Maile’s Thai Bistro

The food is good here. It’s a little pricey. This is a Thai restaurant and they don’t have any Thai peppers to make their curries/​dishes spicy??? They give a side of sriracha to add spice to their dishes. The hostess and front staff are very nice.

I’ve been going to Maile’s for years, and after the lack of customer service, I will probably will not return. I had reservations for dinner this evening and upon check in, I was asked by the hostess if I received a call from the restaurant… which I did not. She proceeded to explain that they had some ventilation issues with their kitchen so they were only serving fried food and salads. As pissed as I was, it wasn’t the sweet hostess’ fault– she had just started her shift and she was extremely apologetic. Shame on management for not handling this properly!

Ok, well, I’m not going to pretend I’ve ever been to Thailand. In fact I have never even written a review on a restaurant before. But after the experience I had there this evening I feel compelled to Review it out loud. This place was VERY DISAPPOINTING. if you want to go to a place full of Scum, this is the best place for you! The service was horrible and the people were just flat out rude.
The food was gross in every way imaginable. Will never go to this place again, I will make it my lifes mission to save people from making the same mistake i did by eating here.

Forgot about this place for a while, but the other night we had houseguests and they said: «we’re buying dinner tonight, how’s about Thai food?» Of course I said «Sure,» but none of us wanted to drive into town. By the time we got to the restaurant, it was about 9:00. The place was crowded, and we didn’t make reservations on a Friday. But they quickly cleared a table, got us seated, and served us without missing a step. EXCELLENT!
And our out of own guest, also commented on the great quality of the food.
We got into Chiang MaI for a while, but I forgot how great this place is – if you’re in HK, stay here!
Long time fans, back to the Assagio days. (if you know what I’m talking about.) Hey Lala!

We are regulars here both for dining in and for take out. Our favorites things we just can’t get enough of are red curry, masaman curry, spring rolls, satay, pad thai noodles, and sticky rice. We get everything mild as the older I get, the less I can handle the spicier levels. But Maile’s curries are to die for. As good or better than any of the many Thai restaurants we’ve frequented over the years on Oahu. I could live for a long time simply on her curry sauces over sticky rice. Only one curry we love at most other places is the panang curry which we feel is only so-​so. Not peanutty enough for our tastes, but not bad.
A friend who joins us occasionally can’t handle any level of spice so he orders the New York steak which he says is great and cooked perfectly.

I had lunch at Maile’s today and as always the Yellow Curry (medium) was outstanding. Perfect flavor and spice. It’s hard for me to order anything else though my son’s favorite is the fried rice and chicken satay.
As a neighborhood restaurant, it’s always great to be greeted warmly by Maile and/​or Janel and feel like part of the family. Thanks ladies for another great lunch!

Like the food but hate the service, wait time, lack of politeness to customers, and all around snobbery when it’s really just a restaurant in a strip mall. If I want to feel looked down upon I’ll go to a fancy schmancy 5star restaurant. If I just want good Thai food, well I’d rather deal with parking by Thai Issan at Market City.
Good job on your food, now maybe do an inservice on how to treat customers.

We live off island but I dream about the chicken wings. Two bite size for me and so ono. The mee krob was smothered with sweet sauce but I still enjoyed the crunch that was left. Our fav is the loco moco with two eggs. Unique combination of flavors. I enjoy the trendy atmosphere; perhaps been living on Maui for too long!

Let’s start with the good: the pad thai here is to die for. It was delicious… Flavorful, good texture to the rice noodles, and saucy without being overkill. I will definitely be returning for this, and am eager to try their other noodle dishes.
The panang curry, on the other hand, was «meh». Our server didn’t check in about spice preference, which resulted in a sad, extremely mild and bland panang. Pretty disappointing. I wish that I’d thought to ask for some heat in it when I ordered, but it’s usually something that you’ll be asked, and it didn’t occur to me until I took a bite that they might just give me the mildest possible option (I usually opt for medium or hot curries).
As other reviews have pointed out, the service was definitely a little bit problematic overall. The staff was very nice when they were around, but they need a host, because upon entering the restaurant, everyone stands around for a while waiting to be noticed. Our check took some time because they dropped it off and didn’t pick it up for quite a while, and in fact one woman a table over became so impatient with waiting for hers that she shouted «my check, please!» to the nearest staff member. Not my style, but I could kind of understand it once we were waiting and ready to pay.
Take-​out might be a good option!

Was hesitant to come based on the service reviews but so glad we did. White table clothes and a bright welcoming environment. Was seated promptly and received drinks and food quickly. Food was really delicious and came out in perfect portions and piping hot. I had pad Thai and it was just as good if not better than most places I’ve been. Hubs had panang curry and it smelled and tasted delicious — I had to steal a bite. It was our anniversary and they brought us over a free Thai iced tea. The ladies next to us commented how delicious their food was. Definitely go if you’re looking for a good place between the east shore and Waikiki. It is a little hard to find based on the maps, but it’s ok the Costco shopping center.

My buddies and I decided to stop by for some Thai on the way to Sandy’s and we were pleasantly surprised! I remembered this place being average, but all the dishes we ordered this time around was really tasty! They have 6 different levels of spice, mild/​moderate/​hot/​Thai hot/​Lao hot/​Maile hot. We got our food Thai hot with some Maile hot sauce on the side for the crazies in the group. We ordered Tom Yum, Pad Thai, Pineapple curry with pork, house fried noodle, and spicy scallops. Everything was very good and I would definitely come more often after this experience. Perhaps we just didn’t order the right stuff the previous time…
Ambiance is much nicer than most other Thai restaurants on island and would probably be the only one that would be considered «date night» worthy.
Parking is a breeze as well and free!

Who ever owns this restaurant, read your reviews. Your food is good, but your SERVICE SUCKS!
Holy crap.
10 plus minutes to get acknowledged by a waiter.
Entrees came out 20 minutes apart.
Never once did the waiter refill the water.
I understand anyone and any restaurant can have a bad day. But NO ONE MADE ANY EFFORT TO GET IT RIGHT.
I then realized… For Maile Thai this is normal.

The one time we came to eat here a few months ago, the food was awesome – I especially loved the yellow curry! The reason I’m giving it 3 stars is because although the food was awesome, while we were dining at the table closest to the bathrooms, we saw a HUGE roach crawling up the wall behind us! I hate roaches so this was not something I wanted to see while we were enjoying our meal. None of the waitstaff noticed it so my boyfriend got up and smashed the roach against the wall with his slipper – and even then no one (except for a couple diners at the table next to us) noticed! We flagged down a waiter and he promptly swept it up, apologizing once.
Being that I get creeped out by the sight of roaches, we haven’t been back here since there.

I’ve been eating at Maile’s Thai Bistro for 15 years but I have never been compelled to write a review until now. The food has always been good to excellent and the service has been on par with some of the nicer restaurants in Honolulu. I’m writing this review to share an experience that I could only describe as extraordinary and I wish it was possible to rate it with no stars.
It was during Christmas holidays and I stopped in about 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The bar seats were all full except for one and there was nobody sitting at a table. As I approached the bar, the bartender slid over to the open chair and I assumed she was going to take my order. When I pulled the chair out she said «I’m sorry, I am saving that for one of our regular customers, you can sit at a table if you like» No, there’s wasn’t a drink in front of the chair and the regular customer was not in the restroom. I made her repeat what she said because I could not believe my ears. remember I have been eating at this restaurant for over a decade!
I picked my jaw up off the ground, turned around, and walked out. I have made it a point to share my story as many times as I can because that was simply phenomenal. I have waited a month to write this review so I could write it when I was not upset.

Excellent Thai/​fusion dishes and a great place to eat in Hawaii Kai with your significant other.
Had a date night with my wife a couple weeks back, and we finally decided to try Maile’s after passing it umpteen times on our frequent Costco runs. We ordered the papaya salad, green curry, tom yum soup, and the tapioca dessert. All were excellent.
The papaya salad was crunchy and well dressed. The green curry was flavorful, and the tom yum soup was a great accompaniment to cleanse the palate (I like to point out that the shrimp in the soup were perfectly cooked). We were especially pleased with the tapioca dessert — it was more than enough for the two of us.
We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and will be coming back as soon as we can arrange another evening without the kids!
Hot tip: After dinner, stroll along the marina’s very short promenade just behind the restaurant, or just have a seat and enjoy the marina. It’s a great reminder that you live in Hawaii, and especially poignant after a nice dinner at Maile’s.
My usual disclaimer: I’m not Thai, so take my review for what it’s worth.

I’ve heard that Mailes has taken a real nosedive in service recently since they opened another restaurant called Bellinis down on Ward. I guess all their best servers and bartenders are working the new restaurant leaving mediocre service at Mailes in Hawaii Kai.
My friend wanted Thai food for lunch the other day while we waited for my Costco prescription to be filled so we headed over to Mailes. Our server was pretty nice and attentive. It was 2:30 on a Wednesday though so not very busy. The food and drinks came out fast and hot. Flavors were okay.
It wasn’t the best I’ve ever had but it did the job. I’m not sure if I’d go out of my way to come back here since there’s a lot better Thai places in town, but if we had the same server then maybe.

I have been wanting to try this Thai restaurant out for a while and saw a Unilocaler review posted today singing good praises about this place so we had it for lunch! So glad we did!
We got there about 11:30ish and were seated right away. The waiter gave us water and the waitress came shortly after and took our order. We ordered spring rolls, green chicken Thai curry with medium heat and the spicy sweet basil noodles with chicken. The food came out pretty quickly and looked amazing. They forgot the spring rolls but we didn’t mind there was plenty of food with the two entrée orders and my eyes are always bigger than my stomach. The waitress was very apologetic and said she could put the order in that they don’t take long and we explained that we were ok and that there was no need to bother there was plenty of food.
The food was perfectly spicy for us, ordered medium heat and the temperature of the food was nice and hot. The quality of the meat and veggies was top notch and everything tasted fresh and delicious!
To our surprise the waitress came out with the order of spring rolls a few minutes later and apologized again. She said that their spring rolls are so good she wanted to make sure we got to try them and that she was not going to charge us for them because of the mix up. She was extremely nice. As she said the spring rolls did taste amazing, we will definitely order them again. They come with lettuce, cucumbers and a delicious dipping sauce.
I am so glad we finally got to eat at Maile. We will absolutely be back soon. I can’t wait to try other items on the menu. Oh and they have a happy hour daily from 3pm-​6pm with discounted pupus and drinks that I look forward to checking out. I highly recommend this restaurant.

I’ve heard really great things about Maile’s Thai bistro for a long time and hadn’t realized that it’s in the same little shopping center as the Hawaii Kai Costco. It’s actually very conveniently located, and I’m a little upset with myself that I haven’t figured out how to get here a year or two or three earlier.
I decided I absolutely needed to go after I made plans to try Maile’s new venture in ward: Bellini. Sooo after spending the morning at sandy’s, my friend and I headed over. I felt a little underdressed, especially because they have table cloths. Eek! But it wasn’t that big of a deal and the waitstaff didn’t say anything or treat us any differently.
I noticed that the menu is quite large, with interesting fusion dishes like mozzarella salad. Seriously, I don’t think Thai people know what mozzarella is, but it was cool that they are going for a fusion menu. My friend and I ordered the fried chicken and the green curry. Both were very flavorful and delicious. Btw, even though the green curry is labeled as spicy in the menu, it’s not. :) At $ 14 each, it’s a little pricier than other Thai places, but everything was delicious and I will be back to try other menu items.
Service was great! After coming from the beach, we were thirsty, and the waiters gratefully kept our water glasses filled.
This is definitely a nice place to come for great tasting Thai food. The restaurant itself is very nicely decorated and they have a full bar. It’s kind of strange that the restaurant looks into Panda Express and the Hawaii Kai Costco parking lot because it seems so classy inside.

I finally got to try this restaurant after passing it so many times just to eat a quick meal across at Panda’s. I decided to go for my birthday dinner since I was craving Thai food and not the same ‘ol Italian restaurants and Chinese restaurants I go to. I was quite pleased at the atmosphere and the dim lights. …It makes me look better! haha. We beat the crowd at 7pm!
Food– I ordered the calamari appetizer — super ono since the calamari was soft and batter wasn’t too oily. The sweet sauce complimented it. For the main family style dishes we ordered eggplant with beef, green curry (recommended by waitress), and pad wu (you can just say ‘wu’). I’ve never tasted anything like wu. A very good surprising dish. Very tasty dish! I was pleased with the green curry that had eggplants (so I didn’t have to order the eggplant dish) and side sticky rice.
Service– The waiters and busboys were very nice. They always noticed our empty glasses and dishes. Great service and dressed well.
Parking– Parking isn’t a problem since it’s in the Hawaii Kai Shopping Center. We parked in front.
What to wear– Either casual or formal. My husband wore t-​shirt, shorts, and slippers. I wore a black dress.
Kid Friendly– Yes, you may eat with your kids, but of course not at the bar.
Interior — White table clothes/​napkins, Square and white ceramic dishware, dim lights, and not too noisy. There’s also a TV at the bar which everyone can see unless your back is facing it.
I definitely will go here again!

After our morning dive, we were famished and decided to grab some thai. I heard great things about Maile’s and wanted to check it out for myself.
Atmosphere: Right in Hawaii Kai, in an unassuming shopping plaza. The décor inside is much more impressive than the shopping center. I felt like in a luxury thai restaurant.
Service: The place wasn’t very busy especially for Saturday lunch, which was surprising. The hostess and waiter were very attentive and was always available.
Food: Wow! Great thai food. We had the Pad ki mao and pad woon sen both with chicken. We were not disappointed. The flavors were both different and tasty. Perfect serving size also not too much and well balanced dishes. I wish I ordered more, but was very satisfied at the end of the meal.
Intangibles: Who knew this place was in Hawaii kai. Great thai restaurant and will be coming again when I am over at this part of the island.