Maile's Thai Bistro

"Not really sure why this place is so popular. They have 3 teenage boys running the service for the whole restaurant on a Friday night, but only one of them is a server. We waited a good 20 minutes for a server to even acknowledge us while the other two boys looked bored. There were empty tables so it wasn't exactly super busy. When the server finally came, he seemed rushed. We order drinks, an appetizer, and dinner. At no time did the server ask us about spice levels or anything, which has been pretty common at EVERY other Thai restaurant I have ever been to. Well, 30 minutes late, our DRINKS, appetizer, AND dinner all came out at once. Again, it wasn't exactly busy and the three boys were seen standing around and talking. The food tasted okay, but it was SUPER mild and bland for Thai food. Panda Express is spicier than their curry and Pad Thai. This tastes like old haole lady Thai food. Well the check comes and this place uses every chance they can to add surcharges to everything. They add 3% kitchen surcharge which they call a "tax" on the bill... Which I don't believe is legal. They then add 3% if you pay with a credit card. They say you can avoid 3% if you pay with your "debit", but I don't know who is stupid enough to trust teenage boys with their pin number. It's not like they have a portable POS system to pay. The bar seemed full and the server seemed to spend extra time with the boomer regulars. Like every other place is Hawaii Kai, the food is a let down, the service is inexperienced, and the place seems to cater to the boomer regulars rather than attracting new customers. Avoid unless you like non-spicy retirement home Thai food."

"Some of the best tasting rhai food around. Prices are a little steep, but for the quality and service, it was worth it. Chicken wings were good and not overdone. The wonton soup with bacon flavor was awesome. And the glass noodle salad had a lot of flavor. Portions were great for the price also. There are not too many thai restaurants on this side of the island, so it's definitely worth going here if you're looking for good Thai food."

"The curry was great, the service was impeccable. The restaurant had a slightly higher class sense inside, the crepe and coconut ice cream was amazing as well but the peach sorbet sounded good so I would definitely suggest it."

"Ive wanted to love this restaurant because our family loves Thai food and we live in Hawaii Kai.. we've lived here 3 years and tonight was our 3rd and final time trying to like the food served here. (Basically once a year we cave and retry it) After my husband's first bite of Pad Kee Mao (pictured), the first words out of his mouth were, "if I made this, Id be so disappointed". We've had this dish at so many Thai spots (its my favorite!) and this was the worst tasting weve ever experienced. We also ordered Punang Curry which was ok, but nothing to write home about.. not very flavorful like it typically is.. just a little kick then kinda bland beyond that flavor profile (normally its such a wonderful blend of sweet spicy creamy goodness). Sucks to relearn the hardway that Mailes really is subpar and I need to stop retrying in hopes that I'll have a better experience. For anyone looking for good thai in Hawaii Kai, we much prefer Olay Thai that comes to the farmers market on Tuesdays at Kaiser Highschool. Their punang curry is so delicious -- wish their storefront wasnt all the way in Chinatown or else we would enjoy mote often."