Eating At Noi Thai Cuisine In Honolulu

Considering getting a reservation at Noi Thai Honolulu? Read my full review first…but trust me, you’re going to want to go!

One week ago, Dane and I had a date at Noi Thai Cuisine inside the Royal Hawaiian Center in Honolulu. In all of our time living here, we had never been! We both love Thai food, so honestly there is NO excuse for this. To be honest, I don’t know why we hadn’t gone, but when the folks at Noi Thai invited us to come check them out, we were ALL IN. 

Eating At Noi Thai Cuisine In Honolulu

We sat down and the first thing we noticed was how robust the menu is — there is a TON to choose from. Right away, the manager came over and showed us her favorite menu items, as well as a tasting menu at the back that some people gloss over. It’s a great deal, because it’s multiple rounds of smaller dishes, but you get to try more food. 

I ordered a Diamond Head Mango Drop to start and it was a spicy mango drink — it was SO GOOD. It was one of the best cocktails I’ve had on Oahu…and I’ve had plenty 😉

Noi Thai Waikiki Menu

Dane ordered the Smoky Old Fashioned and he said it was delicious. We loved the presentation of his drink! Is it weird this video is oddly therapeutic for me? LOL

We absolutely could not pick just one appetizer, so we got the sampler which included spring rolls, shrimp cakes, crab wontons, and their famous Cock-A-Doodle-Doo, which is Tom Yum bisque topped with deep fried prawns and tobiko served in eggshells.

They were all so good and I had never had anything like the Cock-A-Doodle-Doo, which I was admittedly a little skeptical about, but they were packed with flavor. My favorite were the Thai shrimp cakes (Tod Mun). 

Now, on to what we ordered for our main meal. Because the menu is so huge, it took us a long while to decide, but ultimately settled on Shrimp Pad Thai for me, Crispy Garlic Chicken for Dane and then Khao Soi to split, which is one of the most famous Northern Thai dishes. It’s a coconut curry that combines crispy and soft egg noodles, lime, pickled green mustard, sliced red onions and chicken thighs in a thin, flavorful yellow curry. HOLY MOLY! It was hands down the best part of the meal. 

Curry and Pad Thai aside, Dane said that crispy chicken was some of the best chicken he’s ever had a restaurant. It came with a hearty portion of rice, so I tried the sauce and it was absolutely delicious. Not a single bad dish at Noi Thai!

Since it’s mango season here in Hawaii, I went straight for the Mango Sticky Rice for dessert and Dane chose fried ice cream. Both were delicious, but there is something so refreshing about the traditional sweet rice that I can’t get enough of — felt like I was back at Thai Cooking School! 

We left full of delicious food, that’s for sure. One thing that is worth mentioning is that because Noi Thai is in Royal Hawaiian Center, you can park in the parking garage and get your ticket validated when you eat — no jockeying for street parking or trying to squeeze into a full lot. That’s one of the struggles of Honolulu (I get it, I live here) and it’s totally non-existent for Royal Hawaiian Center dining. #win

We will definitely be going back to Noi Thai Cuisine – and you should definitely make that reservation 😉

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