Sukothai Restaurant

It was our last night in the Islands and burned out on resort food and fish. Hungry for the taste of home and found it right here. Fresh, fast and friendly. Delicious authentic Thai. Huge portions. The pad Thai was some of the best I ever had. The place is small. We came for early dinner on Thursday night and had no problem getting a table. You won’t be disappointed with this little gem!

Very home-​y type restaurant. The ladies are super sweet, offering magazines & water while I waited for my take out. I ordered their vegetarian yellow curry and pad Thai. Both very filling and delicious. I think I’ve found my new favorite in Pahoa.

Food was good and service was friendly. My mother in law and I were the only ones in the restaurant when we ate early one day. We had an assortment of dishes and all were very good. Next time we are in the area we will stop in for dinner again.

A homey experience in a quaint little owner-​operated Thai restaurant. Solid flavors place it among the better Thai restaurants I’ve been to worldwide. Definitely a highlight in this part of Hawai’i among many other lackluster restaurants. Owner is funny too, if you come in an off-​time and they aren’t hammered with business (I suggest coming close to open at 3). Worth a stop, if you’re craving Thai!

I’ve been coming to Sukothai for the last few months, and with rare exception, everything I’ve had here has been amazing and super fulfilling…
My favorite dishes here are: The Green Curry, The Pad Thai (it’s amazing), the Basil Fried Rice with Chicken, and the Tom Kah soup.
HIghly recommended.

Green currie with tofu and yellow curry were delicious. The waitress was very nice and courteous. I will go back there again.

Wow. We had green curry tofu with eggplant, peas and green beans; thai basil chicken; and pad thai. My only point of reference is the SF Bay Area, and I haven’t had Thai food this good there. The sauces are perfection… we even finished off the one accompanying our fried spring rolls. We were there at 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon and were the only people there, so I can’t really give a pronouncement on they typical service experience. The owner was the only person there that day, and she was very nice!

Delicious! One of those times eating out where everything was perfect. Papaya salad is so Ono! Coconut soup broke da mouth! The waitress was great! She didn’t try to upsell, and advised us when we were going to order three entrees after apps that it would be too much food! How often does that happen! She was right because the portions are very ample! Love this gem!

Most amazing Thai food evar! If you are in a hurry… go back to the mainland. Here, you on island, no hurry! We showed up after they were supposed to be open. Nobody around. I called her. She said to give her a few minutes and she would be there. I was hungry. Never could have imagined how worth the wait this would be! One beautiful lady to clean up the place, take our order and cook amazing food!
We’ve had Thai food all around the globe, and this was definitely some of the best! Ning’s is really great, but SukoThai is even better. Get here while you still can!

Awesome food and friendly waitress /​cook! She may be a one woman show, but the food is worth the wait. We are repeat customers for this gracious hostess.

We ordered our food to go. I would recommend allowing time to wait for the food, or if its is possible call in your order to pick it up. Everything is cooked once ordered, in other words the food was fresh and tasty!
I’ve tried some Thai in my day. I’m slowly starting to get into it. I ordered the Pad Thai very mild and it was delicious! The dish was just an all around comforting, almost familiar experience. I would definitely order it again, maybe a little spicier. I also tried the Iced Thai Tea with coconut milk. It took so getting used to at first, but once I had a few sips the richness of the coconut milk mixed with the spice of the Thai tea was heaven.
The prices for the items on the menu are very reasonable and the restaurant is so adorable! There was some nice live music and the walls have a lovely warm orange yellow paint that just makes you feel happy. I feel like the restaurant atmosphere compliments the food beautifully. If you can get past some of the obnoxious people walking around outside, it is Pahoa, then you will love this meal!

Is 6 stars possible on Unilocal?This is one of the best restaurants I have ever been to. It is hands down the best Thai I have ever had (better than in actual Thailand).
I was a little concerned with the signs that said the wait is long since everything is homemade. I was even more concerned that it took almost an hour for the appetizer. We were all famished and I had committed to the process of patience for good results. I was just hoping it would be worth the wait.
I would have waited 3 hrs to get Sam’s food. I would have waited in the rain, with no umbrella wearing a stinky wet wool sweater to get that curry.
Sam is the cook and she has a lovely waitress (whose name I missed). They are both sweethearts and run a great little homey place. It feels like you have come to Sam’s house for dinner. She even let me taste my curry part way through.
So the lowdown — best damn yellow curry I have ever had. I had no idea it could even get that good and now I am scarred for life. Nothing will ever be as good. I also had a papaya salad which was… wait for it… AMAZING. Duh. Did you think I would say something else? I have no idea what anyone else got since we were all in our own little worlds full of throaty moaning food ecstasy. I do know that all of us left glassy eyed and stunned and we couldn’t stop talking about it all night and most of the next day.
I am far away, back home now, but please, if you read this and you are nearby, go have a yellow curry and think of me.

Decided to change it up a little after eating tons of Hawaiian and American cuisines during our week long visit on the Big Island, so we went with Thai food while visiting on the Hilo side. Even though it was quite a wait for our food, it was well worth it.
There is literally only one cook in the kitchen and one server for the customers. They are nice enough to tell you to expect a wait because everything is made upon order and there’s only one cook. We ordered the chicken curry, a beef dish, and tofu pad thai. We got most of the items medium spiced (sorry, I can’t handle my spice too crazy). Everything came out cooked to perfection. There was a lot of food for just the two of it, it ended up lasting us two dinners. The pad thai had a lot of veggies and tofu pieces. The curry had big chunks of chicken and was very flavorful with a subtle kick to spiciness to it.
Great place to get good Thai food. If you’re willing to wait, the food is well worth it.

Sam is a most gracious and talented restaurantuer.

The food was amazing. The service was great.
My mom and I dined here after a long hike at Mackenzie Park. We were thirsty, hungry, and sweaty. The restroom was small, but clean. The drinking water was icy cold. The Thai iced tea was tasty. The chicken/​vegetable curry was very good; medium was not too spicy. She even offered up an «eggplant addition» for the curry dish. No charge.
Sam is a wonderful hostess, waitress, chef.
Please bring the town of Pahoa your business! It is not far from Hilo or Kea’au and has much to offer.

This is one of the best Thai restaurants on Big Island! I give them 4.5 stars.
The only reason they don’t get 5 stars is that the décor is… hmmm…how to say this… block wall painted with a sponge… locked cabinets in the dining area… the same music… over and over… and over…
It lacks the character that Ning’s has (down the road) but it does make up for it in better quality food. We eat here a lot and like that we can bring our favorite wine or cider or beer with us.
As I said… the best food… so eat here… maybe they can make enough money to remodel some day!

Absolutely DELISH!
This was not my first Thai meal; however, it was my first time dining in a Thai restaurant. It is a small restaurant is slow Pahoa town, but don’t judge this restaurant by its location. The clock in my truck is about 15 minutes fast, so when we got to the Sukothai, we thought they had already opened (they open at noon.) The door was locked, we checked our watches, and were about to wait on the side, when the server came to open the door for us. Exceptional! Soft Thai instrumental music played while we looked over our menu, and I began winding down. The environment is so calm and cool, perfect for a Friday lunch.
I had the Pumpkin Curry with Chicken, medium spiciness (to be safe) over Jasmine Rice. Hands down, the best Thai dish I’ve had… EVER! The flavors were spot-​on, not too much coconut milk, just enough spiciness, good amount of chicken, and the pumpkin and green beans were cooked perfectly, not mushy. I know this will be my go-​to dish on days I’m feel like eating lunch out; perhaps I’ll be braver next time and try it spicy!
Mother-​in-​law had the Sweet N Sour Shrimp, medium spiciness. I rarely see her eat all her food! I didn’t try it, because I was so into mopping up my own food; but I wish I did. It must have been great.
I ordered Pineapple Fried Rice for my 2-​year-​old… He loved it. Interesting ingredients including raisins and cashews, but it was YUM! We brought the leftovers home, and my 5-​year-​old finished the plate.
We will definitely be eating here again. In fact, I’m thinking about begging my husband to take me back there for dinner tonight! It’s not crazy to eat at the same place twice in one day, is it? ;)

They care and it showed as they had made an error with our order and were extremely embarrassed and did all they could to please us.
Funny part was that the dish that brought in error turned out according to my wife to be «the best curry dish I’ve ever had.»

3.5 stars. What I love about this place is that there is a mother/​daughter team working in the kitchen, and they are just the sweetest ppl. You an expect the food to take a little while to arrive, since they cook to order. I think we waited 15 min for our pineapple fried rice and tofu penang curry. I liked the pineapple fried rice. If you’re in Hawaii, I think that you must order this dish while here. The penang curry was also good, but the peanut flavor was a little too strong. It’s just not the way that I’m used having it.
There are not many choices in Pahoa, and I think this is a strong contender.

Such the most amazing thai food.
I came here yesterday (Thursday) evening around 4, and was surprised to find that I was the only customer. Even more surprised AFTER my meal. The two women who run the place are absolutely wonderful and welcoming, and after they brought me a phenomenal thai iced tea, kickin’ spring rolls, and, finally, the absolute greatest curry I’ve ever had ever-​pineapple curry with beef? My heart was sold!
Running back there. .. although I’m broke. ;)