Haleiwa Thai

This place was awesome when we visited it a couple of years ago, but it was closed on our last trip to Hawaii. =(

Another overdue update — this place has closed down and has been replaced by something else (something better, I hope!). All I have to say is, good riddance!

This place is great! Great food especially the curry which has lots of tamarind in it. we have always enjoyed coming here and look forward to more visits, thanks!

I’m sure by now people are seeing that this place is closed. They’re supposed to be remodeling and reopening under a new name (Rajanee) which is their new sister restaurant in Miliani (
). I believe that’s going to be in the Fall of 2013.
When I arrived at 12noon the place was locked. I knocked and no one answered. That should have been a sign that we should have just moved on. Stubbornly we came back around 12:15pm and they were open.
I came here reluctantly because Opal was closed for lunch (definitely the best Thai food in North Shore). Despite the bad reviews, we still wanted some Thai. We came in Monday and they were closing in a few days which meant they didn’t have any beef or shrimp. BOO.
The Som Tom (papaya salad) was way too sour because there was lemon in it. Probably some of the worst papaya salad I’ve ever had. The menu said spicy but it was completely sour with no spice.
The Pad Thai was a bit dry and just average. Very forgettable. I usually consider Pad Thai to be the determining factor if I like a place and their Pad Thai was very mediocre.
Basil chicken and vegetables were actually pretty good once we added some spice. Along with some brown rice it wasn’t completely a lost cause. There was a good selection of vegetables and a nice fresh taste to all of it.
The portions were pretty large which hopefully they figure out that you don’t need to give so much if what you give is quality. Since they’re reopening under a new name, I hope they get it together and start competing with Opal. I mean it’ll be hard to ever compete with him but they can still be a quality option for Thai food.
Cash only. Service wasn’t bad but you could tell she was just helping out the owner. I almost felt a little bit bad for her because she knew it was a lost cause. There was no «we’ll make it better someday» kind of attitude.

Very good Thai food definitely did not disappoint us at all. Very cute little restaurant in town that is a great atmosphere! Only thing I wish we would have know is it was bring your own beer program and they do not serve alcohol. Other then that great dinner! I hope you find a new location and open back up!
Thank you for the great meal!

FRIED COCKROACH— we ordered the fried tofu and along side one of the squares was a cockroach, seriously fried into the tofu.
We have tried this place four times in three years and each time our experience has been less than desirable. This time, by far being the worst. We have seen cockroaches running up and down the walls and floors every visit. –the owner states she is doing everything within her power to take care of this and it is common for the area.
When we showed the waitress she said nothing and went out of sight, while we sat there wondering WTF– it took her 5 minutes for her to return– of course we walked out.
I WOUDL RATE THIS PLACE ‘0’ STARS IF THERE WAS THE OPTION…
BEWARE.

KEEP DRIVING! KEEP DRIVING! KEEP DRIVING!!!
Food took an hour to get to the table and it was way too salty! We specifically told the waitress that our Mom was diabetic so brown rice please and not too salty. When the food finally came it was all salty. The soup, the chicken dish, the shrimp dish. It was like they drowned it with soy sauce. We couldn’t eat any of it. I told the nice waitress that I would only pay for the fried rice, the salad and the Thai Iced Tea. It was terrible. We should have stopped at the shrimp truck instead. We drove all the way back to Waikiki on empty stomachs. Terrible!

Finally got to try here… oooohhh not so good. We got the spring rolls, spicy eggplant and the bangkok night noodles. I would have to say none of it was good. The spring rolls came with 4 small pieces and were not good. The spicy eggplant was not spicy at all and the noodles were just ok.
I wanted hot sauce and they had nothing. No chili sauce, no sriracha, nothing. There was only one guy working and they were pretty busy. Service wasn’t all that great, poor guy was all buy himself. It’s a really small place so I guess you don’t expect them to have 2 people on the floor.
The only good thing was that Unilocal had a check in offer so we got 10% off our bill. YAY!!!
Will I come here again… I think I’ll head down the street and go to Cholos! =)

As much as I hate giving a bad review, especially when the service is decent, I just cannot recommend this place under any conditions. Id like to preface this review by saying that I LOVE Thai food and I can be convinced that even passable Thai food is good, just because I like the flavors involved.
Sadly, I have to echo others that say that this place is clearly not run by Thai people or anyone who has any knowledge or experience cooking Thai food. Actually, the food here reminded me of when I was first learning to cook Thai food and did everything wrong. Adding the wrong combination of curry and coconut milk, making a bland, thin curry? Thats here. Using cheap, grocery store noodles in the Pad Khee Mao? That too. No color, no flavor additions like basil leaves, tomato or lime? Sadly, that too.
While the service was friendly and location is relaxing, sadly the food (and the sort of crazy prices you pay for the food) is just not worth it. Keep searching Oahu if you want some decent Thai.

I liked the relaxed décor and pretty tile at Haleiwa Thai! Service wasn’t the most friendly, but we got lots of yummy dishes — try the battered sole with green curry! They also made me a Pad see Iew even though it wasn’t on the menu. And corkage fee — 6 bucks! What a deal!
Solid curries, pad thai, and fried rice. All delicious and tasty.

We came here on a Saturday night at 6 and only had to wait about 5 minutes. Unfortunately the only tables available were on the patio and it was 64 degrees outside. Rather than wait for a table inside which wasn’t much warmer since they had the AC on, we decided to brave the cold. Now why they wouldn’t invest in heat lamps for nights like these is beyond me. It does get rather cold in Haleiwa in winter months.
Onto the food… i’m impressed! I ordered the fried duck that was drenched in a light, creamy curry sauce. I ordered it with the coconut rice which is a side order of 3 $. The coconut rice is basically regular rice flavored with coconut and a sprinkle of black sesame seeds and fried shallots/​or onions I believe and a few peanuts. My favorite duck dish doesn’t come cheap at 20 $.
Hubs ordered the Green Curry with Shrimp that he liked, but wished it was more spicy. However, I like it more mild and it suited me just fine.
As for the pineapple rice, we had mixed feelings. The taste was there… great flavoring, but the consistency of the rice was too sticky. Fried rice should be light and flaky, not stick together in clumps.
We started with an appetizer platter that consisted of 4 chicken breast skewers with a great peanut dipping sauce, 4 egg rolls, and a couple of fried shrimp. The chicken skewers were too dry. even with the yummy peanut sauce, I still found it not worth the calories to eat. The rest of the stuff on the platter was fantastic!
Service was friendly and attentive. They seemed a bit frazzled but I guess I’d be too if there were patrons constantly waiting for a table. These girls were definitely not lazy!
The whole meal cost 72 $ which is more than I’d like to pay for a Thai dinner, but then again all restaurants in Haleiwa aren’t cheap. I’d come back if I felt like splurging a bit for dinner. =)

Regardless of the fact that there are two WAY better places right down the street… this is a bad Thai restaurant no matter where you are. It is extremely obvious the chef has no experience with Thai food. The food was bland, and the sauces seemed like something out of a plastic bag. There was nothing special about our meals.
I ordered the garlic pork and received a massive pile of chopped up DRY pork covered in garlic and two scoops of rice… so boring and not tasty. My fiancée got the Pad Kee Mao, and when she ordered it she referred to it as «Drunken Noodles»… the waitress didn’t even know that they were the same thing. What she received was chopped up noodles in a massive pile. There no basil, no tomato, and no inspiration… it looked like something plopped out of a can… maybe a dog food thai special?!
Souvaly & Opal… nuff said.

Gosh, I drove by this little thai place so many times before I finally ate there. It just looked a little, let’s say, small.
That day we stopped to get some thai food we were really hungry, so we ordered the Tom Ka and a main dish each, I got the Panang Curry. It was really, really tasty but also very spicy. But I like that, so a big YAY to the food.
The place is a little, yeah, here it comes again, small. It’s crowded and a little dirty maybe (sorry guys, just the way I think. But I am Swiss, I do have very high expectations). For instance, if you need to use the restrooms, you have to walk across the kitchen, which I really do not appreciate.
Anyways, it’s Hawaii, rules here are different, and the food was great and the prices too. 4 stars from me.

Came here today for lunch, per recommendation by my cousin’s hubby. I was actually planning to just grab a sandwich at Storto’s, but once he saw my FB status said Haleiwa, mentioned how him and my cousin LOVE to eat here whenever they are in Haleiwa. So I thought, «Oh heck, why not?!» I DO love Thai food, afterall.
The place is located right off Kam Hwy, just after Matsumoto’s. There is street parking. I parked on a side street just off the main road, along side the church. Not too far! I’ve passed this place so many times, and now I was excited to eat here. The building is this cute, quaint blue building with about 4 – 5 tables of outdoor seating, and more tables inside.
There was only one waitress working, but she attended to the 3 – 4 tables of patrons in a timely manner. I ordered the yellow curry thai noodles with tofu. It was SO good. Never had this before, or noticed it on the menu at any other Thai restaurant. I sent a photo to my mom, as she also loves Thai food, and she thought the photo looked so appetizing, she asked me to take out the same thing for her but with tofu and shrimp ($ 3 extra for adding two ‘meats’).
The thai iced tea was not bad, but just a little too sweet. I think maybe there was too much milk, so I couldn’t finish it all. But no big deal…
The best part was I gave my server my card when she brought my bill, which I didn’t even open to check the bill, and she said, «Oh we’re cash only right now, but I’ll take this anyway.» Thank goodness cause I only had enough cash on me for my meal, not thinking I’d have to take out for my mother as well! So I left her over a 20% cash tip. That was very nice of her!
So I guess maybe during lunch time, they are Cash Only? Not sure, but apparently they accept credit/​debit sometimes. So just be aware of that! Other than that, great place and will definitely be back soon!

I love Thai food, and this is easy to find, right on the main drag.
We stumbled in after a day of watching the surfers on Sunset beach. It’s the kind of place you can go to straight form the beach without worrying if your hair is sticking up funny in the back,
Food was tasty and filling, a little pricy for what you get, but then this IS touristy Haleiwa, the only place where the traffic is worse that the H1 at 5 PM on a Friday!
So go, enjoy it for what it is, part of a great day at the north shore.

Confused by the name! The sign now says Haleiwa Thai.
So after a REALLY long wait on a sat night… we finally got seated. Then the outdoor lighting went out! In fact once we got seated I couldn’t even read the menu… good thing I wanted to order the special… Drunken Noodles.
After we placed out order, it probably was about 20 min before we got our summer rolls. Then we got our meals about 5 min later. The summer rolls were excellent. My drunken noodles, not so much. I think there were more onions than anything else in that dish. It was a huge dish, but almost half of it was onions. I hate onions!!!
Good thing I we got the coconut rice… that was pretty good. The waitress almost forgot that order too.
Then we decided to order dessert, Fried coconut ice cream. They were all out. So we decided to get the check. For two people, she charged the credit card for $ 19 and the bill was $ 46…so not only do we have slow service, ok food, we have waitresses that can’t do math. She is luck that we were honest people and had her correct the bill.
All in all, this place was not as good as I remembered it. The food was OK and the service was really slow. There are definitely better places than this place that we should have gone too.

************************** 601 ****************************
Thai food take out or dine in, next to Matsumoto Shave Ice, North Shore. Decent for a quick bite, but nothing compare to a few good ones in down town Waikiki! Pineapple curry was good. Pad Thai was OK. Service was friendly. Cheap eats.

Went today for lunch with my partner after a nice snorkel at Shark’s Cove. It was my first time there, and I was excited to try it because of a friend’s referral. Overall I had a great meal. We split 3 items between the 3 of us, and left stuffed. We ordered:
Summer Rolls– Vegetarian with morning glory shoots, bean sprouts, carrots, tofu and other goodies. Served with a warm coconut curry sauce which was a nice change from the normal Mae-​Ploy style sauce most places serve with summer rolls. $ 5 for 4 pieces
Papaya Salad– Super tasty, authentic for the most part with limes, peanuts, fish sauce, and tomatoes all muddled together with fresh papaya. My only gripe is they won’t spice ANYTHING. There’s no Mild, Medium, Hot, Thai Hot… It’s all MILD. They will bring a side dish of dried chilis (which weren’t even that hot), but it’s not the same as having fresh chilis muddled with the rest of the salad. $ 7
Pad Kee Mao Noodles– Delicious, but again, no heat, you have to add that yourself. Fresh veggies and tofu made this dish light but filling. Only complaint was that it was a little bit on the oily side. $ 12
I would come again and try some of the curry, or soups, but since I live in HNL, it’s quite a drive. Would have given the place 5 stars if the kitchen could figure out how to use some chilis in their actual cooking.

It’s all a matter of perspective. If I had stumbled across Haleiwa Eats by accident while exploring the North Shore, I undoubtedly would have given it a 5-​star rating. It would have been a thrill to find decent Thai food in such a fun way.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find it by accident. I specifically drove all the way from town just to have lunch at Haleiwa Eats. This long purposeful drive makes this establishment’s many obvious faults impossible to overlook.
Let me address this right away: I did really enjoy the food, at least most of it. The Tom Ka soup was rich, flavorful and creamy. The Pineapple Curry was packed a very pleasant powerful taste punch. Only the Summer Rolls disappointed me. They were mostly cabbage and were a little tough and dry. To fix this, I just wouldn’t order them next time.
Their aforementioned flaws include: very limited parking, a run-​down dingy dining room, uncomfortable seats, and most of all, instead of making your spiciness level to order, they make everything mild and bring you crushed chili so you can spice it to taste. As a side note; we added a little chili to the soup, a lot of chili to the Summer Roll sauce, and none to the Pineapple Curry.
Another fault I couldn’t overlook was the price. It was a little high. Lunch for two (splitting one appetizer, one soup and one entrée) came to $ 33, pre tip. Maybe this wouldn’t have seemed so high if it wasn’t a cash only establishment, but Haleiwa Eats is.
As I sit here proof-​reading my review and trying to decide how many stars to assign, The memory of the taste of their Pineapple Curry is winning out over their many faults. So, it looks like Haleiwa Eats is getting away with 4-​stars.

I’m not quite sure what this place is… Asian fusion? Hawaiian? or something completely original to Haleiwa?
FOOD: In any scenario, you’ll be disappointed if you walk in expecting authentic Thai food. We had several dishes — panang curry (very sweet), som tum, chicken salad (prepared warm) with brown rice — all of which were decent, but somewhat lacking in flavors and the diversity of ingredients being poor. The best dish among these was probably the chicken salad, which was the least plain.
OTHERS: The ambiance is hip and colorful, but not so comfortable. The service was polite, but understaffed, and the prices were average for Hawaii (meaning, more expensive than California). There’s a small parking lot adjacent to the restaurant, which is good news on this busy strip.
It’s a nice eatery… except once was enough for us.