Located right across the street from Longs Drugs McCully on King Street, Chiang Mai has always been a sign easily visible from the road. Normally lit in green and and red colors, the sign sits over a seemingly plain restaurant. But as I found out today, Chiang Mai was yet another restaurant that could not be judged by its cover.

Inside Chiang Mai

The interior of Chiang Mai is very beautiful. The walls are decorated with various paintings and the pillars within the restaurant feature intricate carvings and trimmings. Each table is clad in white cloth, complimented by a small vase filled will purple flowers. I will admit that this type of environment is not what I had expected just before walking in!

As we had decided to dine at the restaurant pretty close to the end of their lunch hours, there were very few people inside. We were seated promptly by one of the servers and browsed over the menu. Chiang Mai’s menu offers a variety of appetizers, curries, and sautéed dishes. The last page of the menu is dedicated to vegetarian dishes for healthier alternatives.

The hardest part about dining at Chiang Mai was deciding what to order! There are quite a few menu items to choose from, and everything is described so deliciously that you want to order it all!

Chiang Mai Wings

One of the popular dishes as indicated by the menu, we elected to try the Chiang Mai Wings as an appetizer. The Chiang Mai Wings features golden fried, boneless chicken wings stuffed with mushrooms, carrots, long rice, chicken and spices. Each order comes with four wings and a side of sweet and sour sauce.

From first bite to last these wings were delicious! The crispy golden crust of the chicken presents a wonderful crunchiness, and the contents within are piping hot. The flavors of the ingredients stuffed inside the chicken are delicious by themselves, but when combined with the fried outer chicken wing and the sweet/sour sauce, this appetizer becomes a true winner. I’d definitely recommend this dish to anyone who might dine at Chiang Mai.

Thai Garlic Shrimp

The Thai Garlic Shrimp is a simple dish featuring shrimp and mushrooms sautéed in a heavy mixture of garlic. The shrimp was a tad overcooked, but nothing serious. The mushrooms provided an interesting contrast in taste to the shrimp, but ultimately paired well with the garlic. If you are a fan of garlic, this is a dish you might enjoy.

Evil Beef

The “evil” name of this dish likely stems from the hot color and taste that it affords the customer. Available in chicken or beef, this dish features the meat of your choice and basil fried together and mixed with a red Thai curry. You can order the dish on any one of three levels of spiciness. Being a great lover of spicy food I of course opted for the spiciest version, and boy was it hot!

The beef was tender and juicy, mixed with just enough basil to give it a fresh herb taste. The red curry was very spicy, packing that “punch” that spice lovers love! After a while of picking at the beef you might start breaking out small beads of sweat! This was a very delicious dish and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Final thoughts: Chiang Mai certainly did a great job of living up to the buzz I have been hearing about it recently. The service is fast and friendly, and the food is great. Overall I’d say that Chiang Mai is one of the better Thai restaurants that I have had the pleasure of eating at over the last few years. It is obvious that taste and freshness of ingredients are two key focuses of the chefs at Chiang Mai, combined to create dining experience. I wholeheartedly recommend Chiang Mai if you have a hankering for some good Thai food.

Chiang Mai
2239 S. King St.
Phone: 808.941.1151

Lunch from 11 a.m.-2 p.m (weekdays)
Dinner from 5:30-10 p.m Daily

Now with three locations across Oahu, Phuket Thai is a name that many islanders have come to recognize. The restaurant caters to customers looking for authentic Thai cuisine, including all the spicy deliciousness we’ve come to expect from Thai cooking.

Whenever someone speaks of this restaurant, the name is almost always the topic of discussion. After doing some research, it turns out that the restaurant’s name is pronounced “POO-KET”, where the “PH” is pronounced as a “P” instead of an “F”. I don’t fully understand it either, but whatever the name might be this Thai restaurant chain turned out to be a pleasant surprise on my first visit.

Inside Phuket Thai on Queen Street

After finding the parking lot of the McCully Shopping Center location to be packed to capacity, we moved on to Phuket Thai’s newest location near Ward Center on Queen Street. This location was opened recently, and unlike its two sister locations, is decorated inside in a very contemporary fashion. The restaurant is very neat and clean, seating a fairly large number of patrons.

When we walked in there were only a few other parties inside. It was a bit early for lunch when we first sat down, but by the time we had left there were a good number of tables occupied by patrons.

Phuket Thai’s menu features a range of Thai cuisine, from curries to fried noodles. And as with many Thai restaurants, Phuket Thai does offer a vegetarian section. After reviewing the menu for a few minutes we were greeted warmly by our server, and placed our order.

Thai Iced Coffee (Kafae Yen)

I have always heard good things about Thai iced coffee, and decided that I’d finally give it a try. The coffee was very smooth, with no hint of the bitterness you find at some coffee shops. The combination of the coffee and cream made for a very refreshingly smooth drink that I enjoyed very much. The price might seem a bit high for one cup of iced coffee, but when compared to coffee shops like Starbucks, I’d say that this Thai iced coffee packed a lot more value.

Appetizer Platter (Kong Kam Ruam)

To start I had decided to try the Appetizer Platter, which includes a mix of spring rolls, shrimp rolls, fish patties, and the “Phuket Stuffed Chicken Wings.” I must admit that the portions served at Phuket Thai are very generous. This type of appetizer sampler would normally run a much higher cost at your average restaurant.

All of the food prepared on this platter was delicious! The shrimp rolls and tofu patties were very fresh tasting. The spring rolls and stuffed chicken were both very hot when brought to our table. The combination of flavors in each part of this sampler was simply fantastic, and the sauces that came along with them was an added bonus of flavor. I’d highly recommend any first time (or even repeat) customer of Phuket Thai to try this platter.

Rice Noodles w/ Fresh Chili & Basil (Paht Ki Mao)

The rice noodles with chili and basil comes in three different levels of spiciness. Naturally I elected to go with the highest level, and boy was it HOT! The chefs incorporate peppers with their seeds to give this noodle dish that great spicy kick. All of the ingredients are very fresh, including the shrimp I had added into the order. The flavors of the basil and peppers blend so well with the noodles and vegetables in this dish. This is another high recommendation of mine!

Thai Crispy Fried Chicken (Tod Krob)

This heaping pile of Thai Fried Chicken demonstrates once more the generous portions given at Phuket Thai. The chicken was very hot when it was brought to our table. Cooked perfectly to have that great salty and crunchy exterior, while retaining the moist and juicy chicken within, this instantly became one of my favorite fried chickens. The plate also comes with a mild chili sauce to drizzle on the chicken, but I found that the chicken was delicious enough without needing to add the sauce.

Final thoughts: I must say that my first visit to Phuket Thai was a very enjoyable one. The service was excellent, with our servers being very attentive to our table. Even the hostess came by on occasion to refill our water! The restaurant is very clean and well decorated in contemporary fashion. The food was all very well prepared and delicious, and the portions given for the price were so large we had to pack up almost half of our food. I would urge anyone in the mood for some great Thai food to stop by Phuket Thai in the near future.

Phuket Thai Restaurant
401 Kamakee Street Ste 102 Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: 808.591.8421