekdays where you can order three of the per piece items (like the chicken/tofu betel leaf and oysters) and get a fourth piece for free. Our table got four of the mains. I went with the Thai red curry of duck but I'm not sure I would order it again. The duck came with some fatty pieces of skin still attached - I'm used to eating roast duck when the skin gets nice and crispy so the texture of boiled duck skin wasn't my favorite. The addition of lychee too didn't really do much in terms of taste and I knew to look for it in the curry, otherwise I would've mistaken it for another piece of duck skin. After eating a bite of the Singaporean chili beef, I should have gone with that one instead. The beef was chopped into cubes, extremely tender, and I loved the balance of flavors with the ginger, chili, and scallion. You could taste the charring from the wok. Also tried some of the chicken korma as well as the pork hock (which came in a massive portion). Rice doesn't come with each dish, which took me aback a little. They scoop it out for you but they do offer free refills. Parking wasn't too bad to find - there are metered parking spots along the street that go until 8pm. There's also the Lesley University parking lot (I think it's a fixed fee) as well as the bigger Star Market lot.

I had pretty high expectations for this spot, but was let down unfortunately. I really liked their pandan tea that they serve before you order, but the crispy pork belly appetizer and fried whole fish entree that we ordered was underwhelming. However, the star dish was their Char Kway Teow (noodle dish) - flavorful and yummy! Service was good and food came out pretty timely. I might go back hoping for a better experience!

Came to Chalawan on cloudy Friday evening when we couldn't get reservations anywhere on Mass Ave. I remembered reading about Chalawan somewhere so I am giving this place a try.Food: 6.5/10Flavors are good and super interesting but all the dishes are very salty. I liked the crispy pork belly appetizer. The crispy whole fish was also good but again the sauce had a bit too much salt. The Singaporean chili beef was good too (less salty), paired well with rice.All the flavors are very intense with different types of flavor profiles and herbs, which makes the food a bit more unique than your average Asian restaurant.Service: 9/10This is where Chalawan earned the 4th star. Our server was extremely polite and attentive, and we never had to ask for more water. I was super pleased!Ambience: 7.5/10Nice and casual setting. Could be a bit on the darker side but I didn't mind it. I thought it was warm and cozy after sunset and our server brought out the candle.Overall, more like 7/10 for me but I had a pleasant experience with the service and a great time enjoying my dinner so I gave 4/5 stars.

Our second time dining here. For four people, it comes to about $160, which isn't bad. The food tends to be on the high end, luxury cuisine. Service is excellent. The decorations throughout the restaurant is nice with some Thai art decors. I recommend the duck curry, which is a must try item. Order that with rice. Anyhow, see my photos below! Enjoy!

I really enjoyed Chalawan. Great food, friendly service, and beautiful interior. It's in a great location in Cambridge, too. Right on Massachusetts Avenue, close to all the hustle & bustle & other great things to do.We ordered:- Thai crispy chicken skin- Lang kawi crispy calamari- Crispy pork belly- Thai red curry of duck- Aceh chicken gulai kurmaThe menu clearly identified what was gluten free (thank you so much). The crispy chicken skin appetizer was my favorite. The calamari was tasty (gluten free!) and the aceh chicken gulai kurma was a nice, hearty, comfort meal. My partner really enjoyed the pork belly (not gluten-free, so I couldn't try it) and the Thai red curry of duck (gluten-free, so I can attest to how good it was).Thank you again, Chalawan, for labeling allergens clearly & providing amazing alternatives. I will be back!

Sadly, our party of 4 agreed this place seemed right to rate as a 6.5-7 /10, so on Yelp... translate into 3 stars. Familiar with Southeast Asian cuisine... which is arguably my favorite, the 4 of us agreed the flavors were very toned/watered down. Curry & laksa had some faint flavor, watery, bland strangely. Mostly, things seemed to be cooked properly, just bland. Finally, portion size per each plate was small, bordering on stingy. E.g., the laksa had 2 shrimps in it, a couple of tiny fish balls, a couple pieces of chicken.

What an incredible spot right in Porter Square. On the outside, it doesn't look like much, but the interior is upscale and modern, with unique touches of Asian design.We were the first to come in and service was quick. Everyone was very pleasant and kind. They had an abundant variety of mocktails, which was a great touch, especially for the young ones who want something sweet to drink, and their menu was creative and authentic in comparison to other restaurants in this area. The scallop and chicken betel leaf appetizers were perfect and refreshing. For my main, I ordered the Singaporean beef and was blown away by the flavor combinations. Though on the very spicy side, the balance of ginger and pepper worked so well with the beef, I could not stop eating. They serve their dishes with rice, though the rice is scooped onto our plates in generous portions by the staff.It's definitely a wonderful experience and I cannot recommend this place enough!