Royal Thai Cuisine, Kihei

We were lucky enough to be on the Island of Maui this past Christmas time and took the opportunity to eat at this little restaurant. What great food. Not a fancy place, eclectic is a good discription, but everything we ordered was excellent. There were four of us and we all had different items and we all enjoyed our food.

We're lucky enough to live on Maui, and we eat at this place at least once a week. We're not alone- - - Royal Thai has a long list of regulars, so they must be doing something right! It's a small, family-run operation, and while it's certainly nothing fancy to look at, the food is exceptional. The servings are generous, the prices are cheap, and the staff is friendly. What's not to like? The fact that they've been in business almost 20 years, and they do a strong and steady business in spite of their somewhat out of the way location speaks volumes. Locals, kamaiana and visitors alike take the time to make a special trip here, knowing that they'll leave with a full tummy and a happy face!

We visited in October of 2007. I was excited about the reviews I had read. What a letdown. I found the food to be barely Thai and certainly not royal. Cheap egg noodles and poorly executed flavoring marked this night out. No wonder there was no one else in the restaurant. Maybe there has been a change in ownership since some of these positive reviews were written, because I found this place to be a below average chinese restaurant trying to pass itself off as thai. I wouldn't eat there again if it were the only thai place on the island, which it is not. I will say that the place was clean and the service was adequate. The prices would have agreed with me had the food been at all palatable. Sorry to have to say it, but drive on by this place. This is the second time I have had to post my opinion of this restaurant, mysteriously my first review disappeared shortly after being posted. The truth hurt someone's feelings I guess. Don't be duped.

We had a Thai spicy steak and chicken with cashew nuts. The steak was so overcooked one could hardly cut it. The cashew chicken had, at most, half a cup of chicken the rest was padded with not too great vegetables. Worse yet the cook had used cornstarch to thicken the sauce, another 'make it go further 'measure. A cheap way to serve the dish. I love Thai food, have eaten it all over the world this was dreadful. We had two beers with our meal and the bill was $65. Simply a dreadful meal. The Vietnemese Restaurant in the same complex is MUCH better.

I discovered this place on my first visit to Maui over 9 years ago. Everytime I get back to the island I eat at the Royal Thai several times during my visit. It has the best Satay ANYWHERE. The vegetarian dishes are plentiful and wonderful. The staff is delightful. I feel like I am returning home when I walk in their door. Great prices, great Thai Tea...great happiness!

Most of restaurants at Maui are serving in small portion but at this restaurant you can find a good portion for you with reasonaly price. Example $11 for a disk of Pad Thai and $15 for a good size Tom Yum soup. you can spend about $35/2pp for a lunch, which is really cheap at this expensize Maui island. we found this restaurant on the last day of our trip so we ate there for lunch and dinner and enjoyed very much. They'll close at 2:30 p.m. for lunch and reopen at 5:00 p.m. for dinner.

I love Thai food and have eaten at some of the most highly recognized restaurants around the world. I would place the Royal Thai food right near the top of the list. I used to get to Honolulu regularly on business and always made sure to work the famous Keo's into my schedule. On my last trip to Maui, I was disappointed to find that Keo's was not on Maui so I scanned the internet for recommendations and came across the Royal Thai. It does take a bit of searching to find the restaurant but the search was well worth the effort. The quality of the ingredients was outstanding and the family that runs this small, non-descript location was gracious. I was impressed enough with the quality of this gem that I wanted to provide a little free publicity. If you are in the mood, go visit this place. Its very good and inexpensive.

I've been all over the map and this is the best thai food I've ever had! The staff were always warm and friendly, but the food! I had the 'Royal Favorite' twice because I couldn't resist but to go back again! My brother had the tom yum soup, the spicy steak and some curry dish that was hot hot hot and he loved every bite! In fact, I was hoping to find a recipe online and only then found this site where there were reviews so I had to stop and write this one. Again, I will definately be back!

This is undoubtedly the best Thai restaurant on the island of Maui and in my opinion the best I've ever had from various places on the mainland. I currently reside now on Maui, but have lived in places such as Chicago, Aspen, Orange County, Austin and hands down this is the best Thai food! It is located in a strip mall (Azeka) and can be hard to locate as it sits in the corner of the mall, but once you locate it, you will be warmly welcomed in. The restaurant has been in Azeka for over 12 years and is family owned and run. When visiting this restaurant, let them know your heat tolerance. They will prepare any dish noted as hot; mild for you to enjoy, so you can enjoy the traditional cuisine of Thai food. I myself like a good burner, so I always ask for HOT! A definite must to start is with the Green Papaya Salad, then followed by the Red Chicken Curry which is to die for, with the Thai Sticky Rice to accompany. As always, we like to accompany our beverage with the region of the food, and there is none better to compliment the palate, and also cool some of the heat, is Singha beer from Thailand. Prices are very reasonable, and that allows us to enjoy this delight sometimes twice a week. Enjoy! We always do!