This has quickly become one of me favorite places in Hilo. It really is top notch. The different curry dishes are all i have had so far but, i doubt any of it is bad. read more

Naung Mai Thai Kitchen - Waitress serving patrons. - Thai Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

This is our go-to in Hilo for Thai in the past 8 months. The staff is so warm and inviting and their food shows just the same amount of care. Highly recommend the papaya salad, the veggie stir fry, and the pineapple fried rice and the panang. For spice level we order "hot", and our one piece of feedback is that other spice levels can be less flavorful so not as stellar for guests we have brought. Have been to many Thai restaurants and this is the brand of Thai that really shines, and why we ended up visiting a few years back. Thank you! read more

We went here on a day trip to Hilo. The food and service were very very good and seemed authentic. We both had curries and they were rich and complex in flavor. So glad we tried it. We eat Thai regularly and found this to be really good read more

Food is amazing. Every Time I am on Hilo side, I hit up this spot. Small friendly atmosphere. Staff is very accommodating.

Absolutely amazing spot. Best place we found so far in Hilo. Service was exceptional and it is child friendly. We've had Thai food all throughout the nation and in other countries including Thailand and the ingredients and authenticity was superb. The papaya salad was fresh and all the noodle dishes perfect. Thank you we plan on ordering for the whole family later this week. read more

I've been there 3x for lunch and I always get something from their "daily lunch special" board that is sitting right on the table! No menu required. The specials consist of 3 different types of curries and some stir fried dish with your choice of jasmine or brown rice. And it's only $7! The food is fresh, they serve it up fast and the ladies that work there are very friendly. My favorite is the green curry with jasmine rice. When I'm done there is nothing left on my plate! Mmmmm... I wish I had some right now. read more

This is quite a hole-in-the-wall sort of place. We went for lunch while we were in the Hilo bay area. The crowd built up quickly during lunch hour and one waitress was definitely not enough, she was a bit frazzled handling so many tables. We weren't given any napkins or cutlery when seated. But the food was absolutely delicious. We had the coconut cream soup, vegetable fried rice and masaman curry with brown rice between the two of us. Everything was perfectly seasoned and beautifully balanced with the hot and sweet Thai theme. We ended with a coconut tapioca pudding over homemade mango ice cream; definitely try that, it was my absolute favorite!! I wish I had the space for two more helpings of the dessert but the entree portions were quite big. Definitely recommended if you are looking for vegetarian options in the area! read more

Excelent choice! Great food, nice little restaurant, very affordable. Food is very fresh and cooked to order. Home made ice cream is delicious! Note that all dishes can be shared. Coconut soup is to die for! read more

Glad we ran into this tasty place. Love the fact that all the dishes have veggies in them especially pumpkin. will come here again for the pineapple and red curries! read more

Incredible. Best pad see ew I've ever had. Flavors were amazing, everything we ordered was superb. We also got the yellow curry, Thai fried rice and spring rolls. I thoroughly enjoyed it all!! Warning though- spices are hotter than most. I would scale down a number or two from your average meter. We got a 2 or 3 on most dishes and they had some kick for sure! So so good. Thanks for an amazing experience! read more

Great Thai food. Very fast service. The pork Satay starter was so amazing!! Very pleased with the whole meal.

Small inside but big flavors. Very friendly staff and I could tell it's a favorite with the locals. Everyone that came knew the staff and was greeted with a hug. I had the yellow curry but a little to spicy for me. Flavor was good. I'll be back to try the other menu items for sure. This place will be my go to for Thai cuisine. read more

The food was good and modestly priced. There were a couple of 4 star dishes but the others were good but not spectacular. The staff were friendly and attentive. BTW, no liquor license but they are okay with you bringing in your own. All in all, good, cheap eats, but was expecting more after all the 5 star reviews. read more

So glad we chose this restaurant over anything else! Good service, good location in town, and great food! My dad and I had the Pumpkin Curry and Chicken Pad Thai for dinner and the warm Tapioca for dessert. Definitely coming back again! We are beyond impressed!! read more

Naung Mai Thai Kitchen - Chicken pad Thai - Thai Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Very good authentic Thai food. Busy for dinner but the turn over is quick and we were seated in less than 10 minutes. I am vegetarian so I had the papaya salad (amazingly fresh) and pumpkin curry with tofu and brown rice. I asked for the Thai hot spice level and WOW...it was sweat inducing!! read more

Naung Mai Thai Kitchen - Pumpkin curry with tofu and brown rice. Yum!! Thai level hot! - Thai Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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Some of the best Thai food in America. Always flavorful, fresh, and perfectly cooked. Also, they use paper for their to-go containers, instead of the usual styrofoam, which I (and the oceans) hugely appreciate!!! read more

Awesome food! Great spring rolls with shrimp and fried spring roll and green papaya salad!!! Highly recommend read more

Naung Mai Thai Kitchen - Thai Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

We found Nuang Mai Thai on Yelp after leaving the Hawaii Botanical Garden ravenous with hunger. After navigating one or two blocks on foot in downtown Hilo, we arrived at a small, local, presumably family-run Thai restaurant. The menu contained all of the usual suspects (Thai Basil, papaya salad), and some Chinese favorites as well (Beef with Broccoli). Locals hunched over their meals with a book or newspaper or laughed and talked with friends. My husband ordered the Thai Basil, and I ordered Beef with Broccoli and summer rolls, and our food arrived quickly. The vegetarian summer rolls arrived first, and the lettuce inside had a fresh crunch to it as we dug into the rolls. They were delicious and tasted pretty fresh. Then, our main dishes arrived. The first thing I noticed was the aroma wafting from my husband's Thai Basil. I of course sampled his dish, and was delighted with the delicate basil flavor and spices. The flavors don't hit you over the head, but rather dance quietly on your tongue as you begin to smile. My Beef with Broccoli was also flavorful, though the beef was a little on the tough side. We demolished our plates and sat back, happy. Note that the portion sizes were a bit small for a $15 dinner plate at a Thai food restaurant, but since we were vacationing it actually would have been more of a hassle to deal with leftovers. We would return here for a meal with no problems. read more

Very friendly server, amazing and authentic food; able to dial up the heat if you want. If you are in the mood for Thai, this is your place.

Meh, food was pretty good. I tried a Thai salad and it wasn't exactly something I'd try again. Service was pretty good. Not sure if I'd go back but if I did, I'd probably try a noodle or curry dish instead. read more

Called a large to go order in at 6pm. The lady took my number and said it'd be ready to pick up in 30 mins. Told her we'd be 45 as had a few errands. We arrived super late at 7:45pm as our errands took longer than we thought . Figured by then - an hour n 45mins later, we'd run in, pay, grab n go. Nope! We went in, paid then were told our food was just being cooked now!?! Surprised, I exclaimed "but we ordered an hour and 45 mins ago!" Only to be told in an annoyed tone by their "customer service" girl who is pointing to the back of the kitchen, to "look at all the checks we have lined up you can see we're busy" Totally whack customer service. She had my number and could've easily called to tell us our order would actually be ready in 2 hours, not the 30 mins she had initially grossly underestimated. Other customers waiting outside were complaining of the same ridiculously long delay with no prior warning as to how long they'd have to wait. Too bad as the two Thai ladies working their butts off are amazing and make delicious food. But the girl they have hired to take orders and deal with customers does their business no justice. In the end, 2 hrs n 5 mins after ordering, we got our yummy order. With a free iced tea thrown in. Oh and one thing, for those that care, they microwave their spring rolls. I didn't even know people used microwaves these days given how it's been proven how detrimental they are. Kind of a bummer as honestly, their food really is delish. I'd say 4* for the food & 2* for the customer service. read more

Just ok, and I suppose pretty acceptable for Big Island standards. No comparison to the real quality you get on Oahu & Asian parts of California. Tried the curry, green papaya salad & pad Thai. None were good enough to go back for more. Sorry... read more

We ordered the papaya salad here and I was surprised that they use mainly soy sauce instead of fish sauce for their dish. The coconut calamari was good but the portions were not worth the price. And that goes for all their dishes. Also, the waitress got our order wrong and said because we ate majority of the plate, (which we didn't..and like I said, their portion sizes are small) the kitchen wouldn't remake it or add eggplant. She did offer her sincere apologies though. In all honesty, I would not return to nor recommend this restaurant. Others may have had a better experience. For me, there are way better service and flavors at other Thai restaurants. But if you like a lot of soy sauce in your food, and prefer kid sized portions and a high possibility of getting your order wrong when you're the only people in the restaurant, then why not. However, I do have to add that we ate all the papaya salad and took home the rest of the wrong dish. We were hungry from a long day at the beach and we paid for it, so yeah....we took it home. read more

So good. Food was amazing. Service was great. We had the red curry which was super flavorful. The coconut base was extremely fresh and fragrant. We also had the garlic chicken, which was great if you like garlic -- which I do. Very flavorful. Most everything was organic or local my sourced. I got medium spice on everything, which I would imagine may be considered hot to some. The heat level was fine for me and I might even consider go up one level. So I would urge you to feed lightly with the spice. read more

Solid Pad Khee Mao, the sauce was a little sweeter than I am used to but the spice was perfect and the chicken was tender. I thought it was a bit pricy but the portion was generous. Server was a sweetheart too. read more

I heard that this was a decent location for Thai food and thought i'd give it a try for the first time. Me and my family sat down at a table at approximately 6:00pm, where I observed maybe 2 other groups dining in at the time. The waitress was pleasant and later took my families orders in a timely fashion. My order may have been complicated as we ordered family style (not one dish per person) to share. I however have been craving tom yom soup and deviated from my family style ordering and ordered that all to myself. 10 mins after ordering, papaya salad arrives - not bad at all another 10 mins later, fried calamari arrives - pretty good another 10 mins later, pad thai arrives - not as good as i'd expected it to be and finally another 10 mins later, chicken eggplant arrives - not bad i then inquired on the tom yum soup that i ordered but was advised that it was given to the wrong table (to a couple that sat down about 30 mins after us). they unfortunately already began eating the soup before realizing that it wasn't theirs where employees took it back. Because i didn't want to wait another 20-30 mins for my order, I decided to cancel my soup =( The older lady, presumed to be the owner, apparently knew the couple that got my soup and was more apologetic towards them, which is understandable since they apparently knew each other. Just from my point of view, being a first time customer at this location i was expecting a lot better service overall. I would highly recommend just going to Pho Viet next door if you're in the area, faster service there, owner lady is sweet and food is cheaper and comes in an abundance. read more

This is our favorite Thai spot in Hilo! They use great fresh ingredients, are very health conscious and have wonderful vegan options. Extra flavorful and consistently yummy. We like to order their lunch special of pumpkin curry with brown rice which is easily enough for two to share. It's easy to see the dedication and talent of the owners and her awesome staff. read more

Simple Thai fare, but delicious and quick. Just what we wanted after our day long travels. Warm and unassuming service, n humble ambience.

Delicious Thai food at very reasonable prices. As vegetarians, we were delighted to find that nearly every dish came with the option of substituting the meat for tofu. We ordered a fried rice with tofu, green curry with tofu, and vegetables & tofu stir-fried in basil & spicy soy sauce. The curry & vegetable dishes came with a free bowl of rice on the side, with a brown, white or sticky rice option. The spice level of each dish is customizable. All 3 dishes we ordered tasted excellent. The green curry did not look green (it was a very pale orangey-pink) and we could not taste much basil, but it was delicious. The predominant favour was probably of the coconut milk. read more

I've lived in Hilo over seven years and have never tried this place until now. Ordered for pick up and plated it at home. What an amazing meal. Havn't had such excellent curry and pad Thai since living in Los Angeles. I'll be back and recommending to all my friends. Thanks!!! read more

Naung Mai Thai Kitchen - Super excellent!!! - Thai Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

been here a year ago, didn't like it, came here again recently , still don't like it. yes the prices are cheaper than most Thai restaurants in Hilo. but pay the extra 3 bucks per dish and go else where. it's average curries , and majority of them are too bland for my taste. possibly the WORST pad Thai I ever had in my life. ate one bite and wanted to spit it out. thought maybe it was just a bad day but they make ketchup rice noodle apparently and call it pad Thai. Pumpkin curry was ok . Wish it had more pumpkin in it. Tom yum was ok also Chicken satay or any satay -do not order unless u like curry gravy stir fry/boiled chicken with gravy poured over it. I would not call it satay more like stir fry with gravy A lot of their dishes is different than your stereotypical Thai. When mango sticky rice is in season - do get this . It's really good! Service is a hit or miss depends how busy , they are very nice ladies but expect to wait a bit because it's not organized or have a designated waitress sometimes , ur kitchen cook or help is probaly also your waitress. read more

Near the end of our first-time visit to the Big Island, Mari C. and I agreed that it is awesome and that we should probably abandon our careers and become beach bums there. Our only lament was that the restaurants on the island, while reasonably good occasionally, were mostly disappointing. On our last night before heading back to the mainland, our friend Sky took us out to Naung MAI Thai Kitchen and showed us that the Big Island does have at least one incredible restaurant. Here is my untempered praise for the restaurant: BEST THAI FOOD EVER, including everywhere I've tried in California. FRESH, island-LOCAL, ingredients. CHARMING staff and ambiance. INNOVATIVE, EXCITING menu selection that goes well beyond the typical Thai restaurant menu. Hands down the best restaurant I have ever eaten at anywhere in the Hawaiian Islands (I've spent time on Maui, Oahu, and Hawaii). The NY Times has a pretty good summary review from Frommer's quoted here: "This quintessential hole in the wall has gained an extra room, but even with 26 seats, it fills up quickly. In a short time, Naung Mai has gained the respect of Hilo residents for its curries and pad Thai noodles, and its use of fresh local ingredients. The flavors are assertive, the produce comes straight from the Hilo Farmers Market, and the prices are good. The four curries -- green, red, yellow, and Mussaman (Thai Muslim) -- go with the jasmine, brown, white, and sticky rice. The pad Thai rice noodles, served with tofu and fresh vegetables, come with a choice of chicken, pork, or shrimp, and are sprinkled with fresh peanuts. You can order your curry Thai-spicy (incendiary) or American-spicy (moderately hot), but even mild, the flavors are outstanding. Owner-chef Jirawan Onmai also makes wonderful spring rolls and a Tom Yum spicy soup that is legendary. Lunch specials are a steal. Naung Mai is obscured behind the Garden Exchange, so it may take some seeking out." http://tinyurl.com/5z3xes read more

service fine. food quite different from other usual thai restaurants. pumpkin curry unique and delicious. long rice soup - peppery and garlicky and warming. small restaurant. prices average. read more

For a group of 5, we orderd tofu pad thai, pineapple rice, green curry, coconut calamari, and broccoli stir fry. Everything was so flavorful and delicious. read more

Naung Mai Thai Kitchen - Thai Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

So unhelpful and unfriendly. I had dropped off a friend to her car which was parked nearby Naung Mai. I was feeling sick and just wanted some soup so I was going to order take out. I know the soup is large so I asked them to split the soup into two containers so I could give the other half to my friend who was going her own way. A simple request. The girl taking the order was young and not very inventive so she asked the lady who was cooking and I watched her flail her arms and say No! Make them half it themselves! So the girl came back and said no. I said Can't you just give me two containers and I'll pay for the extra? No we don't charge for containers was her answer. Unbelievably unhelpful! I just left. No matter how good the food is if the people aren't good to their customers why should I want to support their business? read more

During our last trip to Hilo, I was craving Thai food goodness, so I picked the first business that came up on Yelp. We found street parking along Kilauea Ave - quite an interesting area of town, perhaps I wouldn't visit it at nighttime. Of course, we ordered the two dishes I ALWAYS order at Thai restaurants - Pad Thai and Tom Kha. Both were delicious! We also got the Red Curry (with pumpkin and eggplant), basil eggplant, and sticky rice. Everything was so tasty, I especially enjoyed the red curry, which had layers of flavor and heat. To end the meal, we tried the strawberry ice cream w/warm tapioca pudding and fresh strawberries - it was soooo good! I'm sad that Naung Mai Thai Kitchen is not on Oahu, because I wish I could eat there more often! read more

We ordered fried rice, pad thai, and the papaya salad. The rice was delicious and was my personal favorite out of the meal. The [mild] noodles were nice as well, but lacked a little in flavor. And lastly the papaya salad was in fact bursting with flavor, although sometimes the lemon could be a bit overpowering. Overall, I thought the meal was pretty appetizing. read more

This is a tiny hole-in-the wall type of restuarant, but the food is amazing. Some of the stand-out dishes I have tried there have been the yellow curry and the cashew chicken. Yum!! So good!!! It's kind of easy to miss because of its somewhat awkward location, but I definitely suggest looking for it and trying it out- you will not regret it! Naung Mai is definitely one of the best Thai places I have ever eaten at in Hawaii. read more

The best Thai Food in the Universe! The food is so onodelicious!!! They have amazing lunch specials. My favorite is the Broccoli Tofu on Jazmine Rice. Oh and no meal would be complete you must have their Thai Ice Tea!!!! Heaven on Earth!!!! read more

My husband and I eat here whenever we have a hankering for Thai food and I am too lazy to make it myself. We usually get two of the curry dishes with chicken and don't stray from that. We once got Pad Thai and it was good. Pumpkin curry is a standard for us, then we rotate between Red, Green, or Massaman Curry. You have the choice of meat-chicken,beef,pork; shrimp, tofu or "seafood." We got the shrimp once and they were a bit stingy on the portion but understandable because shrimp is not local and it is expensive. Nonetheless, we are ordering tonight as I write this review. The building itself is a nice "whole in the wall" style with bright colors from the front, screen door to enter, and if you sit at the right spot you can see right into the kitchen. We usually order Thai iced tea- sweet and thick! or Thai coffee with dinner. It's a cute local place that does great business. If you go there during Opakapaka season they do a great special with it. Cooked really well and you know it's fresh. All in all, it's one of our go-to places for reasonably priced great food! read more