Review Chu Thai Eatery - Auckland Central

Justin K

Delicious food and amazing service. They always have the best finishing touches too. They put my birthday cake an a lovely cake stand and played and the whole restaurant sang happy birthday, even in Thai also. That was a first but so sweet of them. Thanks Chu Thai

Luke Benson

If you're vegan and in the area, you must come here! The food really is that good. It's fantastic that there's a whole separate vegan menu with so many choices. It seems like the options have been designed around tofu and veg to get the best out of them, rather than meat just being removed or replaced from omni meals. The bao for starter was fantastic and had a delicious sauce. We got a larb tofu salad and vegetable stir-fry for mains alongside a roti. Everything was delicious, especially the crispy tofu. The roti was very interesting - flaky and buttery. Service was attentive and everywhere was clean. It was lovely to sit outside in the patio area. My only criticism is that the menu items could do with more information to help distinguish them. The food is authentically Thai and deserves to be described accurately for those - like us - who have only ever gone as far as pre-made Thai curry at home.

Shelly

Wow!! First time here and the food is to die for! They have an extensive menu so we will definitely be going back to try other dishes! The service and food are both 10/10! Highly recommend.

Taylar W

We celebrated a birthday dinner at Chu Thai Eatery as I had heard about this new Thai restaurant from a friend and knew it was open. The staff and service was excellent, consistently attentive despite how much busier the evening got with walk in customers. For entrees, we enjoyed the spicy mayo prawn skewers with prawn and cabbage dumplings and these nibbles were delicious and were delivered relatively swiftly, washed down with a beautiful bottle of Rua Pinot Noir. Following on, we dined on the signature toasted coconut chicken curry with roti, an off the menu spicy hot steamed snapper with coconut rice and chicken Pad Pik Khing and our dishes were delicious and spiced Thai hot as requested. We shared the mango coconut sticky rice for dessert which was a fitting way to finish off. Overall, the entire dining experience was wonderful and truly memorable. I was highly impressed by the menu as there were several dishes I’d like to try which don’t typically appear on Thai restaurant menus and the service was exemplary. Highly recommended with distinction!

Marcus Franke

This place is a vegan heaven as its even dedicates a whole page full of vegan dishes! The staff is extremely friendly and attentive, the food is great (try the vegan pad thai!!!!!). Four stars because have had better vegan curry before, but will 100% return to check it out again👍

Delfi Indriati

100% Highly recommended,their food has a very good taste, very good prices and you can come with a group, because he has a very good place n they have very friendly employees.

Rex Graphics

Very delicious foods, friendly service with a nice atmosphere! We had great experience.

George

Tasty food, price is just OK. Please Improve your customer service. You can smile, customers are not your enemies!!!

Michael Jerome de Loyola

I ordered Roasted Pork Belly with lemongrass but I was not able to taste the lemongrass of this dish. Still delicious though. A bit pricy for asian cuisine but you get what you pay for 😉

Sara Jenner

Lovely meal. Very nice people. Great vegan menu

Elise D

Really yummy and good value Thai food with plenty of vegan, gluten free and vegetarian options. A real crowd pleaser! Their drunken noodles are particularly good along with the red curry

Kelly

Great food, generous portions, and cozy atmosphere. The prices are very fair, and they have such a huge selection of food that it can be bamboozling. We tried the bang bang cauliflower, fried noodles with vegan chicken and the pak Tom kati curry with tempeh and ordered some sticky rice to eat with it. The curry had amazing vibrant colors and it had good flavor, and everything had good flavour but all the dishes were a bit sweet for me. I guess that's westernised Thai food though. Will definitely be back because it's very decent Thai food for very cheap prices considering Chu Thai is at the heart of Ponsonby.

Bright One

This place is over rated. Food is too sweet also too salty. The portion is small compared with the price. We won't go back.

BelaIna

Second time in this place but unfortunately was not at fast and not as tasty as the first time.

Kyara Margarette

Really good customer service and great ambiance! Chicken fried rice is a must have 🥰

Athina Andonatou

Loved the atmosphere. The waiter was attentive. I ordered off the Vegan menu and what I got was delicious. I heard other diners also happy with what they ordered, even heard a Wow!

Sharmayne Hardwidge

Awesome service, polite and friendly

Jessika Way

Bad service. We booked for 8, showed up to a table for 6, when I tried to politely say we needed two more seats, the lady spent 10 minutes shouting at me telling me we only booked for 6. Food was average. Could have made it at home. Bao buns are steamed not toasted btw.

A_craving_foodie

The most extensive vegetarian menu I've seen at a restaurant. I had the crumbed tofu for starters and tom yam ramen noodle soup for main. Huge quantity and amazing flavours. And to top all that, the customer service was top notch. Good place for a group catch up.

Jay

A really nice Thai restaurant in the heart of Ponsonby, they have really nice service, a good vibe and a little den inside that's really cozy. Their food is also delicious and you can't go wrong with their chicken.

Kate Carey

I had a BYO with 25 people here and it was outstanding!! Every meal that came out was absolutely perfect. The manager thought of everything and was dedicated to giving our group a great experience . No complaints here, will definitely be back in future.

Sean Kim

Awesome food. Best thai i had so far. I had the peanut chicken and the green curry chicken and honestly it was so good. Thanks for the good food. Keep it up!

ABC

Had a wonderful experience at Chu Thai this week. I’ve been meaning to dine in for ages and finally got to go with 2 others. I have previously got takeaways around 5 months ago which were delicious. Received a friendly greeting upon arrival. When seated, we were asked if anyone was vegetarian or vegan. We all took the vegan menu. They had sooo many opinions which were all so yum, we had - edamame beans, tom yum soup, sizzling vegan chicken and the battered tofu. I had brown rice tea which I really enjoyed. The service was A+, friendly and helpful without being over bearing. Everything reasonably priced. Can’t wait to visit again and try out some other dishes!

Cristy Ko

Good vegan options. Polite and friendly staff. Totally meet our dietary requirements which are allium free. Definitely will visit again with other friends.

Aurora Lim

Thumbs up to the Tom yum soup. Best Tom yum soup in town, very authentic and strong flavour. I would crave for more especially in cold weather. The restaurant manager is friendly and funny by the way.

James

Extensive menu with plenty of unique and delicious options. The staff are very friendly, funny and knowledgeable. All the dishes we had were bursting with flavour and beautifully presented. Will be coming back to try more dishes!

Stacey

Food was absolutely amazing! We got the pork belly bao, sizzling chicken and tofu pad Thai. Wow, the bao is fried and so crispy, the pork is soft and the pickle adds a bit of zing. The sizzling chicken was crispy and sweet, tasted amazing! The tofu pad Thai was wonderful, very large portion and tofu was cooked amazingly! We will defs be back

Carol

Finally went to Chu Thai Eatery in Ponsonby for my birthday celebration, after reading the awesome reviews. It was awesome! We ordered vegan dumplings & bao for starters. Had no time to take photos of starters as these were too delicious :-) I had vegan sizzling ‘chicken’ & my partner had an actual chicken curry. We also ordered a small coconut rice to share - yum! And had jasmine tea for drinks. Highly recommend - and great value for money. We paid $75 for two - and that includes Anzac Day surcharge. Staff really friendly and helpful

Rosanne Choy

Came in for a birthday dinner. Ordered the chu thai fried rice with chicken, som tum thai, signature chicken roasted coconut curry with roti, grilled chicken with salad bao, braised pork belly with pickle bao, grilled chicken satay, larb crispy tofu, curry puff and some seafood dish. I really liked how spicy the papaya salad (som tum thai), it was my first time trying it and it was food. The baos were quite nice, exterior was fried kind of like a donut. Roti was super flakey and different to the ones you usually have at malaysian restaurants. Would definitely recommend trying the roti. The satay chicken sauce was delicious and I would taste the individuals bits of the peanuts inside. Seafood dish tasted average. The fried rice was quite sweet and clumped in bits, almost like the one I often cook at home. Absolutely loved the customer service. Favourite thai restaurant in Auckland.

Neel B

Amazing Thai Food. Very polite staff and Great service. Must try Bao , Salmon, and traditional thai chicken dishes.100% recommend CHU Thai.🙏

Jihyun Kim

Me and my friends went here for BYO, and had the most amazing experience! We were all so happy with our meals (I got the garlic and pepper chicken wok). Also the best thing about this place is their service! Would definitely recommend 🥰

Adri Slijp

Love Chu Thai- my favorite Thai place!!! Best vegan chicken I have ever had. I actually thought they had given me real chicken by mistake! Fair prices and delicious food.

Krystal Bewley

I went to Chu Thai for my birthday BYO. This was my first time dinning here and we all absolutely loved our meals. We sat at a big table outside where you can see the sky tower which was really nice. The meals are all reasonably priced and everything looked so delicious I can’t wait to go back and try something different . The owner (i think) was super cute and gave me a free desert for my birthday and put on some music for everyone to sing happy birthday!! Such a great location as well !! Highly recommend going here .

Coz I Can

WOW is all I can say 😱 . We had Dinner Chu Thai in Ponsonby and was blown away by everything including the full Vegan Menu 🌱 . We started off with Bang Bang Cauliflower as a starter which was so fresh and the dipping sauce was 🍢 . For mains we had Larb Tofu Skins which was refreshing and had a nice mix of heat and sweetness & Sizzling Vegan Chicken which tasted so yummy and was like Sweet n Sour Pork 😍 . I loved the little gestures while they were serving us, the owner checked on us various times and the even served us our eating utensils on a plate 😍 . I normally never eat dessert at the same place as I have dinner, however I was so impressed that I had to have their Sago Pudding , it was a nice mix of salty n sweet🍨

Daleashleighnagel

Me and my friend came here and we were both so impressed by the wonderful service and food! Everything we ate was absolutely delicious, and the vegan menu is AMAZING. We got the bao buns and the vegan sizzling chicken with a side salad. Everything was perfect. Especially the waiter! He was so lovely and attentive and polite. Would 10/10 recommend. We will be back :)

Gem McLeod

We decided to check out Chu Thai after hearing that they have a dedicated vegan menu, and it didn't disappoint with plenty to choose from. We ordered the bang bang cauliflower (they serve it with peanut sauce instead of mayo for the vegan option), tempeh bao, tofu tom yum soup and sizzling vegan chicken. We're pretty big eaters and this was way too much food - I'd recommend ordering one starter and a main each, or two starters and a main to share. The tempeh bao was outstanding, but the bang bang cauliflower lacked flavour and needs spices added to the batter. I'm not a fan of tom yum but this one was quite nice, and the sizzling vegan chicken was divine. Make sure to try the tempeh bao when visiting Chu Thai! The service was attentive and thorough. The ambience of the restaurant is pleasant, although there is definitely a little room for improvement. Everything is reasonably priced and they even offer BYO. Chu Thai is an ideal place for vegans and omnivores alike to enjoy a meal and we will definitely be back! Most of all though, I hope they get on to Uber eats/takeaway soon (hint hint, Chu Thai!)

Savannah Elizabeth

Excellent service and the food was amazing! Beautiful view of the sky tower and a wide range of vegan options. Definitely recommend and will be going back.

Annie Shaw

The food is absolutely incredible here. I honestly get transported back to Asia every time I eat here. It has become somewhat of a regular place for my partner and I. I get the tofu panang with coconut rice and he get Sun Fed chicken pad Thai both amazing. The service is excellent and the vegan food is some of the best in town.

April Sawyer

We just had such a delicious meal at Chu Thai! The food and service are impeccable. I highly recommend their toasted coconut chicken curry with roti and the pork belly and chicken bao. So good!

Sue Ying

Went for lunch on a week day. A very impressive vegetarian menu. We ordered the Larb Crispy Tofu and Chi Chew Tofu Skin to share and both were delicious! We are going to come back and work our way through the extensive vegetarian menu. Lovely ambience and very friendly staff

Liz Holmes

This place is amazing. The Owner goes out of his way to accomodate us. The food is delicious, it’s great value and BYO. Try the lemongrass chicken and bao 👌 definitely a 10/10!!

STRADS

There aren't too many reviews on Chu Thai Eatery at Zomato. Anyway, after looking at its menu, we decided to have a go. We started with the pan-fried pork & cabbage dumplings, the bao with grilled chicken, and the green papaya salad. The dumplings were very ordinary; the baos were excellent; the salad was refreshing although the papaya was rather tasteless. We then had the Cha Cha spiced scallops, the aromatic roast duck and the piggy tamarind (stewed pork belly). All of which came with rice. The scallops were a bit fishy in taste; the duck was average; the pork belly was my dish of the day - with a bit of lovely sweet tamarind sauce. Our dessert was mango with sticky rice & coconut ice-cream - the mango was not sour even with the very sweet & special coconut ice-cream. (Food - 4/5; Service 4/5; Ambience 3.5/5) Visited on 13 October 2018

Lucyeatsakld

We got a table for Wednesday night without a booking as it was empty when we arrived 6pm but got a bit busier later on. Between me and my friend we ordered two entrees and a main to share and because they were all on the heavier side it was more than enough for two. The deep fried cauliflower was a bit bland - aside from the batter I felt like it could have done with more seasoning inside the batter. It was my first time having chicken curry puffs so nothing to compare with but these ones were a decent size and a bit on the sweet side. I couldn't really taste much chicken in there though. The noodles were the hangover noodles with big pieces of chicken and lots of vegetables. I found it super spicy as there were lots of chilli pieces in there but someone with higher spice tolerance would be fine. Service was excellent. The waiter checked whether we wanted entrees before main or served all together and kept checking up on us to refill our water. Nice casual place for a filling dinner at a reasonable price!

Jewel

New Thai restaurant in ponsonby road. Food here is good we like beef salad and papaya salad here nice taste. Service here also very good too. I would like to go back and try the seafood dishes.

Dimple Vagal

This place was a very pleasant surprise... Cute little place, friendly, thoughtful staff... The food was wholesome and flavourful... Perfect for every and any occasion... Would definitely recommend it.

Ria Van Dyke

I just discovered Chu Thai, a new Thai eatery in Ponsonby, and I am hooked! The food was fresh, authentic and delicious and I was delighted that they offered a vegan/vegetarian menu filled with mouth-watering dishes! Along with the wonderful food, our server was very friendly and took great care of us during our visit. We will definitely be back!

Annie Ren

Great new Thai eatery that's opened in central Ponsonby. They have a range of traditional Thai cuisine as well as fusion dishes. We tried the aromatic roast duck, spicy stir fried fish as well as the pork belly and prawns as well as seafood hotpot. I loved the variety and the taste was great too! Lovely ambience and spacious interior - would visit again!