-- Boston's Hidden Restaurants --

Wonder Spice Cafe

697 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 522-0200 Find location!

Photo of Wonder Spice Cafe, Jamaica Plain, MA Jamaica Plain's excellent Wonder Spice Cafe is just one of many worthwhile dining spots in this quirky Boston neighborhood. What makes the Wonder Spice particularly special is the fact that it mostly serves Cambodian food, a rarity in the Boston area. A good part of its menu is also dedicated to Thai dishes, thus the placement of the Wonder Spice Cafe in the category of Vietnamese and Cambodian restaurants. And the Thai food compares favorably to the Cambodian food at this Jamaica Plain dining spot, so if you are unsure about venturing into Cambodian cuisine, the Wonder Spice indeed has other options on their menu.

The Wonder Spice Cafe is not a particularly large restaurant, but it is usually easy to get a table here. Those familiar with Vietnamese and Thai entrees will recognize many of the items on the menu, such as noodle soup, pad Thai, and drunken noodle. The Cambodian meals, while similar to what you might find at Vietnamese and Thai restaurants, are unique in their own ways. Indeed, the Khmer soup at the Wonder Spice Cafe tastes a lot like pho bowls, but is a bit more simple, and absolutely delicious. You can also "make" your own dinner entree, choosing from a variety of meats, sauces, noodles, and rice. The freshness of everything here, from the steamed dumplings to the soups to the stir-fry dishes to the fried rice entrees, is a rarity in this era of fast food.

One wonders why a place that serves delicious, healthy, inexpensive food is half empty on a Saturday night. Yes, it is a good thing for those of us looking for tasty, fresh meals and not willing to wait two hours for it. But it seems a shame that more people don't know about the Wonder Spice Cafe. Do yourself a favor and try the Wonder Spice Cafe; it isn't well-known, but it is certainly a restaurant that is well-liked by many of the locals in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston.