Green Papaya

If you stand in one spot in Cincinnati I assure you there is a Thai restaurant or Sushi joint within 5 miles. With so many places offering "half price happy hour" every hour it can often be a question of cost over quality when choosing a restaurant.

Green Papaya will provide you with dinner for two under $20 with authentic, delicious cuisine that will keep you coming back.

The Green Papaya soup is a must - a combination of sweet and spice that will widen your eyes more with ever sip, here's a tip - don't bother trying to share.

The Crispy Pad Thai is my favorite of all the dishes. The sauce covers the crispy but delicious noodles and the flavor is hard to describe. Every bite just gets better and though you're full by the end, you'll be wishing you could have another.

The ambiance is fantastic for those who wish to have a romantic dinner during the week or a group of friends daring to tackle the giant sushi boat.

Everyone has their opinion of the "best thai in Cincinnati" - if you haven't tried Green Papaya you may want to hold your tongue until you do.

Been here several times and have always been satisfied.

I came here once for lunch and ordered a Lunch Box ($9.95) which comes with soup, appetizer, fruit, rice, and your choice of two dishes from their lunch list. I happened to choose the Mango Curry and the Pad thai. Absolutely delicious and the portion was large! I had to box some of it to take home with me.  Other times, I've ordered their curry entrees for dinner.  Also very good.  Very flavorful and rich.  Not to mention, the service is great, the waitresses are always so attentive.

One thing that could use some work though is their bubble tea. I ordered the blended taro bubble tea with boba. The actual drink itself was much too sweet. There was also still a lot of ice left in it which left less room for the drink. In addition, the boba balls were bland and rubbery, the opposite of what they should be.

Overall, skip the bubble tea and just go with their food items!

I was in Hyde Park and had a mighty hankering for some sushi, but as it was 3 pm on a Friday, nobody that I knew (Dancing Wasabi, Cloud Nine) were open. I did some yelping, and this place had some loyal fans, so I thought I'd expand my Cincy sushi repertoire.

Interestingly enough, I think they recently changed their hours, because they were supposed to be closed midway between lunch and dinner, but they were open at 3!

Inside is very serene and zen'd out, which earned some stars with me alone.

I got the Jasmine Lime tea to drink and it was tangy, sour, and refreshing. I saw the Green Papya Roll, so interested in their specialty, I had to see what it was about. Minutes later, out came an impressive bright green dish stacked high with crab stick and shrimp. There was a lot in this roll, so it's a tad difficult to give a defined flavor profile. It was definitely good, but at 14 bucks, I don't think I could justify doing it again. We asked for some more wasabi to add a little more kick, so I'm not sure if that was a good or bad sign. I shared the roll with my friend as well as a spicy tuna - which was A-OK, definitely nothing special.

Our server was quick and attentive, but gave me the impression that we were more of a bother to her rather than actual customers during the slow point of the day (usually good news to a server).

I originally had 4 stars up, but as I wrote this review, the more 3 sounded solid for GP - I just know I could have gotten much better sushi down the street at Dancing Wasabi or Cloud 9 for much cheaper, and the service certainly could have been better. With that said, there's definitely chance that we caught them on an off day, considering their apparent faithful following from other Yelpers. It had a lot of potential, so I'll try them again and hopefully post a better update.