The Royal Thai Hut — Restaurant in Gold Coast City

As an Asian Aussie, i'm quite surprised at some of these reviews stating the Royal Thai Hut is owned an operated by "Indians". Who cares?! It's good food!! Thai flavours and culture was once heavily influenced by India so I don't see what the issue is. In fact, it's like saying people can and should only cook within their cultures. Rubbish!

If you want to throw around the term "Authentic" then there is probably only 1 restaurant on the southern end of the coast that is truly authentic Thai, and even then the owner admits to changing her flavour profiles to suit Westerners. I know popular sushi places run by Koreans, Malay places run by Thais... who caaares?! Good food is good food, and the Royal Thai Hut has GOOD FOOD.

We ordered the Green papaya salad which (although "mild") still had a decent kick of chilli throughout. It was zesty and flavoursome and full of texture and crunch. We also had the BBQ duck which was a little on the dry side, but made for a less "fatty" meal (unlike most Chinese-style BBQ ducks which commonly ooze fattiness), and so it had a nicer crunch and felt healthier in a way. The cashew nut stir fry sauce is beautifully balanced with sweet and smokey notes.. we had chicken as our protein and it was delicious and tender. We also ordered the fried chicken wing entree and was surprised at how generous the portion size was! I wasn't sure what to expect, but I found the deep fried crispy coating to be quite simple yet delicious (pretty sure it's just marinated in a light salt rub and deep fried). Finally, as many have already commented, the coconut rice is amaaazing. It's quite a sweet coconut rice that could probably pass as a dessert, but it's not too heavy or sickly. I found it was the perfect compliment to the papaya salad and other more punchy dishes as it helped to cut through some of the spice and acid. It also goes well with many of the curries too.. or just on its own!

If you're looking for "authentic" Thai food, you'll get some very familiar flavour profiles from Royal Thai Hut's menu. If you're looking for unpretentious, delicious, bold, tasty, well balanced flavours then definitely give this place a go. Compliments...

Firstly, the coconut rice is amazing - the best we have had from a small Thai restaurant. The massaman curry is also really good (but substitute the peanuts for cashews). The decor in the place is original and looks really good, though I've only ordered take away.

Reason why I've rated 3 stars instead of 5: We have had take away 3 times in the last two weeks from this place. You get 10% off on take away meals - apparently they even deliver locally for orders over $40 or $60 or something - and the 10% discount on take away orders is advertised on their menu flyer. They also have a sign on the door which suggests ordering online through Menulog. We ordered our first meal over the phone and didn't even know about the discount, so that was a pleasant surprise. The second time we followed the suggestion to order online, again for take away. After I checked my receipt when I got home I found I'd paid full price. We ordered again tonight and I spoke directly with the owner to have this rectified as we were misled by the fact there are no disclaimers stating the take away discount excludes online orders / querying why we paid full price when it's advertised that there's a 10% discount on take away meals. I was friendly but very direct in my wishes to have this rectified but the owner wouldn't budge. I understand that he has to pay Menulog for online orders, but not trying to fix this up to apologise for the misunderstanding for a very repeat customer is not good business. Giving a one off extra 10% would have kept us loyal, but now I'm not so sure if we shouldn't start looking...

Edit: 10 months since my review, I can still say this place consistently delivers great quality food at a good price and the portions are HUGE. I think the portions are bigger when you dine in. Thank you!

I don’t understand the negative reviews?! Have dined here before and today ordered through Eat Club and it was ready on time. My boyfriend and I make it a point to try a new Thai restaurant on the Gold Coast at least 2-3 times a month to find the best pad kee mao. We’ve been to just about all of them and this one which happens to be a 2-min drive from home, is right in our top 3!

Food is flavourful, saucey, spicy and if people don’t like it, then you don’t like Thai food. Portion and prices are good. Besides the curries and pad kee mao we can’t comment on the other dishes but we’ll make our way through the menu. Btw I’m Thai and thankful for a great local Thai...