Ruan Thai Cuisine

Abstract: Nice atmosphere and service, good presentation but VERY SMALL portion sizes and BLAND flavoring for Thai food. Pricing was high for what you get. We ended up going out to eat again 2hrs later.
Came here while on vacation with my family. A group of eight for dinner we were promptly seated and politely greeted. The food however was extremely disappointing. I ordered a Tom Yum soup to start. I’ve ordered this at least 10x at multiple locations so I had an idea of what it should taste like. It was too sweet, skimpy on ingredients, not spicy and no lemongrass.
I ordered the green curry (not spicy, bland and VERY SMALL portion size), my wife got panang curry (good but again too SMALL), garden noodles («ok if you like cardboard” — mom), my son got Pad Thai and liked it (he eats anything at 13yrs).

Good food and good service. Service in Hilton Head Island is something very lacking so it was nice to find a place where I wasn’t pissed off at the end of the meal.

My sister and brother-​in-​law were visiting from out of town and we stopped by the Ruan on a whim. I am not an expert on Thai cuisine, but I thought the food here was fabulous. We had the combination plate as an appetizer. I would rate that dish as just okay. As my main course I had the Ruan Thai Fried Rice, this dish was served in a pineapple and was so delicious. My sister had the Chilean Sea Bass and the bite that I had melted in my mouth. I also had an iced green tea drink that I am still dreaming about!
What most impressed me about this restaurant was the service. Our waitress seemed to be accommodating the entire restaurant, yet while doing this she was very attentive and offered us recommendations from the menu that proved reliable.
Overall I would highly recommend this place to anyone who’s feeling adventurous and in the mood for Thai food.

We showed up at 2:15 pm and we were told the kitchen was closed! What’s the point of posting a closing time of 3 pm then? Just put 2 pm!

I agree with the previous reviews. The food here is great. I had both the Thai fried rice and the drunken noodles, both with shrimp. I liked the fried rice better, but both dishes were great.
It is a great meal while on vacation

So glad to find decent thai food in Hilton Head. Doesn’t seem there are tons of asian options, as I couldn’t find any Indian restaurants and the there were maybe a total of five asian places in the area. Ruan Thai had a great lunch specials. My favorite dish was drunken noodles with shrimp. The lunch entrees are small but fine for lunch and come with tom yum soup or spring roll. The lunch specials are customizable by protein and are reasonably priced at 8 – 10 $. The restaurant itself is clean and cute. Service on a Tuesday for lunch was great. Mild was the right level of heat for me, any higher level would have been too spicy for me to enjoy the food.

My wife and I were in the mood for a Thai fix and were surprised to find this was the only Thai restaurant on the island. Despite a lack of competition we found the food to be very good as was the service. We split the Nam Sod as a first course and my wife had the Drunken Noodles as her main course. I had the Thai fried rice. All of our food was very fresh and flavorful. They have three levels of heat you can order and we went with «hot». We like hot food and this was perfect. Any hotter would not have been enjoyable. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Quite a gem kind of hidden. But if you want Thai food it was really good a little spicy so if you don’t order it medium or hotter.
We had lunch great prices and good service!

Great food and great service. Fresh ingredient and authentic recipes. I had the drunken noodles, amazing. They offer you a spice cart to make it spicier if you care to. We liked it so much that when we went to Savannah, Ga. We ate lunch at that location.

My boyfriend and I walked into this restaurant and never saw a hostess until we waited for 15 mins. We had a polite chat with a customer getting their take out and she recommended the place and even a few dishes. A hostess which was a small girl in a colorful hoodie and an apron came running up and asked «are you gay?» And we both replied with huh? And she then says «would you like a seat? Sit anywhere!» We chose the bar. We had two bartenders in front of us making drinks for others and not one of them asked what we would like to drink until 20 minutes later. We then ordered our drinks, appetizer and meal. Our drinks came 15 mins later after ordering, appetizer 20 mins, and and entrée about 50 – 55 mins. We then argued with the restaurant manager about our bill and how we were treated. She first said she could take my bubble tea off of the bill (3 dollars) and I refused a 3 dollar discount, it’s pretty much a slap in the face. She then told me we could pay the bill and leave. We had a staring contest for some time after this until she finally said 10% so 6 dollars. I still thought this was ridiculous but sitting at this restaurant for over 2 hours is just as ridiculous because of the poor service.
On a good note: the portions are horrendous but the appearance is elegant and pretty.
Food: taste was okay, I’ve had better Thai food from where I am from but i understood that this was pretty much the only Thai place in the area.
Recommend; I wouldn’t recommend anyone goes here it’s over priced on almost everything. I’ve never seen pineapple fried rice cost more than 12 dollars. Here it’s 22. Pad Thai in most places is 10 – 12 dollars. Here 16 – 17. Not worth the price for the portion.

Goya knows her stuff! She’s an expert on gluten and dairy free. Coconut soup and curries were amazing! I have celiac and did not feel sick. Amazing restaurant !

Unfortunately, Ruan Thai Cuisine was very disappointing. There were 3 main issues with my meal:
1. 20% gratuity was already included for a party of 4, despite very poor service.
2. They completely forgot to bring us the beers we ordered.
3. They also forgot to bring salt to the table, despite multiple reminders.

Step into the colorful world of Ruan. You will have time to admire the cute atmosphere, which includes a fountain and a historical blown up photograph of a suited Thai man. I noticed these details because it took 10 minutes to seat us even though the restaurant had several tables available.
If your hanger is kicking in, fear not! Food is delivered quickly and in an elegant fashion. The seafood plates we ordered were generously sprinkled with large scallops and shrimp. Warning, for those who default to Pad Thai, this is NOT your typical Pad Thai your tastebuds are accustomed to… it has a light tomato base. Our waitress happily replaced it with a delicious rice noodle dish and even offered to let us keep the original order. Overall, you will leave feeling satisfied.

I went their with family on Christmas Eve. Had Massaman, Panang Curry, and Pad Thai which were excellent. The Tom Kai soup was amazing. Spring rolls great too. The lemon grass chicken with peanut was disappointing. Tasted more like grilled chicken topped with peanut butter Andre it lettuce.
Service average at best. We walked in and every table had «reserved» sign so hostess gave us the look when we said «no reservation». But after a few words with another waitress and suddenly a table became available. We left and still half the tables vacant with reserved sign on them!!! I cannot tell if truly reserved or just a marketing stunt. I love authentic servers but the accent was a little difficult to understand at times. We stuck to the menus items as we could not understand the specials description by the waitress.
At the end she asked us for dessert. We asked if they had fried plantains and she replied «no we do not have pancakes but have plantains with ice cream» had our check ready and it happened too fast for us to explain.
I would still come back as the food is great. There is also the carry out option too.

One of the best meals of my life. Thai salad and Panang Island (surf and turf). We have never been disappointed here, and tonight was no exception.
Service was great. Food was fresh, bursting with Thai flavor, delicious and top quality. Highly recommended.

Ill be short & sweet. The service was OK. Honestly it took awhile for our server to get to us. She was kinda blah anyway. I think she was ready to get off lol. Any who, I wasn’t super hungry so I just got some fried rice but my friend got the spicy Basil. Both of our dishes were OK. Nothing I’d break my neck to get back to… I like the Thai spot better in Beaufort honestly. Yes Indeed Thai! This place of course is slightly over priced because of the area. Overall, it’s OK. If you’re in Hilton Head I think this is rated the best for Thai. Hope this helps!

Excellent Thai food, great service, cozy atmosphere. Party of four on a Monday night, we enjoyed several appetizers and dishes. We ordered the curry puffs and the dumplings,
both good, dumplings my favorite. Also had Pad Thai and Thai garlic and drunken noodle, all dishes were good. Would definitely go back if I return to Hilton head.

While vacationing, we stopped here for dinner and had a wonderful experience. Great food and service!
The Basil Thai Rice dish is amazing. So much flavor and very filling. The Panang Curry was also excellent, lots of flavor and just enough heat (spice). Loved it.
Can’t wait to go back.

3 years and multiple visits later I must say this place hasn’t changed a bit. The panang and drunken noodles are still as amazing as can be! Still a winner and a staple for all trips to HHI! =) I went today with the full intention to take pictures but jumped the gun due to their amazing plating and smells… next time I guess.

Pleasantly surprised to find a Thai restaurant in Hilton Head. Good food, friendly service, and a nice atmosphere.
It is a sit down, nicely decorated restaurant. Tables are covered with linens and napkins are folded into decorative fans. If you’re feeling a bit too casual, you can order to go.
I am a sucker for ordering Pad Thai always on the hunt for the best, realizing each place makes their own variation. This entrée was good and I’d order it again. While the spice level was a bit mild than what I’m used to, they offer a spice tray of four different types to add heat to your plate. Hubs ordered the ribeye entrée and said it was very good.
The service was friendly and attentive overall. I don’t think they anticipated how busy it got on a Sunday night, and with only two servers, we ended up waiting for the check for a long time. No worries though since everything else was enjoyable and we were on vacation and nothing but relaxation on the agenda.