Chao Phya Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Hawaii

I will start off this review by stating that although I eat out 5 or 6 night a week, I am not a Thai food aficionado. I do love good food and good service and I got both here from Chef Guy and Chef Paul at Chao Phyu Thai Restaurant in the Windward City Shopping Mall. With that said, the food at Chao Phyu Thai Restaurant is AMAZING! The newly redecorated place is very clean and comfortable for a single, a couple or a large party. The walls and decorations in the place make you feel like you are invited to the Chefs house for a personal meal. I came in on a weekday for a business lunch and was greeted by Chef Guy and he sat with us and took the time to talk story and get to know us. He suggested a few menu items and set us up with some drinks. This was a business casual lunch, so we only had tea and water, however they do allow BYOB and encourage you to bring your own wine or a cooler for the gang. We started off with the red curry soup and a double order of Thai Crispy Spring Rolls. Next up was a generous platter of Chicken Pad Thai Then came the main course of Seared Scallops on a bed of Indian noodles cooked to perfection. Along with that is the imported King Salmon; we ordered the salmon to share which came with a generous side salad and served on top of a bed of couscous so tender and buttery. This fish just falls into your mouth and is so delicious. Also, in the main course was the giant sautéed clams in a curry soup broth. My favorite was the Scallops, and I recommend this place!! Most entrees are served with a fresh salad, and generally are loaded down with vegetables. The portions are huge, and everything is made fresh to order. What sets them apart is the brilliant balancing of flavors. Sweet, acid, heat, sours, bitter and fragrant aromatics... nothing too 'spicy'... take for example the pad Thai I am used to pad Thai that is coated in some slippery sweet peanut sauce... here the peanuts are served on the side (delicious) and the flavors of the pad Thai without the peanut sauce is simply irresistible. This restaurant is in the Windward City Shopping Mall, next to Starbucks and facing Kamehameha Hwy in Kaneohe and is easy to see from a moving car. Pop by for a quick visit, look at the menu and pictures on the walls, then order the best Thai Meal you have had in Hawaii.

Food Selection 5-Star Food Quality 5-Star Staff Friendliness 5-Star Staff Attentiveness 5-Star Exterior Appearance 5-Star Interior Appearance 4-Star Overall Rating 5-Star The restaurant has plenty of indoor and patio seating and gives you a very warm and comfortable feeling. Thank you for your awesome hospitality! -Jay Lamping...

It pains me to write this as I love to support local business, however we tried this place and left disappointed. We ordered 2 apps and 2 entrees. First thing, it took so long to order we almost left but we had already strapped our toddler into his high chair that we brought (they didn’t have one). Finally, our server took the entire order at once asking us how spicy we wanted our dishes, we said mild for both. The apps came out first and they were ok. The papaya salad was a little plain with no herbs but was decent. For $19 the portion was good but just plain looking. The vegetable rolls had an oil sauce to dip in that wasn’t good. I got peanut sauce on the side which was much better. My pad Thai came out and was good! Happy with it. We waited and waited for the other entree and finally asked and the server totally forgot, didn’t remember anything about ordering. We would have considered to fire it up then but everything took so long we said forget it and my partner didn’t end up eating anything. Not to mention his dish was $42– how are you doing to forget that price at a mom and pop place ??? We never go out to eat anymore as we have kids; planned to treat ourselves and it was just not a good experience. It makes me sad bc I really wanted to find a cute spot to bring visitors or get take out and we will probably never come back. Oh they did offer to give us free tapioca — so for $62 we got papaya salad a few spring rolls (small)...

Visiting Hawai'i for the first time a few weeks ago, some long-time friends of my in-laws met us at this restaurant in Kaneohe, which is their favorite place to eat. I have NEVER felt more welcome in a restaurant than I did here, and I live in Nebraska, where we do friendly VERY well.

This place is incredible, if you ask me. Other reviewers state how great the service is and that's not even going far enough. Imagine the friendliest, most attentive, most loving relative you have, then multiply it by two or three and let them feed you. Our experience was out of this world. I've shown a pic of the "slice" of chocolate ganache cake I ordered for dessert, one of their specialties for after your meal. It fed five of us, no kidding. The picture really doesn't do it justice.

We tried nine or 10 different dishes, ate them all family style, and loved every single one of them. I'd had Thai food before, but not like this, and not with this level of service. If you are on Oahu, make it a point to drive to Kaneohe and stop in this restaurant. You will be very, very...