Phranakorn Thai Cafe and Restaurant — Restaurant in Queensland

First and last time dining here. First, the food. Mostly, it was excellent. My mains was not so great, but I tried most of the other dishes and it seems mine was just a poor choice. I had the ‘Chef recommended’ lamb shank massaman curry. Curry itself was flavourful, but the lamb was disappointing. I feel the beef would be a better choice.

I saw another reviewer commented about them being understaffed and becoming overwhelmed when busy. This certainly was my experience too.

Unfortunately the service really made for a disappointing experience and is the reason I will not return. After ordering, we waited 30 minutes and still no drinks or even water for the table. I could not get the attention of any of the 3 wait staff, so went inside to ask for our drinks. 10 more minutes and they finally arrived.

Then 3 of 4 main meals were delivered and one of our party waited nearly 15 minutes before again going inside to ask after her missing curry. 10 more minutes and the curry arrived. Lastly, we had to line up for over 10 minutes to pay and then were told ‘no split bills, our system does not allow it’. I’m sorry, but the technology exists that allows people to easily pay a certain portion of a bill, and this is common practice at every other restaurant I have eaten at in the past 5+ years. This is not a ‘split bill’ as such where they print 4 bills for 4 people, it is just paying a share of a single bill. If this place really cannot do that, they need to upgrade their system. Ultimately, this is a hospitality business and refusing to assist your customers in paying for their meal and only their meal is not very hospitable. Despite the lovely tasting food, the rest of the experience left a bad taste...

I have been before, the food was good last time but this restaurant has to be the most disorganised restaurant I have ever seen in my life. For a start, it would help greatly if they put numbers on the tables. That would then help the staff to work out where they need to take the cooked food instead of wandering around asking different tables whose food they have cause they can't remember who ordered it. We were there an hour and a half and never received any food. (6:15 pm to 8 pm) They have a small kitchen, and there is no system to cook the orders whatsoever. The lottery raffle to get your food is their method. Well, we lost out. They are overwhelmed by takeaways that are apparently totally more important than the people in the restaurant who have shown up. Maybe stop answering the phone until you are on top of the orders you have. Before we even went, I booked two days before and asked for a table for two inside. Waste of time. Turned up and there are bookings written everywhere and no allotment of people to tables. They couldn't even find our booking. The tables all on the inside had food on them still. There are not enough staff to cope, too many orders, and the disorganisation makes it a shambles.

Update - we watched multiple people arrive after us sit down and then order after us, eat their food, and some even leave. We watched dozens of people order takeaway and leave who ordered after us. So yes, your cooking order is a raffle. Out on a Valentines dinner with my wife to sit there, 1 an hour and 40 minutes and not receive any food is crazy. We left very hangry and went home and ate leftovers....

Phranakorn is a really great option for Thai food in Townsville. We have visited many times now & it is probably the best Thai the city has to offer at the current time.

The food is consistently good & the whole barramundi w tamarind sauce is a great choice especially to share. The duck curry is also recommended.

For entrees you will not be disappointed with the pork belly basket & the prawn & crab net rolls (like a spring roll but with crunchy net like pastry)

The service is good & they try hard but I feel like they need to hire more as they will often get a little overwhelmed when the place gets busy as it often does.

Good energy & nice enough cafe style atmosphere with outdoor & indoor seating. Highly recommended for a casual meal at any time.

Edit 17 July 2025 Phranakorn is still a great reliable option for Thai food in Townsville. Great service tonight with quick food delivery & very friendly knowledgeable waitstaff. Some new...