Lin Restaurant

This place is legit. We had the chef’s sampler platter and were delighted with everything that came out of the kitchen — especially the Thai curry dishes. Fantastic.
The service is a little non-​standard and even odd at times, but everyone is kind and attentive so it somehow adds to the place’s charm.

I decided to to Lin’s after a great placing in the Unilocal Top 100. I’m a fan of Thai food, but have never had Burmese. I was excited to see Burmese curry on the menu. I asked our server how Burmese curry differs from Thai curry, but rather than explain the flavors or spices, he showed me a picture on the menu. I opted for the Thai curry since it was familiar and even the waiter didn’t seem to know what was in it.
That said, what I ordered was was really good. I’m kind of a wimp on the spice level, so I got the mild green Thai curry with chicken. The chicken was cooked well, not at all rubbery, which some people seem to have experienced.
My friend ordered Pad Thai and said it was good, but preferred what is served at Thai Orchid. We also ordered an iced coffee, but it was sooooooo sweet. My friend had commented on how good the Thai iced coffee is at Thai Orchid, so I ordered one here. When I couldn’t drink it, I gave it to him. He could barely drink it either. Apparently it’s not that sweet at our favorite Thai restaurant. I’ll have to try it at Thai Orchid to compare for myself.
When I lived in Singapore, one of my favorite desserts was Mango Sticky Rice. They have it on the menu at Lin’s, and I couldn’t wait to try it. Fantastic! Definitely worth saving room to eat. You’ll want to eat it there too, instead of taking it with you, because it’s served warm.
The atmosphere is nice and open. Our server was friendly and attentive.
I’ll definitely be back for the mango sticky rice!

Many delicious choices on the menu. Excellent service and very friendly staff everytime. I highly recommend the ginger salad. A favorite lunch spot for myself and my coworkers.

This place is a treasure. I was at home visiting my parents when I found this GEM!!! I currently live in MD so I eat at tons of different ethnic food places from all over the world in Washington DC. I would have to say that this place would beat most of the Thai places in DC. Buffalo, this is one of the best foodie adventure places I have found in the area.
We got the 2 person 8 course sampling dinner. OMG so much food, so many flavors to try. I actually want to stay longer in Buffalo just to eat a few more times at this place. We had Thom Ka Gai (soup), Tea leaf salad (SO GOOD), chicken and coconut noodle soup (burmese style), Burmese style curried goat, Thai green curry, Pad Kee Mow, Pad Ka Pow, Chicken Satay, Burmese Samosa, Thai ice tea, Burmese milk tea (amazing burmese chai), IT WAS ALL SO GOOD!!!
Then to top it off the restaurant is next door to a thai market, this place is awesome. Buffalo foodies, this is your destination dining.

Had tbe food from Lin twice. Once at the reataurant and the other time my office ordered take out.
The food is delicious. My first time trying the chicken biryani is from Lin and it was soooo good!
I deducted one star because of our take out experience. I called to place an order for 16 people and asked them to label everything. When the food got here, only couple of the items were labelled and it took us awhile to figure out what is what. They also missed couple items. Thankfully the delivery guy was very nice and went back to the restaurant to get the missing order. In their defense, they did cook and deliver the food in an hour (our office is about 15 minutes away). P. S I called the restaurant to place an order/​give them a heads up the day before because I realized it is a big order but the woman told me to just call the next day.
Not sure if they get a lot of large takeout order, but it would be nice if they do online ordering or send in order via email.

My boyfriend and I came here during restaurant week, they offered a feast for two for $ 20.15.
First off, the staff is super friendly — almost everyone came to check on us at some point during our meal.
There was not a thing we tried that we didn’t like. If you’re not sure what you want I highly recommend the feast — you get to try a great variety. The restaurant also substituted pork for chicken for me in the feast, which I really appreciated.
To end our meal we got an order of coconut ice cream, it was delicious and perfect for two people to split.
You know you’ve had a good meal when you’re already planning what you’ll get next time before you leave the restaurant!

Best Burmese restaurant in Buffalo. It must be a new place, because I don’t see a lot of buzz about it, which is a real shame. Whatever, more for me.
This place is nestled in the middle of West Side, so even on the way there, you know you’re in for an authentic experience. I happen to volunteer with an organization to mentor refugees, and often, I will take my mentee to various ethnic restaurants around town. She’s usually pretty pleased with the offering, and also usually recognizes the staff or owner (so I can at least tell you that all of the Burmese restaurants around here are very very authentic and usually propped up by the diverse refugee community here). Anyway, she claims that Lin Restaurant has better food than her mom makes (which tells you something). But yes, this food is very flavorful. I got to try papaya salad for the first time, which is very strong tasting. Totally expected it to be sweet and orange, but it’s not! It’s actually made from green papaya so it’s very fresh and tossed in a sauce very heavily seasoned with lime and fish sauce. Super refreshing and so not Americanized. Also had the sweet crispy fish. We got a gigantic whole bass (which in retrospect is very reasonably priced) that could feed at least 3 people. Very fresh fish and perfectly cooked. Everything came out very fresh tasting, piping hot (the fish), and just perfect. They also have a few offering for dessert. We shared a sticky rice and mango which was just as I remembered it in Thailand.
Friendly owner stopped by to say hello and she was happy to explain the cuisine. I’m looking forward to visiting again. Really great food that I’m happy to eat again and again.

Another hidden gem in Buffalo! I was hesitant to eat here at first based on the smell of the building upon walking in. Once inside the restaurant it got much better though. The service was great. Our waitress was quick, friendly, and knowledgeable on the menu. My coworkers and I each had different dishes and we all loved them equally. Their ginger salad is by far the best I’ve tasted yet. Their spring rolls were also delicious, as was their sweet chili dipping sauce. My favorite part of this place is that when you ask for spicy, you actually get spicy! They find an incredible way of mixing spice with sweet. A good amount of vegetarian options available, I had the eggplant dish which had an interested blend of consistencies within in, but still delicious. I definitely plan on returning to try out more plates!

This restaurant was our introduction to Burmese food and we’ve returned several times since. We always get takeout, on account of having an infant and a toddler, and we prefer being at home to eat.
The food is very good. There is one dish, the pineapple boat, which is fried rice, cashews, meat, and a variety of veggies in an actual halved pineapple. It’s as delicious as it is fun, and it thrills my toddler. The goat biryani is also as beautiful as it is tasty. I like their pad Thai, but make sure to get it spicy. We’ve had the same dishes on different days and find it’s always a little bit different. For takeout, their turnaround time is good and the food is still warm when I get home.
The people there are very kind and friendly. The second time I walked in to pick up an order, I was greeted by name. That left an impression, but not as my as my experience last Tuesday. My husband wasn’t feeling well, so I decided to take the kids to the playground at Riverside Park (right across the street from Lin) and order takeout from Lin. It was great. While we waited for food, my toddler played hard on the playground. My infant was in a baby bjorn strapped to my chest. Well, my two year old played perhaps a bit too hard. We walk to Lin’s (again, baby is strapped to my chest, two year old is walking next to me) and my two year old starts coughing. Then she’s coughing hard. We were standing in the lobby between the grocery store (also owned by Lin’s) and the restaurant and she throws up. Yikes. I go into the grocery store part and ask for some paper towels, explained what happened, and the (very nice!) woman behind the register quickly gave me some. I start cleaning, and then the door to the restaurant opens. It’s one of the workers, a woman who is somewhere in her late thirties or early forties. I’m not moving very quickly as I’m trying to do this with my son still strapped to me. Well, before I know it, in like 15 seconds, she’s got my daughter’s face polished up, she’s saying all these calming soothing things, and she’s zipped her up in her hoodie and is patting her on the head asking if she’s well. My kid is super shy around strangers and the way that this woman was to her put her at ease immediately. I wish I got her name, it feels so disrespectful to say «that woman» when she treated my daughter, and me, so well. I left an unusually large tip for a take-​out order as a thank you, and they wouldn’t let me leave without getting some help carrying the food. I’ve never been treated anything but really well here. That particular episode was extremely kind and I was grateful for it.
(My daughter was fine after she threw up. Toddlers!)
The food’s so good that I’m already inclined to say «let’s get Burmese» every time I don’t want to cook. I’m even more so now.

My friend took me Lin for birthday two weeks ago. She kept telling me i had to try this place out!!! We ordered the papaya salad, cold spring rolls, pad thai and beef with veggies and rice in it (forgot the name of this dish lol). The papya salad is a must have item!!! We tasted all kinds of flavors in it. Crushed garlic, chilies, long beans, tomatoes, dried shrimp and peanuts on the sherdded papyas mixed all together before you have it. They normally will ask you how spicy do you want, you had the hot one. My friend and i like spicy food a lot so we could handle it. But if you’re first time trying the papya salad ask for little spicy or none. But their pad thai is too sweet for me i like pad thai at the other thai places. Tips: Don’t think that all the thai food in thai restaurants are all the same. Thailand is really big. It depends which islands the owners from. So the way how they make the foods and taste are different.

Everything was excellent!
Fresh, well made, authentic!
The staff were friendly and conscientious!

What did the fox say? The right thing. Better than Sun. Really. It is! Had the Burmese noodle dish. So delicious. Bigger portion than sun so I have leftovers. Mango sticky rice– tasted like Thailand. HUGE portion of Thai ice tea. Love Thai tea. I’m going to stick with Lin. Better food. Less people and next to an Asian market. Please go! It’s much better!!!

I had dinner here tonight and was not impressed with my Pad See U. It was $ 13 for some noodles, four shrimp and a few pieces of calamari. I would say two stars for that dish.
The person I was with had the Tom Yum soup and wasn’t happy with it. She also had the Green Curry and we both agreed it was good. I would come back for that and try the salads everyone on Unilocal raved about.
The décor is attractive, the staff nice, and the kitchen a little slow in getting the food out.

I came running to Lin. Partly because of the great reviews I’ve read, partly because I felt ill and in need of warm soup, but mostly because it was dark outside and the place is not in the best of neighborhoods. The only other Burmese/​thai restaurant I know of is Sun, and the menus appear almost identical with prices favoring Lin. The inside was very clean and the décor reminiscent some tropical island. My only beef is with many restaurants in the area, there are no booths :(. Now onto the food…
I started off with the Burmese hot milk tea — a warm and soothing sweet drink with spices similar to a thai iced tea. Just like thai tea it’s made with sweet condensed milk so it’s not particularly a healthy kind of tea. But nonetheless, I highly recommend that you try it. For the main dish, the Own Noh Kaok Swere (Coconut curry chicken noodle soup) was served as huge bowl of bright flavor and smooth broth with pieces of chicken and a hard boiled egg. It was perfect. I saw everyone else ordering the sticky mango rice so I had to order it. The rice came out piping hot, the mango super fresh.
Needless to say, I had a great experience at Lin. With their grocery store next door, you know you’re getting fresh ingredients. The only recommendation I have for the restaurant is to put khao soi on the menu.

One of the most famous restaurants not only in Buffalo, but the whole world. It has inspired such classics as «Lin On Me» by Bill Withers, and of course the notorious «Lin Back» by the notoriously «BIG» Fat Joe. It’s even famous in Kansas, as referenced in the Glen Campbell classic «Wichita Lin-​man.» And a form of kitchen/​bathroom plastic carpeting is named after it (Lin Oleum). As well as the place I just reviewed (the Lin Ox Grill).
Unfortunately none of that is true.
What to order: Braised Beef Curry, Thai Green Curry, best Thai Tea in town.
What else is good: everything I’ve tasted.
For some reason, while the insanely popular Sun Restaurant has exceptional Burmese food and decent Thai food, this little gem which is nearby, has *better* Burmese food, and *the best* Thai food I’ve tasted in Western NY, and yet has almost none of the hype, a tiny fraction of the turnover, and almost no word of mouth. Whatever Sun is doing marketing wise, this place needs to do, as well.
But I think we have a responsibility too. If we like Burmese and Thai food, which if you look at the Sun reviews, it seems we do: as Unilocalers (or readers of Unilocal), to step outside our comfort zone (like we did perhaps when we first tried Sun), and try Lin, even though it’s similar food to Sun. After all, it’s just down the road.
Because you may just find — like I did — that Lin is an undiscovered, superior, similar-​yet-​less-​glitzy, more real version of Sun, with lower prices, better spices, better taste, no sign of a sell-​out (yet), nothing but big portions and bigger flavours. And yet Sun is packed wall-​to-​wall and almost nobody is dining in Lin. And, by the way, Lin has a lovely dining area too. So if the food is superior, the price is lower, the location is comparable and close by, then I don’t get it. It must be that most people haven’t tried it yet… so try it!
Both times I’ve been, I had the Burmese Braised Beef Curry, which is in my opinion the best dish on the Sun menu, and the best dish here too. It tastes even better here. The portion isn’t huge, but the price is excellent. The flavour is off-​the-​charts-​amazing. It simply must be tried. I thought it was perfect both times, but my companion said inconsistent.
The other dish I had twice was the Thai Green Curry. The first time, I thought it was the best Thai Curry I’ve had in the region. The flavour, wetness and ingredients were wonderful. It was almost as good as the Beef. The second time, I found it to be not quite as good. Something was different about the chicken. A little squidgy as if microwaved. However my companion thought it was just as good, if not better. I’m looking forward to trying it a third time.
I’ve also had the Thai Iced Tea every time, because (a) it’s only $ 2.50, (b) it’s twice the size of the Thai Tea in any restaurant in town, and © it’s the best Thai Tea in town, just ahead of Taste Of Thai (Hertel) and Jasmine Thai (Boulevard), and miles better than all the others. It’s top quality, milky, delicious. Whereas Sun, the West Side Bazaar, Teton, King and I (sometimes), Thai Orchid, and Saigon, all use some horrible fake-​tasting awful version of Thai Tea that is undrinkable — and overpriced. But Teton: their coconut bubble tea may be the best in the city (rivalling the fruit ones at Tea Leaf).
Oh, this one’s just for Buffalonians or those who read my «Best WNY Pizza» list: What do you call the fertile eggs from a spliced-​DNA child of this restaurant, and the popular Pizza place on the West Side? «Lin Ova.»
I’ve also tried their «fried sampler platter». Good, but not amazing, and too heavy and filling. It was provided complimentary, for no real reason, but that’s not something that happens regularly. I’m not sure what the exact name of it was. Also the samosas, ordered by my friend, which were good, but not great.
One negative: I wasn’t a big fan of the fact that this restaurant has hired the same guy that says he «put Sun on the map» and redesigned their place, to do the same thing for them. The conversation with that guy in mid-​meal during our (excellent) first visit wasn’t my favourite conversation I’ve had in a restaurant, but I’ll leave it at that. I will say though, that the owner, and (I think) his daughter, are absolutely wonderful, delightful people, as Jody said. :)
All in all, an utterly fantastic meal, and I can’t wait to take others back here who like Thai and Burmese food. We have not one, but two amazing Burmese restaurants in WNY now (including Sun), and another one in the Bazaar, making 3 total. Let’s make sure they stay open, and instead of giving all of our worshipfulness to the Sun like the Aztecs did, let’s spread the love like the Haight-​Asbury Hippies did, and come and try Lin as well.
I mean, this business is putting it all on the Lin for us, and the least we can do is try it.
Speaking of Hippies. When Mr. Hippie from San Francisco wanted to find a wife, which state did he travel to?
Mississippi, of course.

I have been here twice for lunch now and and have enjoyed both of my experiences. If you’re looking for a pretty fantastic and relatively inexpensive lunch, Lin is a great choice for Burmese and Thai food. Many of the entrees range from $ 7 to 10, so you’re getting a huge portion and a great deal on many offerings.
I rave about the salads. They are INCREDIBLE. I have had the papaya and mango salad and each is spicy, bold and flavorful with shavings of the fruits, but a much more interesting mix of nuts, spices, greens and dried shrimp. The dried shrimp are a bit chewy and the consistency may not please everyone, so if the idea of that turns you off, I suggest you ask them to hold off on that when ordering your salad.
The coffee here is very strong and the service is pretty good. First time, for my entrée I ordered the pork belly curry. Large pieces of pork belly served on an oily bed with rice. I enjoyed it quite a bit. My second time, I went with the Pad See Eu and thought the noodles and chicken needed a bit more spice. It was a bit bland, but I think they will improve over time.
I also tried their fried banana + ice cream dessert at one point. Very delicious. I would like to get that again.
All in all, for an inexpensive Thai+Burmese place, this place is a worthy contender to the other restaurants in the area. Give it a try! It’s also nice to come here for lunch and go for a walk at Riverside Park right after.

Thanks Jody G! I saw your review from Dec, which let me know a place I’d noticed being worked on was open. So when Fox E and I were thinking about where to grab a bite recently, this came to mind. I’d been wanting to try it, and Fox is always game for ethnic food of any sort, so off we went to the Riverside Park area on Tonawanda Road.
Opened just before the Holidays, Lin is a restaurant on one side and a grocery type store on the other. We did not explore the store this visit but I will in the future.
This visit we went to the restaurant. I’d guess there are 15 or so tables, combination of 2 and 4 tops. It would be easy to move the tables around if you come with a larger party. The place is spotless. Totally. Gotta love that.
We perused the menu, which is quite targeted and has some of the best options from Burma and Thailand both. After a starter of samusas (comes as 4 «raviolis» stuffed with potato, chicken and more), which I really enjoyed, I went with a green curry with chicken as the protein. This was a terrific dish. And very generous portion. It arrived in a covered bowl (you serve what you want on the side of rice and then can keep the rest warm!) I was asked for spice/​heat level and said medium. It was a medium level. Perfect balance of heat and flavor. Served with white rice. I’ll have this again soon.
Fox had the beef curry dish from the Burmese side of the menu. This dish also comes with a side of white rice. Also phenomenal. I’ll order this again too.
The owner sent over a very traditional serving of vegetable tempura. Some eggplant. Peppers. Corn. Came with two sauces, one hotter than the other. While tempura is terrific generally, this was made even better by the dipping sauces.
I noticed on the menu you can order brown rice for a slight upcharge, while I did not notice this until after I ordered, the white rice my dish came with was very nice. While I usually order brown rice, I would likely stick to the white upon returning. It was a good combo with the dishes I tried.
They have a super deal for restaurant week March 2015. I posted pictures of the menu and what the plates look like. It’s a feast for $ 20. Don’t miss it.
Parking is street.
1525

My first experience at this nice-​but-​not-​ostentatious new Burmese/​Thai restaurant was very solid and begged a repeat. The place was empty on a blustery, forbidding weekend day not long after they opened. I’m stoked to see businesses returning to the Riverside Park area (Abba of Lucy’s is soon to open a fancier, sit down restaurant across the street as well) so we braved the wind and snow. We were immediately impressed with the simple but inviting décor (spotlessly clean) and welcoming, attentive staff.
I immediately ordered a Thai ice tea before even pursuing the menu — for those who haven’t had it, it’s a black tea mixed with cream or half and half and sweetened, with spices added. Probably terrible for you (don’t tell the dentist!) but just so darn good and not something you see outside of, well, Thai restaurants (and the occasional place that serves bubble tea). It was delicious and MASSIVE for a wee $ 2.99.
After a long (LONG) look at the menu, which features Thai, Burmese, fusion dishes, and a kid’s menu (salvation for parents with fussy little ones) as well as some rotating daily specials, my date and I both settled on curries — I the green, he the panang. At some point, one of the staff came over and apologized for the food being slow — we assured her if that was the case we hadn’t noticed, no worries.
Not long after, they brought out our food piping hot and beautifully presented (photos to come). We each received the requisite large portion of white rice on a side plate in a little dome (they offer brown too! Yay!). My date’s panang, loaded with fresh veggies and tender chicken, and boasted an intense color. I sampled some and was pleased, as was he (cleaned the plate).
My green curry was a MONSTER bowl of sauce, loaded with bright purple eggplant and a variety of other veggies as well as the tofu I had specially requested (they have tofu in various dishes, but do not specifically list it as an option with every entrée — they were very accommodating when I asked and charged me the same price as the cheapest meat option). Strangely, my curry was not very… well…green. It was not quite like other green curries I’ve had (similar, but something was different I couldn’t put my finger on) yet it was flavorful, with great texture and very satisfying. Filled with perfectly cooked veggies and the hearty tofu (great by the way, not all tofus are created equal) I ended up with three meals out of it!
Overall, I think Sun beats this place in décor, but Lin is giving them a run for their money in quality and prices are much lower on many of the dishes with larger portions. In addition to the already relatively low cost of our entrees, they deducted a dollar an entrée for the «slowness» even though we insisted it wasn’t an issue. Check out the grocery store connected to it for another culinary adventure.

If you look at photos of Tonawanda Street from the 1940s and 1950s, it resembled the town from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and imagining Jimmy Stewart running down the snowy street was not hard to do. There was a well-​appointed movie theater, department store, bowling alley, ice cream parlor, a men’s clothier (where even Frank Sinatra supposedly shopped when he was in town), bars, diners, and other assorted storefronts that made this neighborhood vibrant.
Nostalgia can be cruel when you fast forward through the decades and drive down a street that is essentially devastated. Fortunately, a seed of rebirth has taken root across from Riverside Park where Lin Restaurant and Lin Asian Market have opened recently.
As I walked through the market’s aisles amazed at the selection of items on the shelves, I couldn’t resist buying some coconut candy before going through the door to the restaurant. Spacious and clean with a simple décor, I regretted not staying here to eat. Instead, I ordered a traditional Burmese specialty, Moh Hin Gar (fish noodle soup), and mango sticky rice to go.
My expectations were low but I was rewarded with a delicious meal. If I wasn’t passing through the area, I would have returned a few times to order the same items from the menu. It was that good.
This street and the neighborhood of Riverside desperately need more places like this to arrest the decay. The people I met at the market and restaurant were gracious and wonderful. I truly wish them the best and, when I’m driving through Buffalo again, I will gladly return.

This review is based only on the pre-​opening buffet I went to yesterday at lunch time. The restaurant officially opened today and the WONDERFUL owners decided to have a pre-​opening party to introduce future customers to their delicious food. How great is that!?!
The place has been recently renovated and so it’s clean and cozy inside. The owner, Khin Maung Soe and his entire family were as warm and welcoming as can be. Heck… I felt like a member of the family as they described everything that was on the buffet to me, chatted with me as I devoured my lunch, and repeatedly offered me more, more, more…
There was a choice of both Burmese and Thai dishes… and everything was well represented with courses available from appetizers to soups to sides to entrees. A few of my favorites were the Spring Rolls (deep fried and filled with glass noodles, cabbage, carrots and ground pork), the Tom Kha (chicken and coconut soup with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro), the Chef’s Fried Rice (sauteed with onions, tomatoes, yellow beans, green peas, and Chinese broccoli), and the Kong Pao Chicken (with peanuts, celery, ginger, and dry chili peppers).
Everything tasted fresh and flavorful… and the seasonings were amazing! Upon looking at the menu I saw that the prices for all of the dishes are very fair. There are gluten-​free and vegetarian options… and the spiciness level is adjustable upon request for most of the dishes. Many items are available with a choice of chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, calamari, mussels, or scallops.
Welcome to the neighborhood Lin Restaurant! I’ll be back again soon.