Kafe Yen

Update: I miss this place, sad they sold the business.
The best Thai food in pacific beach! Chef mom is a fantastic cook! Try the Glass noodle soup for a clean healthy snack. I ear here for lunch two days a week.

We noticed this place when walking back to our hotel one night and decided to try it. I’m very glad we did because it is certainly one of the best meals I’ve ever had.
We started with wonton soup, which took a bit to arrive, but as it turns out, it was due to the fact that they were making everything, including the wontons, fresh for each order. Delicious and well worth the wait.
For the main course I had the Thai chicken fried rice and my friend had beef garlic noodles. Both were so perfect we nearly ate ourselves into a dinner coma trying to finish every last bite.
The staff was was very courteous and attentive and the establishment was clean and well maintained.
I would make it a point to seek this little place out if you find yourself in the neighborhood.

I will forever miss this place, as it was the only local restaurant that served singaporean laksa

Update: So long old friend. I’ll miss your Cashew Patpong and great soups. Sadly, Mama/​chef wanted to retire, so they sold the place. It will be a Japanese place.
My favorite Thai place! This place has excellent food with a cool modern décor that you don’t find in most traditional Thai restaurants. The background music is always good too, as the owner has his own label.
Now let’s get too the food:
Cashew Patpong will blow your taste buds away! Cashews, chiles, and pineapple? Are you crazy? I would never believe how good it could be, as I’d never eat a warm dish with fruit in it, but the savory and spicy flavors mix perfectly. This year they added beer and wine to the menu, so now you can wash it all down with something nice.
Try something and find your new favorite. By the way, it’s steps from the beach and has free parking in back.

I’ve been eating at Kafe Yen for nine years, almost as long as they’ve been open, and I have not tasted better food anywhere! Everything is delicious. I especially like the Cashew Patpong, which includes pineapple cubes, unlike any other cashew dish I’ve had. Besides the food, the décor and music are very nice, and the staff is very friendly.
Unfortunately, Kafe Yen will close permanently on Monday, December 30. The owner (and chef) is retiring. I will really miss this place! If you like Thai food, treat yourself to a meal at Kafe Yen before they close.

We had a great meal here!
I think it’s relatively new (or at least the new replacement for when someone suggests Narraya and you realize it’s closed).
Recommend: pad thai, drunken noodles, crab rangoon, tom kha gai.
The ambience is typical of most Thai restaurants, and the prices are reasonable.

Since Narraya closed down, I’ve been looking for a good Thai dinner place. After our day at Sea World, we were STARVING and craving Thai. This place had some good reviews so we decided to give it a try. I had the red curry with chicken and my main squeeze had the drunken noodles. I absolutely demolished my red curry. I don’t think I’ve ever finished a meal at a restaurant before, but I inhaled it and still had room for Baked Bear. The red curry was nice and spicy but still balanced. My man loved his drunken noodles!
The only thing about this place is that it has more of a «lunch» feel to it — with the décor, plating, and portions. Narraya had such a date night feel to it. I wish this place had some candles, dimmed lights, or something like that.
Otherwise, very delicious, great service, and I will be back!

We are here last night and everything was fantastic. Pad Thai noodles, fresh spring rolls with some really fresh mint rolled up inside. Fantastic!
We will come back next year when we visit pacific beach next year!

They have a lot of dishes here that they don’t have at other San Diego Thai restaurants. The curries are great and so were all the noodle dishes. Duck fried rice was my favorite. There’s also an appetizer (don’t remember what it’s called) but it was kind of like a lettuce wrap with shrimp and crunchy garlic stuff on it — amazing.
Ample parking in the back by Urban Outfitters.

I had the phở and I didn’t like it very much. It wasn’t the rich mix of flavors that I expected, more like a beef stock flavor (and the beef wasn’t tender, either). The mélange of star anise, cinnamon, fish sauce, lime, and cilantro (among others) is what really brings this dish to life and this version wasn’t doin’ it for me.
Now, this isn’t an indictment of the whole place; it probably has a 4 for a reason but that reason must be the other dishes. I may come back and try something universally praised, but don’t come here for the phở.

Dee-​lish. Finally someone who understands that aroma contributes to taste, and fresh ingredients excite the palate like no other.
The egg rolls are delicious, the wonton soup is wonderful, the shrimp in a blanket is insane. You absolutely must.
The interior is moodily lit and complements the food nicely.

I came here a few weeks ago with a big group of friends to wish an exchange student well before his trip back to Malaysia– He liked the place, but didnt think the food was altogether authentic. I on the other hand, really liked the place. We kind of stumbled upon it, so we didnt know what to expect. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the food here. They have all sorts of cuisine, including Thai, Singaporean, and a bunch of others that escape me. For appetizers, a friend ordered the crab wonton/​dumplings– they were mostly filed with cream cheese and just a little crab, which was disappointing. The soup, however, was quite decent without having an unnecessarily pungent flavor from the fish and shrimp therein.
I ordered the Char Kway Teow, a distinctly Singaporean dish with the seafood combo– Mussels, Squid, Shrimp and Scallops. It was really good– not the best noodle dish Ive had, mind you, but it really hit the spot.
Overall, dont be afraid to try something new when you come here, because it might be really good.

I came from one of the south east Asia countries, and I love Asian cuisine, especially the spicy ones. Tried many Thai restaurants and so far love them all, including Kafe Yen. We went there for a lunch, it was just opened (about 11.30 AM) and we were the first customers. The service was very good from the beginning until the end, the price was very affordable too.
We had Panang Curry, Char Kway Teow and beautiful dessert with Tapioca Banana. It was all so delicious. Reminds me to food in my home country.
Definitely recommend Kafe Yen to everyone :)

Late night delivery?! AWESOME!!!
I’ve passed by this place a million times, and finally was too lazy to cook last weekend and ordered in. BEST. IDEA. EVER.
The pad see ew, drunken noodles, cream cheese rangoons… all delicious.

Came here with two girlfriends because one of them loves this place and has been wanting to take me here for a while.
It’s a cute little Indonesian, Thai fusion restaurant.
One gf ordered a soup that was on special, the other ordered Indonesian fried rice, while I ordered the glass noodles.
Man, I tried a little bit of my friends dishes and they were tasty! The broth of the soup was not oily and had the right amount of salt, while the Indonesian fried rice was great in flavor. My glass noodles needed an extra kick so I asked for chili, but also great in flavor. I do see why my friend was soo excited to take me here.
For dessert, we had the roti with condensed milk and the Thai custard. Both were not too sweet and thankfully we evenly split these or I would have had to fight for the last bite haha!
Service was alright. They weren’t as attentive as I wanted them to be. When you have to ask for water, something is wrong (then again, this is my preference). Because of the food, I give this place 4 stars.

…Eh

After a full day at SeaWorld, the group was hungry for some Thai food for dinner. No more burgers, ribs, French fries, hot dogs or sodas. One of my friends knew about Kafe Yen. A Thai restaurant in PB? Yes… Pacific Beach, the neighborhood with bars, bars, taco shops, tattoo parlors and more bars.
Kafe Yen hit the spot. The décor was nice, there were tons of parking spaces on the other side of the restaurant (Urban Outfitters side), and there were plenty of items on their menu from Thai to bits of Singaporean and Malaysian (mainly THAI though). I thought Kafe Yen was going to be your normal «Sunset Blvd» fusion Thai restaurant. I took that all back after dinner. Yen’s Thai food was actually really authentic. We even spoke with the owners and chefs as they came out to speak to our group of 9. Nice!
Try their different appetizers, curries, Pad Thai dishes and Thai desserts. A couple of items were a bit sweet but ask for the usual Thai prik kee noo (Thai chili) with fish sauce to balance off the taste. The service also made a lasting impression. They serve Thai beer, wine and your usual Thai iced tea and coffee.
Would I fight the crowds and traffic on Garnet to get to Kafe Yen? I sure would! This is a good place to take a date also.

Warning to authentic Thai food enthusiasts — this place has an Asian fusion twist. This is seen with phở, yakisoba, and various non-​Thai dishes.
Still worth checking out! The food is fresh and flavorful! Also, get the Thai tea… rly good. :)

It’s your ordinary Thai Restaurant.
Extra bonuses:
–only a block away from the ocean
–Yogurtland is across the street
–Good Thai Iced Coffee
–Outside sitting area

Pleasantly surprised! Never would have expected dinner here last Friday evening to result in a nearly 4-​star review.
Is this place always so chill? After a particularly stressful/​chaotic/​grueling week at work, walking into Kafe Yen was a welcome change of environment for me. Tranquil music along the lines of ambient trance, wonderful soft-​spoken servers, hushed conversations from other patrons in attendance, and soothing dim lighting. Ahhhh, nice. Not very PB-​like at all.
My guy and I got the Crispy Salmon Rolls appetizer to share, and I found the small but tasty rolls to be a decent portion for $ 8.95. Also really liked the creamy sauce with just a little kick and the cabbage salad beneath the rolls.
Boyfriend ordered the House Special «Massaman Curry Chicken with Roti Pancake» entrée. I had a taste of the pancake, which I loved, but didn’t go anywhere near his entrée being that he ordered Level 8 spiciness. Screw that.
I ordered the Yakisoba entrée (Japanese egg noodles stir fried with onion, cabbage, egg, and plum sauce) with salmon and really enjoyed it. I know little about Thai cuisine and went into dinner knowing only that I wanted to stay away from anything even remotely spicy. My dinner was delicious, exactly what I wanted. Nice portion with perfectly cooked everything, including the salmon filet.
We took advantage of a buy-​1-​get-​1-​free entrée coupon from Downtown Community Magazine, shaving about $ 15 off our bill. Love that.
Prime location near the intersection of Mission Boulevard and Garnet Avenue. Less than a block from the beach. We live nearby, so I’m surprised we hadn’t been here sooner and I’m certain we’ll be back before too long.