Tai's Bites — Restaurant in Kaipātiki

Tai's Bites is my favorite Thai restaurant that I've been to in Auckland - we like to go there about once a week, sometimes more.

The food always tastes great - the veggies in each feel plentiful, varied and fresh. I love that they go the extra mile to include a variety of ingredients that a lot of other places would skip out. For instance, their sweet and sour dishes have onion, baby corn, deep fried potato, mushroom, capsicum, tomato, carrot, cucumber... whereas I feel like other places may have just have the basic few. Not to mention the quality of the ingredients just feels higher.

Also feel compelled to mention the food doesn't feel greasy, or too salty or oily... I always feel like I've had a decently healthy meal, which is not always easy to find!

Their menu offers better value than other places, with lower prices and generous portions. The vibe inside is lovely and cozy, and the staff always serve us with a smile and happy to have a chat.

Some of the negative reviews here don’t reflect my experience. I’ve tried about half the menu by now, both meat and veggie dishes, and every meal has left me in...

We came here during their reopening and enjoyed our meal.

There's a meme online called the 3.5 star Asian restaurant theory, where good Asian restaurants get a 5/5 for their food, but 2/5 for their service/vibe etc. which averages around 3.5/5... So if you want good food, you look out for that! (Look it up later lol).

...And admittedly, we found our experience matching something like this theory!

Tai's Bites is family run and has a very humble atmosphere and service... Our waitress was their young, inexperienced daughter and their older son (I think) and there was some miscommunication back and forth. Our meal also took some time to come out as there was only 1 chef (I believe it was the wife) for many customers. However, when our meal came, it was fantastic! We really enjoyed our food.

TLDR - Food was excellent, service was humble and family run. Overall, don't be shy to check them out if you want a great Thai meal while supporting...

Would love to support a new business, but there's a lot left to be desired. The place looks great, the staff/owner are really welcoming, and the prices are very reasonable. But - there are way too many "buts". First, it was a chilly evening and the temperature inside was way too cold for comfort. Second, no alcohol license just yet. I get that's a council permit issue, but still - would've been nice to know upfront, especially since drinks are listed on the menu. And third - some of the food just wasn't great. The curry was fantastic, and so were the prawn cakes. But Pad Thai wasn't very flavoursome and the meet was dry. Rice was dry - it was either undercooked or really overcooked. And the vegetables in stir fry were really undercooked. You can get away with it for things like cauliflower and broccoli, but chewing on raw onion does tend to really ruin...