Buffalo Rising Online

Sep 10th 2005, 10:07pm By andalu13

By Jim Kupczyk

Thanks to Tri Lam, Tai Truong and Manh Le, anytime I hear the word Papaya in any context I start to salivate like one of Pavlov's Dogs! Open since April 6th of this year, Papaya Asian Kitchen & Bar is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the premier restaurants in the city.

15 years ago Tri, Tai & Manh escaped Vietnam and began working at Saigon Bangkok where they started to develop a friendship which Tri passionately describes today as very close, brotherly and extremely trusting. After graduating from college the trio opened Saigon Caf" on Elmwood.

Tri accredits a lot of the early success of Papaya to a number of factors that took place prior to serving their first dish.

"The City of Buffalo and Benderson Development have been extremely helpful throughout the whole planning and building process,"he says. In addition, the three amigos are building a great relationship with the Hampton Inn. "We are so happy to have teamed up with Scott Parker and Terrance James from the Hampton Inn - we co-promote and definitely feed off each other,"says Tri.

The decor in Papaya is simply awesome. Everything from the beautiful maple wine rack to the super comfortable dining room chairs is custom made with unbelievable attention to detail. The restaurant's combination of colors, use of different sources of light, handsome rice paper glass, and custom made everything magnificently enhances the overall experience.

I can honestly say, after eating many a lunch and dinner at Papaya, the food is so delectable that if they operated out of a shanty I would still be one of their best customers. If I were asked to single out my favorite dishes at Papaya, I would currently choose (the menu is changed often) the Thai Calamari followed by the Spicy Takarai Seafood. Lunches range from $8 to $11 and dinners from $9 to $24. Monday through Friday from 4pm to 6pm Papaya offers $2 beers and ? price appetizers. Thursday through Saturday from 11pm to 3am they serve a late night menu which includes all appetizers, soups & salads.

Great atmosphere, excellent food and a marvelous staff all make for a memorable dining experience at Papaya. Look for me there but do me a favor and don't yell "papaya,"I might run around in a circle, roll over and attempt to give you my paw!

Papaya Asian Kitchen & Bar 118 West Chippewa | 716.856.2444 www.papayarestaurant.com Open Mon-Wed 11-11, Thu-Fri 11am-3am Sat 3pm-3am, Sun 3pm-10pm