Review Thai Friends Restaurant - Auckland Central

It's very authentic, with a strong Thai flavor, especially this Tom Yum Kung dish, which is very authentic.

On my regular Restaurant list Now. It was Great food. You can order from english menu but ask them for thai memu. It is more Authentic and tasty. Use Google translator to order but worth trying with little more effort will make you so happy. Must try somtam, salmon salad, fried rice and pork belly skewer with sticky rice. I am going there every week.

This is one of the best Thai restaurants in Aotearoa NZ. We always come here for dinner. And they never let us down. The staff are lovely. The restaurant is clean and nice with great view outside. Food are so tasty and amazing. Porition is also quite big. My favorite dish are Pad Thi, fried fish with tamarin sauce, garlic duck, Massamun and fried rice. If you looking for quality Thai food, please come to try 😊

One of the best Thai restaurants in Akl, with excellent food quality and taste, especially Somtum and the hotpot. Very friendly staffs and chefs. We will definitely come back here soon.

Eid Mubarak everyone 3 recommended meals from us. 1.) Fresh Oyster in Thai style side and sauce: they charge only $3.50 per oyster!!!! Season order. 2.) Fresh Salmon Salad. My wife recommends with fermented fish. But you can order without fermented fish. The salad taste fresh and fine Thai spice. 3.) Crying Tiger (grilled beef) - with its sauce, Thai Friend’s Crying Tiger rattle the taste bud to another level. (Don’t forget to order sticky rice to consume with the beef) I used to work there 20 odd years ago as kitchenhand (aka dish washer 😁), the restaurant size is differ than it was but atmosphere is still there. Great staff Live music on SAT & SUN evening. Bon Appetite.

If anyone is missing Thai food, this place is highly recommended. We had “Thai Street Food dishes”, they were amazing. The staffs are so friendly and caring. Had a pretty good time here. :)

Pleasantly surprised. Discovered the main restaurant at the back, originally thought it was a kiosk outdoor typr of thing beside the road. I much preferred sitting inside. There's a lunchtime special, eating here can be inexpensive. There's a lovely deck out back to enjoy a bit of sky tower view. Food was lovely, can't complain. I would eat here again. Definitely want to try the curry!

Highly Recommended Thai Restaurant. Foods are delicious, vegetables are very fresh and the waitress she is lovely and friendly. We will come back for more to try. The price is reasonable too...

Very delicious Thai food. The most authentic Thai food you can find in Auckland. Friendly staff & great vibes with live music. Highly recommend for quality Thai food.

Came past at lunch time, but had to reschedule and do dinner. Wow what a great little gem. Food and service was great, Pad Thai was amazing! They were very busy but there were a few impatient, entitled and spoilt customers who made a scene. Clearly never worked in their entitled lives. Thank you Thai Friends for a great meal

Love the duck noodle soup. Recommend!

Yum Spring rolls, chicken wings to die for and the Red Curry Duck was delicious. Definitely will be back. Great service, warm and friendly. Thank you.

I come from Thailand and believe me! the food here is amazing !!! and the service is brilliant. 🥰 I strongly recommend this restaurant.

Thai friends fried rice and chicken basil are my go to dishes from here. Very delicious

Food was delicious and live guitarist gave it a very chill and nice place to eat.

My partner and I went here for an early birthday dinner. Awesome homely feel, super friendly staff, and the food!!! Hot damn the food is good. The food was fresh, delicious and left us both wanting to order more and more! Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the neighbourhood or a Thai food fan. Also can’t beat the prices, especially in Parnell/CBD area. Awesome spot

Amazing food and friendly service!

Chilled laid back environment <br/>Not much of an atmosphere but fantastic authentic Thai food

Good Tom.Yum Soup, Generous Portions. Well priced and friendly service.i like the outdoor atmosphere.

I came 2 days ago to grab dinner and ordered pork belly. Taste was ok 3 out of 5, Price is 1 out of 5 and I paid $22 but the serving is too small as you can see in the photo. If I knew it's like this, I would've gone to another place. Wait staff is nice though.

We ordered Thai chill beef for takeaways, mildly spicy which was nice! The only downside was that this dish doesn’t come with rice we had to get rice seperate which was alright a lot of Thai places do that. Also when I got the takeaway the container was only half full which was a surprise, when I usually order Thai food the container would be full all the way leaving a little bit of space on the top. Overall the food was nice just quantity wise it was lacking.

I ordered satay chicken for entree and spicy chicken noodles as main. Both were really tasty but bit disappointed with there size of satay chicken. Food were fresh and fragrance were amazing.

My experience at Thai friends was pleasant but not amazing, I was greeted with a smile however the lady had very little English making it difficult to order my meal. Awesome atmosphere out the back however food did take awhile to arrive. Food was decent not the best value for money but quantity was good. Overall a nice option for a lunch/casual dinner.

The best Thai food outside of Thailand that I have ever had. Trust me I lived in Thailand for 15 years. This place does not use carrots like all the other wannabee Thai places in NZ. Carrots should be for decoration in Thai food. I will be back!

My friends decided to take me to this little Parnell gem for some Thai. They were very excited to take me there because apparently the food was amazing. <br/>We have been welcomed by the wait staff in a super warm way. Their uniforms are great! <br/>I had their coconut rice ( best I had in Auckland so far, it is so hard to find Thai places who make actual coconut rice in Thai city ) beef Panang and satay gai. The peanut sauce was divine, and the Panang even better. <br/><br/>I never had my glass of water empty. The lady who was serving us was very sweet and careful with us. <br/><br/>The only off note if I have to make one is the rush they had to clear our plates. Not a big deal at all, but I prefer to be done with my entire meal before someone takes off my dishes.

Have only ever ordered via uber eats and bought the chicken & prawn pad thai so I can;t vouch for their venue or entire menu BUT it is the BEST chicken pad thai I've had. It's pricey at $22 but worth it if you're wanting a delicious pad thai full of flavour that fills you up. It would get a 5 if it wasn't so expensive but it guess it is Parnell....

Cheap, great tasty food and for what we paid - we can only praise. I kept going back 5-6 times over past 6 months. Worth the try and has nice out door sitting area

Went here years ago the food was very good but a tad spicier than kiwi's would normally eat so be careful with mild dishes to specify how hot they will be when ordering.

Had the red curry fish and sweet and sour fish. They were lovely!! The fish was fresh, and the flavours were delicious. The coconut rice was delicious. <br/><br/>The spring roll entrées were nice too. Was not a fan of the fish cakes, they were rubbery and processed. <br/><br/>The ambience was lovely and they are in a cute little spot off the road. Also lovely big glasses of water!

This restaurant hosted me and 15 of my friends. We had a great experience! The food and out quickly and was very tasty and full of flavour. Very good service. We all had a great time 👍🏽

Cute little spot on Parnell's main strip of shops. <br/><br/>Thai Friends has an cozy ambience and when we entered we were greeted almost immediately. <br/><br/>We ordered a Pad Thai and Chicken Yellow Curry, our dishes took around 15 minutes to come out and our water glasses was filled regularly.<br/><br/>In terms of the Curry, I found that it was quite thick and creamy. There was also a lot of chicken in the curry which was fantastic. Overall I enjoyed the curry and it tasted fresh and wholesome.<br/><br/>In terms of the Pad Thai, I was quite disappointed, it was quite dry and lacked flavour. Portion size was disappointing as well.<br/><br/>Showstopper: Excellent service and they provide an excellent amount of chicken in their curries.<br/><br/>Overall Grade: B<br/><br/>

Dined here last Friday and has a great meal as always. Simple food that tastes great. Staff are fantastic too. If you like your Thai food, this is a great option.

This was the most bland Thai food I have ever tasted! I ordered a chicken dish that was rated 'medium'. There was no flavour at all and this was probably the worst Thai meal I have ever had. Very disappointing.

Was looking forward to a great dinner night with a friend and have been longing to try out Thai Friends. Wait staff greeted friendly, food wasn't too bad. However, half way through the meals, bad-tempered chef came bursting through from the kitchen doors, YELLING at his wait staff from across the restaurant,about what sounded like an order that was taken for a 'hot' chilli dish to be made mild and if the customer doesn't like the dish 'hot' then shouldn't order it at all in the first place, along with other nasty remarks. This same act happened not once but THREE times. Not to be dramatic, but this kind of ruined our appetite as it felt like our patronage was not welcomed, not to mentioned we also felt a little frightened. Thai FRIENDS? Ever heard of the word discreet??

Awesome Thai food, great service! You can not beat this location too. They do the meanest Pad Thai. Will be back again for sure 😀 came here with five friends and we all loved it! Can't wait to visit again.

My local friend asked me to join her for dinner at Thai Friends which is a very cosy small restaurant frequented by Asian customers.<br/><br/>The lady owner welcomed us with a smile and took our order. We both ordered tom kha soup and chicken curry with coconut rice. The soup appeared within 15 minutes with an extra 10 for the main course. The soup was decent size, very nicely flavoured, smooth with coconut milk and nice chunks of chicken. The curry dish was quite large and was also nice but was not that thick as I would expect it to be compared to an Indian curry. The sauce had a completely watery texture so maybe that’s the Thai style but I had Thai food before and it used to be thicker not soaking the rice completely to the ground. The coconut rice had a very light coconut flavor that was very difficult to sense so I would only order plain basmati next time. The naan bread we also ordered was pretty moist and not properly baked and not even close to proper naan. Overall good food served with a smile but not my favorite.

They really do amazing Thai food which is full of flavour and being vegetarian they cater really well to me by being flexible with options and at times they introduce new vegetarian options for me which is great. The staff are always friendly and efficient in service and they always go above and beyond. I come here about 2 times every week whether to dine in or takeaways and every time they always deliver quality. I highly recommend this place as they are consistent. Also good value for money - especially takeaways !

Service: 7/10<br/>Food: 6/10<br/>Cleanliness: 7/10<br/>Value for money: 6/10<br/>Overall: 6.5/10<br/><br/>Can't say anything bad about this place. Friendly staff and the food was good.<br/><br/>

If there was a rating of Zero, i would give it. I stumbled upon this restaurant as i was starving and looking for some asian food (chinese being my first choice). I was walking unto Wok express, only to find it closed :( and hence my luck got worse when i entered Thai friends.<br/><br/>Being a vegetarian, the options are always limited. Anyway when i asked for Veg options, i was told to select any meat dish, that can be made vegetarian. I wasn't too convinced, and hence i chose the safest option (GREEN CURRY), that i thought in my mind cannot go wrong in a Thai restaurant. Alas i was so wrong!<br/><br/>I was charged NZD 13.50 for a chicken curry that was converted veg and the final product that i got was just raw and uncooked vegetables with very little curry (maybe 5 spoons) and obviously more rice than the curry!<br/><br/>The taste was nothing great plus it wasn't appetising at all. I would def not recommend this place if you want to eat good food and also pay a lot of money for eating bad food!<br/><br/>Avoid this place at all costs if you are a vegetarian and if you want to feel satisfied!! Eat a slice of Pizza instead :-/

By far the best Thai food I've ever had. Have been having Thai Friends takeaways for about 15 years and have never once been disappointed with the quality or taste. <br/><br/>I've tried other Thai restaurants and none have lived up to Thai Friends. My particular favs are the spring rolls, pad Thai and the green chicken curry. <br/><br/>They have great affordable lunch specials. However when dining in the evening I believe it's well worth paying that little bit extra.

We went there super early so we got the undivided attention of the lovely hostess, who took us under her wing and guided us through our choices for the night! Best banter from her, she properly treated us like we were family, and that hardly ever happens on a dinner night out! Food was beautiful as well!

A group of work mates and I went to Thai Friends last night. We all enjoyed the evening and the meals along with the service were excellent. We found the staff to be very friendly and very accommodating. Wouldn't hesitate to return. Thank you for an enjoyable evening :)

My partner and I thought we'd give this place a go seeing as it made it to the top 10 Thai Restaurants in Auckland, so we arrived on Friday, around 7pm. Not off to a great start when we were given a table with crumbs and sauce. The menu looked pretty standard, had a small but good vegetarian section and they seemed flexible when it comes to substituting meat for tofu, so that was a plus! It was the wait for the food and quality of service that made us very disappointed with our experience here. It wasn't a particularly busy night for the restaurant, with less than half the tables full. Our entrees came in good time, within about 20 minutes after ordering. However, the wait for mains was very very painful. Between entrees and mains, we waited more than an hour for a curry and a Pad Thai, when the rice for the curry came, it was this little pile of grain on a big plate. We asked for more, and apparently they only started cooking more just then, so another 30 minutes went by. The service was rather appalling too, perhaps they were understaffed but we had to ask for every little thing, from water service to getting cutlery for entrees, and when the mains finally came, it was brought to the takeaway window (near our table), our order was called out and we were expected to go and get our own plates - not sure if this is the norm for this place. The food itself was quite tasty, it was evident that a heap of sugar was used in all the dishes. <br/><br/>I wouldn't recommend this place as there are many many awesome Thai places around, and we most definitely won't be going back again.

I guess it always pays to give a place a second chance, I used to go here often but the standards had slipped over the past few years and I gave it a miss, on a spur of the moment thing I went with a friend more just for convenience than anything else, what a surprise! the service was excellent with polite, respectful and attentive staff and the food was absolutely to perfection without doubt the best in Auckland, Yum, the duck curry and the whole snapper with sweet chili sauce just delectable, if you love authentic Thai Food this is where it's at. <br/>Isn't it awesome when you have no expectation and then have the most amazing experience!

The service was very good, lovely atmosphere, food are delicious such as lamb curry [ massaman gaeh ] yummy!!! Crisp whole snapper with sweet chilli tamarind sauce was fantastic !! Pad Thai at Thai Friends is the best pad thai noodle in the city. Waiting staff are helpful , polite and friendly. Byo wine are welcome. <br/><br/>This place is real fine.

Worst food I've had in Auckland, so bad it spurred me to sign up and write a review to save others the disappointment. I don't know where to start. The service was really unfriendly, they clearly hate their jobs and who can blame them, dealing with disappointed customers can't be much fun. <br/>We all had tom yum soup - tom yuk more like! Made from a packet mix, two prawns each, one quartered small mushroom each, one lime leaf each, one piece of lemongrass each. It was very standard issue. Not full of the usual fresh vegetables. It was a sorry attempt.<br/>At least this prepared us to not get too excited about the main courses. Very poor. As my friend described it, the chilli beef noodle dish was like something you'd make when when you only had a few boring ingredients in your cupboard, it was like a thai spag bol without the flavour. My prawn salad was totally tasteless even though the menu described a mouthwatering spicy dish. My friends green curry was so sweet it was inedible, again, made from a packet mix but with too much sugar added.<br/>We couldn't wait to get out of there and grudged every cent it cost. Do not go to this restaurant - we just tried this one for a change, BIG MISTAKE.

Called into their Takeway window for something quick for lunch. The service was quick-ish and friendly.<br/><br/>The Massaman Gaeh was ok. <br/><br/>I think things have moved on and peoples expectation of thai food is higher now than in the past.<br/><br/>Not cheap, but worth a stop if you are walking past.

Went there for dinner, not as bad as others suggested. The food is definitely not as nice as before, same goes to the service. The portion is just normal. You can't really compare Thai food with other Asian food like Chinese where the quality of ingredient they use is different. You can't expect the size of a rump steak and an eye fillet to be the same if you are paying similar prices. The taste is still good, although not as good as before and the size is smaller. However, the entrees tasted like the frozen ones that you get from supermarket although it looked homemade. Probably won't go back though as there are other better choices within two mins drive in Parnell/Newmarket.

The restaurant itself is lovely, the ambience was lovely, friendly waitresses, prompt reception etc.. Sadly the same couldn't be said for the meals. Gobsmacked that a mixed entree of $18.50 consisted of 2 tiny baby-size cocktail Spring-rolls &amp; mini-cocktail money-bags - very disappointing especially when you're starving &amp; your stomach lining is close to hitting the floor :(<br/><br/>Restaurant must have been low on stock. Duck was on menu, but not in actual kitchen, nor was Thai Beer or Tiger Prawns. One of the mains was a Beef, basil dish, meat wasn't cooked properly, vegetables that weren't part of the dish ingredients showed up on the plate. we struggled to understand why a spicy dish would have fancy limp lettuce beneath the meat, hanging limpy of the plate. Had upset stomach till wee-hours of morning :(<br/><br/>Overall you're paying for the location, rather then the meal itself. Definitely had better Thai. Will not be returning.

I was crying out of hunger when I came in to dine. The waitress suggested us a bread which was just divine. Though the meal was nice but the portion was just too less for the price I was paying.... may be I was just expecting more. The ambiance was relatively ok as compared to other thai restaurants I've been.

Nice place in Parnel though a very crampy space for dining. Food was average as I have experienced better at other Thai restaurants in Auckland. The waitress we had was really unfriendly and seemed somewhat impatient with us. What’s worse, she was nice and welcoming to other tables but decided to put up this horrible attitude against us, which totally ruined our evening. When mentioned this to the other waiter, who was nice and apologized to us (not his fault!!), the waitress was beside him and uttered something stroppy in Thai. That’s it for us, we won’t be going back to this unwelcoming and average restaurant, and we won’t ever recommend this to our family and friends either! This is not how you do hospitality here in NZ!!!

my partner and i love this restaurant. however, just recently we went there again. the meal wasn't that nice compare with before. I think they have change a chef. i wasn't really happy for the dining

I have to say that I've never had to write a review such as this, however in this case my dining experience is one that I wish to share.<br/><br/>My husband and I have dined at Thai Friends on separate occasions as a couple and with friends, we have always thought that travelling 20 minutes to get here was certainly worth the trip.<br/><br/>We arrived at 7pm and our orders were taken promptly, starters and main course; we both looked forward to enjoying our meals as we have done so in the past. The starters arrived not long after our orders were placed…...unfortunately after seeing two other couples receive their entrées and main meals while we were still waiting for our main meals, we thought it was way over the top to have waited until 8.35pm before asking the waiting staff how much longer would ours be? The restaurant was not busy on the evening we decided to dine here (Tuesday) so we were expecting our meals to be served within a relatively short period of time.<br/><br/>Unfortunately the waiting staff did not inform us how much longer we would have to wait; so you can imagine what I was thinking when they delivered the main course meals to the table next to us!!!!! By the time our steamed rice arrived, we were told that our mains were not far from coming, I questioned why our meals were slow to come especially when we had arrived way before the two other couples had had their entrees and main meals. His reply was that ‘it happens all the time, the chef doesn’t care, you go and you tell him’…our meals then came out….nice one.. so with that my reply was, ‘this is what we are going to do, you can send all this food back to the kitchen, what we will do is settle the bill for the food which we have eaten and leave’. <br/><br/>Great customer service ……………… NOT !!!!!! Never to return.<br/>Toasted hot cross buns and a hot cup of tea at home never tasted so good!!!

Mediocre take-out. Poor value for money. The quality of food has unfortunately gone down hill - used to be fairly good. We will be eating at the Thai round the corner in future.

nice entree - i had the money bags. Main was a little too hot for me even after requesting very mild. Still, good food.

Best Thai in Auckland. So good and love the staff they are all very friendly. My partner and i are always greeted with a warm smile.

The best pad thai!!<br/>My flatmate and I go at least a couple times a week, would go more often except for the one downside being the price, around $15 a dish, but definitely worth it!<br/>The staff are polite and there is quick service for takeaway.

I agree the food is good BUT watch your bill!!<br/><br/>Our bill arrived. They overcharged us heaps - and when I mentioned it, he blamed us for his (manager's) mistake. Then he told us that he didn't care if we told others - or if we ever came back. So here it is everyone - these guys rip you off and then treat you like muck. And, not surprisingly we are not going back! He so knew that he'd tried to pull a fast one on us. Bad Bad form.<br/><br/>I don't care how good the food is, there is no excuse for rudeness or trying to con customers. We were a very mild mannered adult family group; ideal customers I would have thought. There are hundreds of great Thai restaurants out there - I advise to avoid this one if you can.

great resturant, everyone raves about this place and I agree the food and service is top notch.

The place itself was very welcoming and formal. Waitress was very friendly and really looked after us. The food we ordered were tasty. One dish is shareable for 2-3 persons. Recommending this place.