Maile’s Thai Bistro – Honolulu, HI

Always a bit hesitant when I have a review to write and it’s more on the blah side than on the praising side, but I figure you come to my blog for honesty and pictures so here we go. We were feeling Thai one weekend and decided to give Maile’s Thai a go, usually we go to smaller Thai restaurants and love it. How do I explain the feel I got from Maile’s, more commercialized? I guess I’m used to small mom and pop restaurants and this one felt a bit too fancy for my taste, and when it’s a fancy Asian restaurant, I get a bit hesitant about how good the food will be. I think you know where this is going…

Thai Fried Rice with Shrimp | $16.90
rice fried with egg, onions, and green onion in Thai spices

Can never go wrong with Thai fried rice. I loved this dish, it was definitely my favorite. I need to learn how to make my own Thai fried rice already.

Chicken Satay | $11.90
chicken breast kebobs marinated in curry spices, sautéed with coconut milk and served with peanut sauce (4 skewers)

Ehhh…chicken breast already throws me off. Is it usually done with chicken breast? I’m too much of a dark meat gal, this was okay but not great. Would not recommend.

Yellow Curry (Kaeng Leung) with Chicken | $14.90
house yellow curry sauce, coconut milk, potatoes, carrots and onions

Basic curry, edible but nothing special. Good enough to eat but wouldn’t get this again.

Thai Short Ribs | $15.90
cross cut beef short ribs marinated in a sweet soy ginger sauce grilled and finished with Chinese parsley and green onions

Not to say Koreans own short ribs but I was surprised to be a short ribs dish at this restaurant. Tasted good but it tasted like Teriyaki-ish, it was good but not Thai to me. Well why did we order it then? We just wanted meat okay? Was a good dish! Wish I had a bowl of rice with this.

8 responses to “Maile’s Thai Bistro – Honolulu, HI

  1. vickinags

    my favorite thai places are Thai Lao in either McCully Shopping or Pearl City, across the hwy from Zippys.
    Heard Noi was really good for high end Thai but that was before pandemic.
    Used to love Siam Garden at Nimitz but either the cook moved, maybe to Waialae because last 2x was not very good

    • Jenny

      Ahhh okay another great recommendation! Will try Thai Lao when I can! I was about to go Siam Garden since it’s so close by but glad to know what you think before I did!

      • vickinags

        a co-worker been going to Siam Garden. He too says it depends of the cook. When the owner is cooking, it’s really good but couple of times he saw other cooks in the kitchen and it wasn’t up to par. I guess I got the other cooks last 2X LOL, kind of hard, maybe when I call in an order I should ask who is cooking first.

  2. I am sort of glad that your review of that place was so-so. I am huhu about them because years ago, when we had an air conditioning company, they called and said they needed a repair done asap. So we said we would send someone over. An hour later, one of our mechanics arrived and was told that somebody else is fixing the machine. How rude! They must have called several service companies and didn’t have the courtesy to call us to cancel. So after that, I told myself that I would not patronize the place.

    Actually, if I wanted to eat Thai food and I was in Hawaii Kai, Thai Valley Cuisine near Queens Gate is my absolute favorite. Carol is the owner and cook and everything is so ono. My favorite is the fried fish in ginger sauce which is more like a soup. Her pad thai is good and her sticky rice is made with purple or black rice.

    Anywho, I gotta get over my bad feelings towards Maile Thai Bistro. Ommmmmm, and all that.

    • Jenny

      Oh my, that is incredibly rude! You folks should have charged them for the inconvenience! That’s good to know, I am not planning to go back anytime soon either!

      Ooh, thanks for the recommendation! Will try to give them a try if I’m out there!

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