Bangkok Thai Restaurant

I'm still searching for a really nice, authentic Thai restaurant here in Honolulu.  There are a few places that do a dish or two quite well, but then once I start eating some of the other dishes, things start to fall apart.  I've heard quite a few good things about Bangkok Thai from some friends so I decided to pay the place a visit.

Bangkok Thai is on the corner of Kapahulu Avenue and Paliuli Street and when I arrived to meet a friend, I could not find parking anywhere.  Luckily there was a noticed taped to the wall right next to the restaurant letting me know about the free parking at the Bank of Hawaii about 2 blocks away.  Was it going to be worth all the trouble?

After parking my car, I walked over to the restaurant.  As I approached the restaurant, I noticed that it had a purple glow to it.  Upon entering, I noticed that it was purple inside as well. 

After looking over the menu, we decided to start with the fish patties (tod mun pla, US$6.95).

The fish patties were served on a bed of chopped cabbage with some sliced cucumbers and carrots as garnish.  In the middle of the plate there was some cucumber salad which is made by combining chopped cucumbers, shallots and chillies with vinegar and fish sauce, and topped with chopped peanuts.  The fish patties were thick and meaty, and just a little oily.  They were delicious and fragrant with just a hint of spiciness.  I could definitely smell, and taste, the kaffir lime leaves that were used to flavor this dish and the cucumber salad served to add an additional layer of flavor to an already tasty dish.

Next I decided to order the green curry with chicken (gaeng keow wan gai, US$7.50).

Green curry with either chicken or beef is a favorite of mine and is a dish that I almost always order when I eat at Thai restaurants.  The curry here was really too sweet and not spicy enough even though I asked for this to be prepared medium-hot.  In fact, I don't think I tasted chillies at all.  After a few bites, I decided that I couldn't eat any more of this.  What I found really odd, is that in this particular green curry, there were a few pieces of red and green bell peppers.  I don't think I've ever had bell peppers in a Thai curry before.

And last, instead of a vegetable dish, which I should have ordered, I decided to order the Thai basil beef (pad kapao nuea, US$7.50).

Tender pieces of lean beef were stir fried with some Thai basil, lots of bamboo shoots and a few long beans.  The dish was served with a "gravy" made from fish sauce and a little soy sauce, among other things.  This dish was also ordered medium-hot and came out a bit spicy, just the way I expected it to.  The combination of flavors packed just enough of a punch to make this one of the better dishes of the night.

To go along with it all was some sticky rice (khao neow, US$2.00 per order/person).

After all of that, I decided on some dessert -- the menu called this apple banana (US$3.00).

It was some Thai tapioca served warm with some cooked apple banana and coconut milk poured over the entire dessert.  The comination of smooth tapioca pearls, coconut milk and slightly tart bananas made this quite delicious.  I just wished that the bananas were a little softer and not as firm as they were.

In addition to the parking issue, I felt that the food at Bangkok Thai was a definite letdown, especially since it was given the thumbs up by quite a number of people.  The dishes here were a bit "hit and miss" tastewise, but the service was quite good and the prices are about what you'd pay at most other Thai restaurants.  I would not go out of my way to dine here, but if I were in the neighborhood, I might be convinced to stop in to try some of their other dishes.

Bangkok Thai Restaurant
829 Kapahulu Avenue
Telephone:  808.735.6338

Comments

[MrsT]

So overall..???

[Reid]

Hi MrsT,

Overall, it was just so-so. Some dishes were definitely better than others with the biggest letdown being the green curry. The best dish was the fish patties. Yum!

[clare eats]

That sounds like an unusual sauce on the beef salad? as long as it was good :)

I love thai fish cakes! I agree yum :)

If I am going to have a thai curry I want it spicy! If it was too sweet they must have put in too much palm sugar at then. I think you should just make your own!

[ST]

I came across bell peppers in green curry at a Thai resturant in Australia. I remember feeling cheated :P

[boo_licious]

Yeah, the green curry looked a tad pale. Usually the ones we get here, they put small little eggplants but I have never came across bell peppers in it.

The beef dish, usually they just fry it with basil without any bamboo shoots.

Reid, hopefully you come to Msia soon then we can show you real Thai food and also wantan mee with nice fat and juicy wantans.

[FatMan Seoul]

Reid, let's plan a trip to Thailand soon. Food and drinks on me!

[Jo]

Out of curiosity, why no bell peppers in curry? I ask because
1. I don't really know that much about curry
2. The curries I've tried I'm not crazy about
3. Seems to me the 2 flavors would go well together.

[Kirk]

Reid - that green curry does look a little "weak" and runny, or was it just the refleections of the purple walls?. Tough I love sticky rice - do you believe that it sometimes takes an "act of god" to get it in some Thai restaurants here! I don't care for sticky rice in desserts though.

[Michele]

Hi, I am a big fan of Thai food so I could just stare at your pictures all day. The Thai basil beef looks delicious. I've never tried fish cakes before but you've definitely got me wanting to try some, especially with the mention of kaffir lime leaves. :)

[Gail]

The lack of good Thai food in Hawaii is one of the great mysteries of life to me. I admit to being mildly to wildly disappointed at every single one I've tried. What is up with that?

[marney]

Reid,
I am so sorry about the green curry. The time I had it there was no peppers, many chunks of eggplant, not sweet but could have been spicier because I asked for Thai hot. I love really spicey food. So many places on this island have no quality control. What is your favorite for green curry?

[milgwimper]

Heyla Reid,

Oh i love Thai food. I think it is also hit in miss with peoples' tastes. My husband can't stand to go to thi restaurant called Amarin Thai, because there is something ( i think leongrass *shrug*) that he really hates, but if we go to Thai pepper he has no problems. Yet some of my friends can't stand one or the other. *sigh* But there are a lot of different thai places so it's not really a crisis. Although I love thai pepper because usually their medium hot will blow your sox off, and I LOVE SPICEY!

Milgwimper

[Ed]

Hi there,Next time your at a Thai place and you like khao neow, order ping gai, khao neow and som tom pla la. (bbq chicken, sticky rice and papaya salad w/fermented fish sauce.) My favorite and #1 to a lot of northeastern thai and Lao. I think you would be happy

[Reid]

Hi Clare,

I normally do make my own green curry at home. Here's the link to the two-part post I did quite a while back!

http://onokinegrindz.typepad.com/ono_kine_grindz/2004/12/emgaeng_keow_wa.html

http://onokinegrindz.typepad.com/ono_kine_grindz/2004/12/emgaeng_keow_wa_1.html

Curry looks light because I used the flash when I took this photo. =(

Hi ST,

Long time no hear. I know what you mean about feeling cheated. Here they don't even use the Thai eggplants. *sigh*

Hi boo_licious,

Nice to see you again!

Yes, the green curry here was a bit pale and not as tasty as I wanted it to be. I have yet to visit a Thai restaurant here that actually uses those types of eggplants even though you can find them at all of the markets.

Many places here make the basil beef with bamboo shoots - don't really know why though.

I'm supposed to be visiting S'pore again in February or March 2006. Hopefully I can make it to M'sia as well.

Hi FatMan,

I wish it were so simple. It's half a world away for me. I should be SE Asia again in 2006. Hopefully we can meet up this time!

Hi Jo,

No bell peppers in curry because I don't consider it to be authentic. I've never seen a Thai green curry with bell peppers in it before.

Hi Kirk,

The color was very pale green and I didn't use my flash to take this photo. It could have been because of the light above my table, but I seriously doubt it.

I can't believe that sticky rice is so hard to come by in SD. Why is that?

Oooh, and I just love sticky rice with mango. It's one of my favorites.

Hi Michele,

Thank you for stopping by.

The basil beef was one of the better dishes of the night with the fish patties just nudging into first place. =)

You should definitely try eating these at a Thai restaurant sometime. If you'd like to try making this at home, I can give you a recipe that I have. =)

Hi Gail,

I find it funny as well, especially since we have quite a few Thai people here in Hawaii. Like you, I've been disappointed with many Thai restaurants as well. It seems as though they might do one or two dishes very well, and everything else just falls apart.

Hi Marney,

Awww. Don't worry about it. I normally have green curry everywhere I go. My favorite place for eating green curry is probably Champa Thai at Pearl Kai. The green curry at the one in Kaimuki is not the same, and I haven't been to the one in Kailua. Because every restaurant prepares the food differently, I normally order medium-hot, then add chillies if I want it spicier.

Hi Milgwimper,

I love Thai food and years ago, I could order it Thai hot and not be affected at all. These days, I can still take the heat, but not as much. I guess you lose it as you get older. =(

Hi Ed,

Thank you for stopping by the site!

I appreciate your recommendations and will take those into consideration next time I'm out eating Thai food.

Thanks again!

[clare eats]

Thanks reid!
that must have been before I became one of your regulars ;)

[boo_licious]

Reid, come over to Msia when you pop into Spore next year. We'll take you "makan" all the food you want.

[Michele]

Hi Reid,
Yes, I'd love a copy of your fish cakes recipe! Im very curious :)

[lance]

Have you tried Pae Thai on King Steet before? While mostly everyone were going to Mekong (sp), when it first open up, I was going to Pae Thai. Is it authentic? I have no idea, but the food was tasty. If you haven't tried it yet and if you decide to try it. Let me know what you think of it, as I haven't gone there since my college years.

[Reid]

Hi boo_licious,

I'll definitely try to make it over to KL when I'm in S'pore next year. Thanks for the offer. =)

Hi Michele,

I'll e-mail the recipe to you shortly!

Hi Lance,

I haven't been to Pae Thai in years, so the quality and authenticity of the food escapes me now. Maybe it's time for a revisit. It's quite close to where I live.

[Bonnie]

My friends and I ate at Bangkok Thai on Tues. nite. We each ordered different dishes and sampled each one. Everything was delicious and well-prepared. I plan to go there again with more friends. We had the Panang Curry, Yellow Curry, Cashew Chicken, and Mixed Vegetables with Pork. Our appetizer was sate tofu. Everything was fully flavorful with just the right degree of heat (spice). The Curry and Panang sauce was nice and thick so it clung to the meat and veggies, delivering that full flavor with every bite. I am sure that my friends and I will add this restaurant to our frequent visiting list.

[Reid]

Hi Bonnie,

Thank you for visiting my blog.

I'm glad you and your friends had such a nice dinner at Bangkok Thai. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us. Hope you enjoy your future visits there as well!