Good Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Christchurch

My family of six visited the place in the evening in two different groups arriving, about 20 mins apart.

The restaurant has about 6 tables of 4 seats each, 1 table of 6 seats and 1 table of 2 seats. The first group of 3 was seated at a corner table, with adjacent tables empty, and there are 2 other groups of customers, one at the table for 6 and another at the table of 4, both at adjacent corners to my family's table. The opposite corner is an empty table with 2 seats. 4 tables of 4 seats were empty. Due to miscommuication, we did not explain to the staff of our group size, and only got a table for 4 instead of 2 adjacent tables of 4 seats.

My second group of 3 came in later. We found first group family and proceeded to an adjacent empty table and tried to seat down. The staff promptly told me that the table is reserved. The empty 4 tables of 4 are arranged in a T-shape tetris block, where two other taken tables fill up the floor to a 2x3 grid of 6 tables. We were led to seat at a table that is at the opposite corner (skipping an empty table row/column) from my first group (?), and served water promptly.

As the first group was expecting us, they ordered dishes for sharing. They ordered fried rice noodles, green curry, stirred fried mince meat, which came with 2 portions of rice, and the restaurant staff were gracious enough to provide a free dish to the first group. Our 2nd group was seated and then we ordered thai fish cakes, pork ribs, and 2 portions of rice (and sharing some dishes from the first table). We're asian-asian, with smaller asian appetite, definitely not the usual NZ-sized appetite. The staff who took our order told us, the second group, that we are seated at a table, we cannot order so little, while shaking her head at the same time looking terribly dismayed (?), and then she left to process the order.

This is not the kind of service we were expecting, and it made what's left of my flat-tire-day + car-sick appetite totally vanish. I prompty changed my order from dine-in to takeaway, and left the restaurant after paying.

The good: We were promptly seated, served water, and the staff came after an appropriate pause to take our order. (i'll leave the first group's experience to their own review)

The not-so-good i.e. bad: assuming 3 of the 4 remaining tables of 4 are reserved, given the arrangement, the 2x3 arrangment could easily be changed. Even if my assumptions are wrong, a kind, more detailed explanation about the seemingly weird table arrangement would be greatly appreciated. If there is a minimum order amount, or a social/business norm, this could be kindly explained and graciously handled. I'd be happy to order extra to takeaway for supper if I had the explanation.

This is my family's first visit to New Zealand, first visit to Christchurch, this is the first restaurant we visited in Christchurch, and this is the first meal we had (me: going-to-have) in Christchurch. I drove out of Christchurch right away on an empty stomach.

Thanks for the welcome,...

12/04/2019 - We were contemplating whether to try May Thai on Wairakei Road or this, and we decided this restaurant after seeing how busy May Thai was. When we arrived here, there were only three occupied tables (two groups of four and a group of eight) plus two tables of four being reserved. Anyway, we glad that we made the right choice 😁👍.

For starter, we ordered a plate of Thai fish cakes, with chicken pad thai noodles (for my child) and chili & basil chicken for myself.

The fish cakes were tasty but not enough flavor in it (compared to other Thai restaurants). But it is still enjoyable to eat.

The chilli & basil chicken was delicious and flavoursome but the basil leaves were slightly soggy as I believed that it was cooked a bit too long. It goes [very] well with rice. The waitress asked how spicy I want and I asked for hot (well, it was not spicy enough for me, perhaps next time I should ask for extra hot 🔥or Thai hot 😅).

Overall, it was enjoyable and satisfying

Parking was a small problem as all the available car parks were [quickly] filled up. However, there is plenty of street parking available on Kendal Ave.

Would I go back? Yes ☺ Food: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5. It was yummy 😋. Ambience: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5. Well decorated with Thai influence. Price: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5. Reasonably priced. Customer Service: friendly and helpful and attentive 👍.

17/11/2017 - Dinner tonight with family 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧. Fish 🐟 cakes, sweet and sour chicken 🐔, green curry chicken 🐔 and steamed fish 🐟 with chilli and lemon. Yummy! 😋 The bill comes to NZD $66.50 which includes an extra bowl of rice. Each meal comes with a...

Wanted to try somewhere new, and read the wonderful reviews for this friendly Thai restaraunt. VERY pleased we tried it - the food is good, the service friendly and the prices easy on the pocket. A friendly welcome when we walked in, and smiling updates during the course of dinner was a wonderful reminder of just how good and friendly service can be. We had a Pork ribs entree, Spicy Duck Curry, Tom Yam soup (fish) and Pad Thai. The Ribs, eaten as the "chef's special" were a disappoint, they weren't terrible, but next time round we'd try something different (maybe the Thai Chicken wings). Spicy Duck curry - quite sweet and nicely spiced. My partner described it as "kiwi version of Thai food" - and I must say I agree. I enjoyed it - with the lovely sweetness of grapes of pineapple, but it did seem to have been adjusted for local palates. The Tom Yam was excellent! Really really enjoyed the spiciness. Pad Thai was the star of the evening and we'll be back to get this again, most likely as a takeaway (tabao). Authentic with all the tastes that go with it. What was also enjoyable for me was the chance to have an "Elephant Beer" (Chang) without which no Thai dinner is quite complete. I'm totally not being fair - but I would really really love to see a Thai Mango Sticky Rice on the dessert menu instead of Cheese Cake (one reason this isn't fair is that I didn't try the cheesecake) All in all - I know I haven't given five stars, but "Good Thai" really is GOOD Thai and I would recommend that you try...