This place is the BOMB!! Im so sad to see it go! This has been a favorite for my family and I for the last  25 yrs!  Im surprized at all the bad ratings.  I always get the curry dishes.  The salads and deserts, the best!  Talk about home cooking thai style.  Fresh herbs.  Friendly ohana style service. DA BEST! Nothing will come close, ever!!
Review Source:When the waiter/host greets you with a "wassssssssssssssssssup!!!!!!!!," run, run, run away!
Came and tried this place only because some coworkers insisted this is the best place for thai food on island. After visiting the orchid festival in Hanapepe, figured I'd try this place out since it's so close by.
Located in back right corner of a sad strip mall, this restaurant has apparently seen better days. The prices seem reasonable, Â until they put the food down in front of you, and you're tempted to ask them where the rest of it is.
Ordered the pad thai with chicken (add egg for $1 more) and Toi's temptation with pork. Both we're $9.95. The pad thai was noodles, about 6 strips of chicken breast, a couple bean sprouts, and a sprig of cilantro. It was four big bites of noodles. Pretty sad. Sauce was also off, not quite right.
The temptation had a tasty, Â but corn starch overladden sauce. It's a creamy coconut, keffir lime leaf, lemongrass sauce with a few strips of meat and some basil. It's mostly sauce with some meat. You must order rice to pad it out. Not much to eat when you're pretty much only given some indedible leaves and lemongrass to eat.
Avoid this place! Â However, a couple behind us ordered the mee krob and were delighted. Â Their delight sounded fake though. Who knows. Eat somewhere else and spare yourself!
BYOB
A friend of mine recommended this place, but unfortunately, my husband and I had a rather bad experience here.
We arrived there at 5:50pm, and there were only four people in the restaurant. The lady took our order shortly after she brought out ice water. We decided to skip appetizer because we wanted to try their dessert instead. That was a huge mistake we made because our food came out at 6:29pm, almost 40 mins after we arrived. On top of that, the chicken noodle soup I had was just simply a boring dish. In fact, their whole menu was very underwhelming. I don't understand why they only serve chicken, pork, beef, and tofu as their main protein. They should have taken the advantage of having their business on a small island and serve seafood!
A big disappointment, poor service and worst Thai food I ever had.
Had lunch here on a wednesday. Summer rolls only on fri/sat, but ordered the spring rolls. They were lightly fried and really good. Use the lettuce leave with the cucumber to hold them and then dip-yummy!
Ate the Toi's Temptation with Shrimp. Very solid. My wife had the chicken satay. Not your typical chicken skewers- much better. Excellent peanut sauce.
The service was very friendly. Family run place with grandpa bringing the kids through as dad worked. He even called a charter company for some other patrons who thought they may be late in catching their charter. Nice guy- talked fast.
Had eaten here a number of years ago, but don't remember the food being as good as it was this time! Really excellent. Be warned- sign said cash only after Jan. 1.
So happy to have found this little hole in the wall! Delicious, fresh Thai food! Â
Was a little unsure what to expect based on some of the other reviews, but we were pleasantly surprised. Â For 4 of us we shared the summer rolls (yummy), the Thai beef salad (excellent sauce), and two curry dishes which each came with rice, a side salad and a desert. Our bill came out to $47 - which seemed very reasonable compared to other restaurants on the island.
The curry dishes were excellent, and the deserts were delicious! We eat Thai food frequently in our home-city, and this place was as good as the best there, and comparable prices. Â
Two things to note: no alcohol on the menu, but you can bring your own bottle. They had a note on the door that beginning 1/1/2013 they will no longer be accepting Credit Cards....seems like a bad move to me as most people traveling through will want to pay with a CC.
I will not even go here to try their food. I hope Yelp will forgive me, but it is for health reasons...
I read some reviews on Yelp and from what the locals tell me Cindy C's review is pretty accurate. Â Other locals have told me they have gotten sick.
So recently a new colleague of mine had moved here from Maui. He asked me where he should go for Thai food on the island. Â I explicitly said: "do not go to Toi's. Â I have heard mixed reviews and nothing extremely positive." I told him to check out my favorite Thai place on the island that is available in Hanapepe on Fridays.
Well... he did not take my advice. Â He ate at Toi's. Â Upon seeing him at the Hanapepe Art Walk he said he was sick for 2 days because he had some bad Thai food.
I said: "Where did you go? You didn't go to Toi's did you?"
He said: "Yes."
We chuckled about it and I said: "Remember I told you NOT to go there- I specifically said- don't go there?"
He said: "Yes.... I know, some other person recommended it so I went, but I had a horrible 2 days."
Poor guy- maybe next time he will listen to this Yelper. I just can't bring myself to pay a lot of money for gross Thai food, a possible mouse (Ref. Cyra D's Yelp) and getting sick. I am also not interested in Hawaiian Infused Thai (Ref. Cindy C's Yelp) Mema's in Kapaa had made both my husband and myself sick 2 years ago. Thai food is very hard to hit on the mark- the only place I know that has good Thai food that won't make you sick is Silver Elephant Thai.
Steer clear of this place my friends!
This place was gross save your money. Â After waiting an hour for our food of Chicken Pad Thai and Chicken Panang it was not worth it. Â I was willing to stick it out because of the reviews until the mouse came and he did not have reservations. Â I told the waitress and it did not faze her. Â Finally after the mouse got to close to my feet and the no one cared I left and my husband stayed to pay. Â We really did not eat but a couple bites. Â Nasty and dirty do not go! Â Big mistake...........
Review Source:I am from the east coast and have been coming to Kauai for 21 years. Â I first ate at Toi's in 1991 when it was a Kekaha. Â This is a mom restaurant. Â Toi is the star and is the foundation of this place. Â You will find all her family and friends working here. Â As for the location, do not be thrown off by the atmosphere when you walk in. Â It is hands down the best Thai food that I have ever eaten. Â I heartily recommend it.
Review Source:Living in Thai town in Los Angeles, I eat Thai food about three times a week, so some might consider me a Thai snob, so take that into consideration on my review. We went for dinner.
While food is more expensive overall in Hawaii, I was a bit shocked by the price of the dishes, typically $14.95 to $15.95, but it did include both a salad and desert, which increased the value. The style of the food is localized to people living on Hawaii, so the dishes tasted different then what I'm used to. The Beef Panang was quite good, just different than what I expected. The Chicken Cashew was not as good as I am used to.
The service was good. The waitress and cooks son were extremely nice. We were able to connect with them. They made us feel at home. If you want Thai food in this part of town, this is the place to go. Of course it is the only Thai place in this part of town.
If you are visiting the Waimea Canyons or Polihale Beach and you want to eat in town, this is a great option.
The food was not good. The price was reasonable for how much food you got, but who cares? Again, the food was not good. The ambiance was strange. Clare below says that it was creepy and I would agree. And lastly service was slooooow. Cmon guys, there were like 5 people in the place, why did it take forever to get us our food? Definitely avoid.
Review Source:I went here in October of 2008 based on a review in Frommer's. Â Most of the food was ok, but I ordered the chicken and shrimp pad thai. Â The shrimp was good, but the chicken had a mushy, oatmeal like consistency. Â I learned later this meant it wasn't cooked! No sooner had I left Toi's to drive back to my hotel, my stomach started feeling very queazy. Â Did the euro-fix for food poisoning, 3 shots of whisky ended up being ok, but won't go back here next time.
Review Source:Toi's Thai Kitchen was a wonderful find. They do very little advertising and we found it by word of mouth.
The food was freshly prepared by Toi herself. Each dish was individually made with all fresh ingredients. All dinners also included a papaya salad and tapioca or black rice pudding. Try the combo of tapioca and rice pudding, it's yummy
Our group of 8 ordered family style plates and shared. We also had curry, saiman noddles. Our favorite plates were the crispy noodle dish the egg rolls.
We hope to go again soon. We love coming to Kauai and finding special gems.
First of all, I felt like I was eating in the toy aisle of a Dollar Store. This kind of stuff doesn't bother me, in fact I was amused by the creepy feel the restaurant had. The service was pleasant, opened our bottle of wine (BYOB) and were very patient in waiting for our friends to arrive who had seemingly gotten lost.
Started off with some fresh spring rolls. They were weird. Not bad, but definitely not good. My friends got the fried spring rolls and I eyeballed their plate our of jealousy. Still sub par but far better than ours.
For dinner the husband and I split Pad Thai and some Yellow Curry. The Pad Thai tasted like someone threw some ketchup in the wok with some rice noodles (not yummy) and the yellow curry was seriously lacking something crucial that makes yellow curry the big delicious cheese burger of thai food.
It was edible, but for the price it was awful. Had it have been about 9 dollars less a person, I might have enjoyed this meal more, but for 2 entrees and an appetizer (tofu, mind you) it ran up to 65 bucks. The Thai places I frequent at home are at most 25 bones for the same fare.
i'm not sure what other people expect when they discover toi's, but i for one, am definitely a fan.
toi is from thailand, and has been here on kauai for many years. her food is authentic, however, as mike h pointed out, it's catered to the local taste. (i've been to thailand several times & my mother is from thailand and cooks regularly, so i think it's pretty safe to say that i know thai food).
among my favorites:
pad thai with shrimp & chicken satay (the peanut sauce comes served on the chicken; no pickled cucumber)
this is a place i hit up when i'm craving thai but don't have mommy around to cook for me!
I seriously wasn't expecting much from this place being as it's in Eleele's strip mall. However, the hubby and I had pretty severe colds and anyone in the know KNOWS that a bowl of spicy Thai soup is the cure all for what ails you. I managed to find a menu online and ordered the Tom Yum and the Tom Yum Ga, both spicy and both with chicken. I was pretty impressed that, for the roughly $11 each soup cost; an order of rice (sticky, jasmine or brown), green papaya salad or green tossed salad, and your choice of tapioca or black rice pudding was included. The soup portions were huge and they didn't skimp on the sides either. We had enough to last us for the next day AND our colds were much better after blasting them out with the chili spice.
I know good Thai food (see Mike H.'s review) and anyone who references a "Moco Loco" when the correct term is "Loco Moco" is not exactly someone I'd call a "trusted resource" lol. I'm glad I trusted the other reviews and gave this place a chance. Incidentally, I happen to have personal knowledge that the owners are actually Thai so their food IS authentic.
I must say this is some of the best Thai food I've ever had! Comparable to my favorite Thai place in Tampa. The yellow curry with chicken was amazing. The meal comes with a papaya salad which was also very good. I preferred the tapioca pudding for dessert over the Black rice pudding but both were yummy. Very impressed. Atmosphere is very casual. Family owned business with mom in the kitchen and her son waiting tables (that's what our waiter said). Toi's is a must visit when on the South shore of Kauai.
Review Source:If you know Thai food, Toi's isn't particularly good. Â If you looking for decent food that is 'sort of Thai' then Toi's isn't too bad.
Other than the very hot condiments, taste and texture were different from any Thai I've encountered on the mainland or in Thailand. Â Our group was evenly split between, Â bad and non-issue. Â
Toi's is now a byob place. Â Not a hardship, even for tourists, with a grocery store a few doors down.
My guess, 'Toi had to change her recipes to appeal to local tastes'. Â The sauces were closer in texture to Moco Loco gravy, a Kauai favorite, than the broths typically found on Thai food. Â The green papaya salad highlighted in an earlier review was very sweet without a balancing tang or heat.
If your interest is authentic Thai Toi's is 1 star. Â If you're interested, as I am, in authentic local then Toi's is 4 stars. Â Experiencing how a cuisine bends to local tastes is interesting and, although not in this case, tasty
Mike
Given how bad the food was throughout the island, I guess I should lower my standards, but I can't. Â Thai food is my favorite cuisine, so I am naturally a pretty tough critic. Â That being said, four of us ate here, and two of them really liked their food, which contained meat. Â The other half of our party, self included had vegetarian dishes that were just so so. Â Sauces (and Thai food is all about sauces) didn't taste fresh, or the way I expect them too. Â Something seemed off. Â Not bad just ok food. Â But for Kauai it might be your best bet. Â It can definitely get worse. Â They close on Mondays so be warned. Â Also they can be very busy and with only one waiter for the whole room, it can take a long time to be served.
Review Source:I have visited in person only once, but frequent Toi's in daydreams. Â
This is a family run, neighborhood restaurant with the best Thai food I've ever tasted. Â (I have not been to Thailand). Â The servers are daughters, mothers, aunts, and the lone chef - did you catch that, lone chef? - is a sweet grandma who barely clears five feet tall. Â Having an amazing meal cooked by a grandma is worth the wait, and it if it's busy, you will wait. Â You may wait an hour. Â It doesn't matter. Â It's worth it. Â You should wait your whole goddamn life, it's that good. Â The lemongrass is in 4" shoots in the soup, the galanga pieces are huge, the flavor is other-wordly. Â The green curry is transcendent. Â Even the desserts are fantastic, which is not the norm for Asian restaurants. Â The night I visited, the choices were black rice pudding and pumpkin. Â I don't like rice pudding. Â The black rice pudding was excellent! Â I love pumpkin. Â The pumpkin was amazing. Â Toi's Temptation was good, but a bit sweet for my taste (a lot of pineapple and sweet coconut milk).
I will, someday, return to Toi's.
We stopped here for dinner after a long drive out west. We had snorkeled all day and we watched the sunset on one of the beaches. It was beautiful! We wanted something simple and tasty for dinner. Our guidebook recommended this for Thai and it was on the way back to our hotel.
Upon first entering, you notice all the Thai sculptures, pictures and art on the walls. They even have some trinkets for sale on a table to the side. The restaurant is large, kinda outdated, but we found that too be like most places on the island. The service was wonderful. Our server was very friendly and had great island personality. He recommended we get the Toi's Temptation and the Tom Yum Soup. We got everything spicy.
The Tom Yum Soup was really good - hot, spicy, sour, just like I like it. We got seafood and it came with shrimp, calamari and pieces of fish.
The Toi's temptation was only ok, I thought it was sort of a creamy, sweet pale peach-colored sauce, and didn't really taste like much honestly. There were large chunks of seafood, pineapple and potatoes. I dont' know why this dish gets that many recs, it definitely wasn't that interesting to me.
Everything else was pretty standard: green curry, basil chicken, papaya salad, pad thai. It wasn't the best thai I had, nor the worst. But I guess on an island with limited restaurants to begin with, you don't have much in terms of Thai food to compare too. So it's good if you're in the mood for Thai food on Kauai, I just woudlnt' go out of my way and drive around the island for it.
Service is really friendly however, and we thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent there. Portion are large too, and each entree includes salad and a dessert. We got the pumpkin and coconut milk and tapioca coconut pudding for desserts and both were good. The space was large so they were able to accomodate our party of 6 with no issues.
Delicious food at a reasonable price (I mean, this is Kauai. Think about how much most of the restaurants cost around here). Â This restaurant is in a small shopping strip and can be kind of hard to find, but once you get there, your taste buds are in for a treat.
Toi's Temptation is a wonderful dish. Â The portion sizes are good - we couldn't finish our meal, even though I really wanted to... everything was so tasty. Â Definitely stop by this restaurant if you're in the area!
I can't recommend this place enough!
I strolled through here on my first trip to Kauai, and must say I was hankering for something other than the great arches of McDonalds that tragically obscure this superb little venue.
It's location made it difficult to see, but by chance while strolling through the little shopping area we came across it. The inside of the restaurant is beautiful with tasteful art, lots of plants, and a very inviting aroma. We were greeted by a wonderfully polite, smiling waitress, and despite it being fairly busy, the atmosphere was quiet and warm, and we were tended to within minutes.
The food was superb! I recall having spring rolls that came with an amazing sweet sauce, and a spicy chicken red curry. The girl and I shared a coconut soup and she had a yellow tofu curry. Very, very tasty all around, particularly the soup. Although not a fan myself, the girl said the Thai iced tea was heavenly. They topped it all off with a complimentary bowl of iced cream. Killer! For more food than we could finish we paid around thirty bucks, a steal by any stretch of the imagination.
A very nice little place, one worth seeking out when you arrive on Kauai, as it isn't a very large place and the giant McDonalds is a good landmark on the road to finding great island Thai food.
We have been coming to Tois Thai Kitchen since 1991. Â All the food is cooked by Toi herself. Â If you have never tried green papaya salad, decide to try something new. Â It is tangy and slightly sweet with penut topping. Â
We have had her curries and love the Yellow curry and Toi's temptation as well as her fantastic spring rolls.
Additionally, she has some of the best fish and chips on the island. Â They are made with either fresh mahi or ono. Â Very yummy!
Tucked in the shopping center whose landmark is the McDonald's, this is clearly a family-run restaurant.
Sure the entrees are slightly more expensive than you'd find in a Thai place in San Francisco, but you have to factor in the fact that you are in the middle of the Pacific ocean and the meal includes salad and dessert. Â At $15 per person for the entree, this is one of the less expensive dinners we had in Hawaii.
We were very satisfied with the portions of the food. Â We were a little ambitious and ordered the calamari appetizer. Â The chunks of calamari were huge and tasted very fresh, very different from most restaurant. Â The dipping sauce was spectacular. Â The Thai iced tea was freshly made and tasted just right.
By the time we actually started on our entrees, we were well on our way to full. Â Both dishes, green curry and Toi's Temptation, had excellent sauces and seemed to me to be very authentic. Â
The dessert choices were a little funky but typical of Asian restaurants, Â red bean and similar similar to red been except it was white and even sweeter. Â I've never been a fan of Asian desserts, so I only skimped off of the top.
This restaurant came ONO recommended on Ultimate Kauai, so on our way back from Waimea Canyon, we decided to stop in.
It is a family run business, in the corner of a strip mall that also houses a Big Save and a McD. Â On a Wednesday evening 3-4 tables are occupied, half by locals and half by tourists.
We were forewarned by the guide book that it wasn't cheap, but when we saw the menus we were in for a little bit more sticker shock than we originally anticipated. Â Each entree is $13.95-$17.95, and having come from Seattle and SF where good, inexpensive Thai food is plentiful ($8.95 or so a dish), this definitely raised our expectations.
The entrees came with salad and dessert. Â The salad was decent, but it was just pickled julienne radish and carrots, so kind of hard to mess up. Â The entrees we ordered were: Ginger Mahi, Veggie, Toi's Temptation with Pork and Butter Garlic Chicken. Â We got the sticky rice and the jasmine. Â Definitely go with the sticky.
The portions were small, more like the size you'd get if you were in Thailand. Â This is not a good sign since we were hungry. Â Also, in Thailand, no dish is more than a few bucks, so the smaller portions don't bother me there. Â Here, I was expecting more.
The flavoring of the dishes we ordered was very different than any Thai food I've had. Â Perhaps it was the Hawaiian fusion. Â Hard to pin point.
Our waiter, the son, was super friendly and would not stop talking to us. Â He was really sweet, but we also found out later that he was really drunk that day because he had just broke his brand new surf board. Â He chatted with us a lot through out dinner. Â
The desserts were not bad, but the coconut milk was salty. Â Did they put salt instead of sugar by mistake or was it intented to be a contrast in flavor? Â Not sure.
I think the convergence of ONO reviews + high prices + small portions + unfamiliar flavors = below expectation experience. Â Go try it if you like, but I probably won't be back next time in Kaua'i.
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