Review The Elephant Thai Cuisine - Howick

A great place to eat traditional Thai food 🥘 sparingly served with great atmosphere and ambience bar with drinks of choice

A great little gem hidden in a corner of central Howick So we’re eaten here a few times before so delicious to leave a review. It’s very easy to miss this hidden ... which is great as being a smaller restaurant, it means depending on time of visit it can fill up quite quickly. I heard that at lunch times this place is very popular with the local office/ shop crowd. We visit on Sunday around 7pm and there were only 3 other couples and 1 group of5 friends. The restaurant is not spacious nor white table cloths posh ... but it’s clean, the staff are always friendly and above all the food is brilliant. I haven’t traveled to Thailand unlike many others so can’t compare to there... however this is a family owned place and I have eaten at other posher Thai places that aren’t nearly as good. The order: Mix entree’ Fresh spring roll stir fried rice with chicken and Penang curry, Pad Thai with seafood,Ginger beef, Red curry with chicken, with side order of jasmine rice The tastes are fantastic. The chef clearly knows about how portion work as the amount/ proportion of ingredients was perfect. To all staff,thank you for such a splendid time.keep up the great work.

Had dinner here the other night. Staff was very friendly and helpful in recommending dishes when we couldn’t decide. Their mussaman curry with lamb was delicious, especially with the roti we also ordered. I cant handle anything spicy and the chef was nice enough to make it extra mild for me. Would go again, nice quiet place to have family dinner.

Have eaten here every 3 months or so for several years. Never disappoints. Not been in when super crowded but service is likely to be good then as it's pretty good every other time. Really well prepared dishes. Suitable for a birthday or romantic dinner too

Great value, fresh ingredients and very reasonably priced. The staff are always friendly and welcoming we have dined at The Elephant many times and found it to be consistently good.

Such a pleasure being here. It's my favorite thai restaurant in auckland. Lovely place for occasions especially birthday parties. Friendly and quick service by the staffs. It's just amazing and the food is just unbelievably delish 👌👌

Pleasant and affordable. It has a nice atmosphere, tasty food, and a large and varied menu. Very good for a casual dinner out.

Lovely staff, very obliging to cater for a large part of 50. This was an (extensive) limited menu, but could have been still further limited to reduce the wait for meals.

The setting was a little lack-lustre, the food was delicious but nothing new and the service was top-notch, I would recommend it for sure

Amazing..flavoursome Thai!!!! Will go again. Reasonable prices...and friendly service.

Very nice place to enjoy great food.... friendly people there you will find too.

Great foo great service❤❤

Was a little nervous to come after reading a lot of negative reviews but we had no need to be! Really loved the food! Came here for a family dinner with a group of 9, amongst us were several vegans, several children, and various omnivorous adults. They had options for everyone to enjoy and happily checked ingredients and reassured those of us with dietary requirements. The lady we dealt with was friendly & welcoming. The portion sizes were decent and we all left feeling very full and satisfied.

Entrees were amazing, mains were average.<br/>Yellow curry chicken with potato was good, but there were more potatoes than chicken.<br/>If you are looking for a sweet curry dish then perhaps choose the red curry duck with tomatoes and pineapple. We received ours and had no tomatoes and pineapple so had to get these added in. Make sure you check the ingredients to make sure you are getting what you have ordered.

Very disappointing food. There were 4 of us with 2 dishes arriving promptly and the other 2 arriving half an hour apart meaning that 2 guests didn't start eating until the other two were finished. One of the dishes was completely incorrect while the thai wings never arrived at all after an hour and a half. Apparently it was still coming to the table! The stir fries were watery and while we ordered the dishes spicy hot they came with no chilli at all. There was also a single waiter to serve the entire restaurant. The worst experience in a long time! We won't be going back!

Service was friendly but food was pretty average. The deep fried whole fish was alright. Both red and green curry were to hit and miss. Rice was dry and uncooked and at $2 for a little bowl worth..... all and all was a night to forget. Only 2 tables on a Saturday nights when we arrived. Should have noticed the sign. Should have checked the recent review.

What has happened to this once great restaurant. Decided to order takeaway on this cold Winter Saturday as I couldn't brave the weather. Opted for the Curry Puffs, money bags, chicken satay and panang Curry. Both the Curry Puffs and the money bags were incredibly burnt almost to the point of being inedible. The Panang... Where do I even begin. It seemed like I was eating Stew with chicken broth. Had zero authentic taste, undercooked potatoes and vegetables and a weird jelly like layer on the top. It ended up in the bin shortly after this. Highly dissatisfied with the quality of food compared to the premium prices. Would stay away from this place and try out the other beautiful Thai eateries close by.

I like other recent past reviewers was really disappointed in our meal here recently. We were a table of 4. First of all only two meals came out which were cold and had to be reheated -the third meal came out after about 10 minutes then the fourth meal finally came out after another 10 minutes! Needless to say we were watching her eat! I can understand if they were maybe run off their feet but the restaurant was only half full. What irked us the most was when I complained there were no apologies. <br/>Also we were overcharged-again no apologies. <br/>They really have to lift their game if they want to keep their local clientele. Needless to say we won’t be dining here in the future.<br/>

I don’t do this often but I feel it’s my duty to warn others! We recently moved to Howick and looked forward to trying the local Thai restaurants. To say we are disappointed is an understatement. Our orders were completely wrong and my peanut curry was nonexistent. It consisted of frozen vegetables and a watery beef sauce with crushed peanuts! My daughters chicken fried rice had no rice at all..... how can they get this so wrong. <br/>This is by far my worst Thai experience and will never set foot in this restaurant again.<br/>Please ask Lau Thai restaurant in New Lynn for cooking lessons!

Takeaway was initially overcharged but happily refunded unfortunately food was disappointing. Potatoes undercooked in the curry and advertised ingredients not in our stir fry, plus tinned sliced mushrooms 😱. Sorry but heading back to our usual Howick Thai place.

We had the worst experience at this establishment. More than month ago our group chanced upon this restaurant for lunch. We were a group of 14. There weren't much place open around the area as it was almost 2pm on a Sunday so we took our chance. They have lunch offer which we thought was good but we were so wrong. <br/><br/>First hit was when they missed one of my friend's order. She had to point it out before she was served. Everyone was served except her and they didn't even check.<br/><br/>Secondly, the food tasted like it was rushed. My pad thai looked so plain and almost just pure noodles. The tom yum tasted good but the portion was too small. The green curry was too runny.<br/><br/>Thirdly, when it was time to pay, we were informed that we can't pay separately and we had to do it as 1 receipt. The cashier was also hurrying us up. She actually said she needs to go. It was about 3pm and i don't know if that was the reason she didn't allow us to pay separately. I had to pay for the bill of more than $200. <br/><br/>Last and the worst part, when we checked the bill we were overcharged for everything! 12 of us ordered the lunch special for $15 dollar but they charged $16.50. 2 of my colleagues ordered different meals from the menu for $9.90 and other entrees and they charged those twice. That's more than $30 that we were overcharged so we couldn't just let it go. One of my colleagues came back the very next day and she spoke with the manager. She was promised that a refund will be processed in 3 to 5 days but guess what, more than a month now and still nothing. <br/><br/>We do not live close to Howick so we had to resort to calling to follow up. We called multiple times and they just kept on saying the manager is not around and to call at night. It also sounded like there are multiple people calling about different problems coz she mistaken me for different people several times. At one point, she thought I was the one calling about an uber delivery went wrong. When I finally spoke with the manager she didn't even give me her full attention, she kept on putting me on hold and I heard her laughing and speaking to probably another customer. She hung up and told me that she will call me back once they are less busy. She called back the same day and asked for my account number which was not asked before, she said she needed to check with their accountant as she was told the refund was processed. <br/>She promised to call in 3 days but that never happened. When I called back after a week my call went straight to voice mail. I tried to call with another number and managed to get through, i looked for the manager and gave my name. I was put on hold for 12 mins, i can hear some noise on the background, i guess someone checking if I was still on the line, so i decided to hang up. I called again and it just kept on ringing and going straight to voice mail. I then concluded that both numbers were blocked which I thought was pretty unbelievable. <br/>This is by far the worst experience we had in NZ so I am doing this review, after giving them benefit of the doubt for more than a month, to warn others to not waste their time and money here. There are way better authentic Thai restaurants in Auckland with excellent service and not a bunch of unprofessionals wasting their customers' time.

No apologies, the food was very disappointing. Love Thai food and this was meant to be a special takeaway dinner but sadly it was a let down. The lady serving seemed lovely and working hard on her own however the food lacked flavour, it tasted more like something I would cook at home...prawns turned out to be rubbery luke warm shrimps, Tom yum was weak. Should have stuck to my favourite at Pakuranga plaza.

Very friendly & warm welcome. Lovely & very nice ambience beautiful table settings & decor. Comfy chairs too. Set Lunch menu is a great & very good deal for the money. We tried the entree lunch combo & thoroughly enjoyed the options. The food was piping hot & freshly prepared & smelt delicious. The mains was brought out one first & plenty of minutes later the second mains for another person came out. By then the first meal had cooled down considerably hence I felt the entire should come simultaneously & the mains should be prepared & served or brought to the table at exactly the same time. Else one person was served way too early but decency forbids eating alone or first. Hence that mainly detracted me from offering you a full five stars! The meals were very nicely prepared, tasty, sufficient in quantity & tasted great. Compliments to your team for such excellent food & nice service too. The wait staff were most helpful in offering menu suggestions when requested. I would also have expected to be asked if we wanted any drinks. All said & done lovely place in Howick well worth the visit. Superb value for money & great service. Well done!

Ordered the massaman curry and the potatoes were severely under cooked. Asked for medium spice however seemed more like hot. Also ordered a beef stir fry and the beef was super rubbery. Rice also seemed like cheap packet rice. For the price paid the quality of the meal was unacceptable.

Ordered from this restaurant twice to try out a few different things - both times the dishes were missing ingredients, and the food did not match the descriptions in the menu. Pad Thai and Pineapple Fried Rice both did not have prawns as promised, and the pineapple fried rice was also missing pineapple and cashews.  Also paid extra for duck with one of the curry dishes, but got the default chicken instead.<br/><br/>The actual food itself ranged from VERY average to poor.  Special mention to the Gang Gari and the Pineapple Fried Rice.  The Gang Gari tasted okay, but you don't get much meat for the price.  Also missing duck aside, I also had issues with the potatoes it was supposed to have - I don't know for sure what the crunchy bamboo-shoot-like bits I got were, but if they were potatoes then they were raw, or at least undercooked.  And the Pineapple Fried Rice I got not only was missing central ingredients as mentioned, but was also filled with undercooked capsicum and onions, which overpowered the rest of the dish, giving it a horrible smell and taste, making it inedible.  NOT impressed at all.

Absolutely horrible. Went straight in the bin where it belongs. Complete waste of money. Firstly no rice was delivered, even though the receipt clearly states Yasmine rice. The curry meat was so hard it was ridiculous. It also had the cinnamon sticks and bay leaves in it that had broken up and seemed to be in every spoonful making it inedible. No wonder they are rated the worst Thai restaurant out East on both google and tripadvisor. Never again.

Very yummy food but,<br/>I ordered a tofu noodle dish online from there website and when I got it it had no tofu in it and rang up and was told that the online menu is different to what they serve now so needs to be updated<br/>A few times ive wanted tofu side dishes and theyve run out of tofu <br/>but best Thai place in the area

Friendly service, and the food was pleasant to eat. I appreciate the restaurant’s environment and the table decorations. I ordered the Pad Thai that had prawns and I liked the thought taken into serving it. The salad, lemon and nuts were a nice addition. To me, the meal was filling and satisfying.

<br/>Lovely atmosphere in this small restaurant. Food was all very delicious with well balanced Thai flavours. We had a few entrees and soups, the Pad Thai and a green curry. Service was good, friendly staff and they got the order all correct except for giving us sweet chilli sauce instead of peanut sauce on the side of one entree, but this was quickly rectified. <br/>Not a huge selection on the menu but perfectly adequate. We'd love to go back if we travel to Auckland in the future, I recommend.

We had an amazing time. The food was wonderfully flavorsome and absolutely delicious. We had a mixed entrée with fragrant delights that I absolutely loved. Every little bit cooked to perfection. Our mains were just as wonderful. The fragrances and flavor's absolutely perfect and the ingredients fresh. We also had the death by chocolate cocktail for dessert and it was perfect leaving a wonderful chocolaty taste lingering in your mouth. The service was also top notch with our waiter extremely friendly. Will definitely revisit!!

This restaurant is owned by a very unethical lady. We are vegan, my wife made it clear while making order on the phone. The owner gave us 2 curry that were full of fish sauce and chicken powder in them.<br/><br/>Overcharged us for our meal and didn't have the decency to make it right. Wasted our time even blocked my wife's numbers after waiting and following up multiple times. Very unprofessional. Based on the negative reviews here and other websites, they seem to be pretty consistent. Hope this comes as a warning for others. The food here wasn't also that good. Total shame as we love thai food.<br/><br/>

A good night out, had heard good things about pad thai here, and finally hot to try it. We ordered the wak fried beef, fish cake, kanom jeep.<br/>The favourites of the night was the wak fried bewf and basil chilli. My wife enjoy spicy thai fish cake. The dipping sauces with meals were really nice, and the tamaried one was, hot and spicy but amazing place was nice and good service, although may be a little rushed. A table for 4 quite small and not so much room for putting all the plates. On no big deal though.<br/>The banana flitter, icw cream was good meal and big. Total bill only $69. Oh love to come back again. 😊

Went here for dinner with a friend a while back for a special birthday. It was early dinner and the place was still empty so we immediately got seated. The staff was very polite and attentive, refilling water and rice without you having to ask, unlike some other places where you have to ask three times.<br/>Fantastic flavours. Great atmosphere. Perfect! Pitching reasonable. BYO too, would definitely recommend the duck!!!

The food is adsolutely amazing flavorful and quite authentic.It is a family run restaurant and the people there are very nice,they asked how many times we've been there and were generally very friendly.

Probably the most bargain Thai restaurant I've been to in Howick.<br/><br/>Great service, nice décor and excellent food.<br/><br/>Roughly $100 per couple for 3 course meal and a bottle of wine.<br/><br/>Food: Thai food done very well. You'll find the famed classics as well as a few contemporary dishes. Spicyness is varied which is good for those of my party who are not so inclinded to eat hot food. All in all, a very good dinner.<br/><br/>Ambience: The decor is opulent. Gold colours, engraved ornaments, heavy metal cutlery deep reds. This really is a luxury dining hall.<br/><br/>Service: Fantastic. Friendly and courteous staff without being over-bearing. They even stayed open a bit later whilst we finished our drinks. <br/><br/>Worth the visit: A very solid option. If you need somewhere to go or you want a good bit of Thai cuisine, go to The Elephant.

An absolutely amazing place. The decor is stunning and the food is absolutely on point for Thai food. The pineapple fried rice was aromatic, fresh and balanced that it too me all the way back to being in Thailand. The only issue (reason it lost 1 star) was the gluten free menu. There was nothing vegetarian on it and we had to speak with the manager to have something made to cater for my wife. The chef was very cautious about particular ingredients such as the coconut milk that he felt might be contaminated so he didn't want to make anything with it for her. Appreciate their caution of what they do and make which is amazing to see in restaurants.

This is my favourite Thai food restaurant. The quality of the dishes is excellent, mains are around the $20 mark and it's definitely worth it. The staff is really friendly and the atmosphere very enjoyable. This place is a must if you like Thai food!

Husband and I have been dinning with 'Fist Table' and I am sorry to say but it was not up to the standard.  Vegetables were not fresh at all. Not really recommended.

Came to the restaurant for dinner on a rainny Thursday night. The pineapple fries rices was amazing. Main was ready right after I finished my entree. I ordered some takeaways back home for friends and got 15% discount. 4/5. I will come back!!

My partner and I ordered two tom yum goons and a green curry to take away. Extremely disappointed with the meals. We asked for all of them to be hot and none of them were. The prawns in our soup were rubbery, the rice was stodgy and over cooked and the green curry was sweet-not like a traditional green Thai curry at all.<br/>Don't bother coming here if you like traditional Thai as this place does not make it. <br/>Will not be coming back.

A little disappointed for my first meal at elephant thai on Saturday night. Firstly had to ask for someone to take our drinks order about 5 times. Entree came out and my curry puff was just a puff. There was no consistency with some at the table getting special sauce over the stays and the dipping sauce being scarce for some of us. Dinner was ok....nothing to write home about. Not enough meat in the dishes though. Toilets were gross and dirty with the added bonus of watered down liquid soap to make you feel that little bit dirtier than you were before you went in. Then came the rain....and it rained inside too. Needless to say we won't be back in a hurry. Was a shame.

Worst Thai restaurant we've ever been to. Ordered a Green Chicken Curry and a Kao Pad - there was hardly any meat, the flavours were bland and tasteless, and the portions were disappointingly small for the price paid.

It was my first time dinning at this restaurant with my boyfriend. So I decided to go for the lunch set which comes with an entrée and a main dish. I picked the Tom yum soup as the entrée and oh my goodness it was AMAZING! That zing of sweet and sour remains on my tastebuds, making me crave for more. For my main dish I picked the Pad Thai. The portion size was definitely satisfying. <br/><br/>Overall, I really enjoyed coming here. <br/><br/>Food 4/5<br/>Service 3/5<br/>Environment 3/5

Check it out<br/>I think the elephant thai in Howick had change owner.<br/>I just order takeaway online.<br/> Their new website is very high technology. You can pay by credit card or pay paw. and you just pick up after you order only 15 minute. It is very good just use your smart phone.

Went there for lunch on a weekend and had their set lunch meal - cashew chicken and mixed entree while my husband has green curry and tom yam soup. The food that we had weren't exactly bad but they are neither fantastic as well. The flavour is pretty mild and although we requested for our food to be extra spicy, we felt that they either forgot that request or didn't put enough chilli. The portions are very small - maybe because its a set menu? The service was pretty okay and we feel that it's not as bad as what other reviewers mentioned.

Had a Grabone voucher - the man that was serving us was not friendly at all. Drinks were small - Coke Zero not included in voucher although not stated on the voucher. <br/><br/>1 meal was good, the other was very basic and not worth the money. <br/><br/>I love Thai food, but this place sure was a let down!

Wouldn't even give it a 1.5 but had to press something.<br/>Friendly at the start when we were the only customers. Got busy and we became a distant memory. Ordered a vegetarian dish, as I'm a vegetarian! Wow! But the meal had two hidden bits of chicken in it!!! Disgusting. My beautiful friend complained on my behalf, he didn't seem to give a shit, they started making the dish again for me, and didn't ask if that's what I wanted, no apology. I went up to the counter and said please do not make me another dish.<br/>Went to pay and we asked to not pay for the chicken dish which was meant to be vegetarian, he said not fair on us, so you pay half. Not fair! Wasn't fair that I had chicken in my dish and I'm a vegetarian. Appalling behaviour from the rude staff after the complaint. I would've been embarrassed and offered something on the house! Not another dish made!

Dined in over the weekend for my Mothers Birthday. Lovely friendly service. Not the largest portions I have seen - but fresh and tasty.<br/><br/>English isn't great - but enjoy it for what it is.

It is The WORST operated Thai Restaurant in Auckland. We have been to many Thai restaurants, never this kind. <br/><br/>We WALKED OUT of the restaurant after waiting there to get served for 1 1/2 hrs. PATHETIC service.....<br/><br/>Manager / Owner & Staff are very rude, Not Friendly, does not cater for vegetarian people and always rushing... Seems like they were least bother or not keen to serve the customer who have bought the coupons online.<br/><br/>Non English speaking service staff took too long come to take our order, once they came, they could not understand us, No drinks were asked at all.<br/><br/>Since there is no Negative rating I have to put 1.0 rating so I can write about this restaurant<br/><br/>We will never go again....

It is a very poorly operated thai restaurant...<br/><br/>Staff is very rude and always rushing... Seems like they were least bother or no too keen to serve...<br/><br/>The welcoming was really poor...<br/>Service staff took too long to take our order... No drinks were asked for very long time<br/><br/>Only rating 1.5 for an okay Thai dinner...<br/>Will never go again

Very average, plain and pretty flavourless food. There is much better Thai restaurants around so don't waste your time with this place dine in service is fairly poor and takeaway would also be a disappointment.

This was the worst Thai restaurant in NZ. We, 2 people, ordered a Tom Yum Goong as an entree to share and a Pad thai chicken and a fish with sweet and sour sauce as a main dishes. Tom Yum Goong was too salty (we needed water to pour into) and the other mains were also bad. Even the food waiting time was too long.There was just 1 staff in the hall at the dinner time and he was not that kind to thier customers.I will nevr go back again!

Went to Thai elephant for a family birthday celebration over the weekend. We'd purchased a 6 person Grabone voucher, which seemed like a good deal at the time ($15 per person including wine, beer or a soft drink). <br/><br/>Our table was available, which was a good start, although it all went downhill from there. We were given special menus that differed from the menus given to people without vouchers, which I thought a bit strange. The offerings seemed to differ on the two menus. I had to ask for another menu because I wanted to order entrees, and the waiter quickly said that entrees weren't included in the voucher, which is why we weren't given the full menu. I answered that I knew that entrees weren't included, so he got me the menu, from which I ordered two entrees for the table: chicken satays and prawns on toast. <br/><br/>The entrees tasted pretty good. The serving staff forgot to give us little plates to use when eating the entrees, however, so these ended up dripping sauce all over the table. The mains, on the other hand, were okay, but nothing particularly spectacular. <br/><br/>Before getting to the mains, however, we ordered our drinks. Considering no one at our table ordered wine or beer, you'd have thought the restaurant would have been relieved at the lower cost of serving us soft drinks. However, they were incredibly stingy, and said that there were only two drink options available: lemonade or coca-cola. My father had to order a diet coke (he only drinks the stuff) and pay for it, despite the main supposedly coming with a drink. The remainder of us ordered a mixture of lemonades and cokes, which were all flat (no bubbles at all!) and tasted as though they had come from a large bottle of Budget soda from The Warehouse company. <br/><br/>The mains came out, but the portions weren't really large enough. They tasted okay, although there was a noticeable lack of fish in my father's fish stir fry, and only a handful of prawns in my prawn dish. Everyone remarked that for the usual price, and even the price we paid using the voucher, the meal wasn't good enough. <br/><br/>I paid for the meal, and then as we went to leave, one of the serving staff asked us to pay again - and I replied that we had already paid.<br/><br/>In sum:<br/>Food - average<br/>Service - not great<br/>Good points: entrees<br/>Bad points: portions small, service wasn't great, didn't seem to stick to terms of the voucher<br/><br/>We won't be going back - which is a shame, because I used to really enjoy going to the Thai Elephant<br/><br/>Note: i'd be wary of some of the other reviews that give this place 5 stars. They don't seem legitimate to me based on our experience at the Elephant.

We would like to thank you The Elephant thai cuisine for your huge<br/>Donation to our. Organisation on last week.<br/>Plus free dinner for our staffs. <br/>Thank you for your wonderful chicken cashunut and green curry<br/>Also your yellow chicken rice. <br/>We will never forget your help<br/>Thank you again

This gorgeous and classy restaurant can be found on Moore Street Howick<br/>The decor and layout of this delightful restaurant oozes class and sophistication. <br/>Staff are friendly, attentive, polite and obliging and the menu is extensive and interesting. There is also an option to choose a set meal from a range of set menus.<br/>We opted for the main menu as we are small eaters.<br/>The food is exquisite, tasty and magnificently presented.

we visit Auckland as a group of my family private tour.  We went to the old town name Howick.  Very hungry but we do not like Europe food.Finally we found a Thai restaurant which customers que up for table. We went there, name The Elephant Thai Cuisine. Wait for 15 mins for a table, We order 8 dishes which come jumbo size and super fast, Pad Thai and fried rice are the best.Thank you for lovely waiter.  Next year see you again, When our next vocation.

If you like to eat here<br/>they have top ten meal<br/>1 Thai spicy salad<br/>2  Massamun lamb curry<br/>3 Chicken Pad thai<br/>4 Pineapple fri rice<br/>5 Raw Prawn salad<br/>6 Som tum Thai<br/>7 Jungle curry fish<br/>8 Cashnut tofu

we got there around 6 pm<br/>the restaurant had 2 customers<br/>our order came super fast. hot and yummy<br/>the tom yum soup a bit spicy, but test good.<br/>the waitress were busy with a lot of take away. She forgot our drink.<br/>we like your chicken cashunut

We had a farewell dinner with my colleagues, the ambiance is not really appetising as it was pretty chaotic, not enough tables and the waitress who served us were a bit flustered. The food was average and the servings were too small not a reasonable price.

WORST THAI RESTAURANT EVER!!! We eat out regularly, and we have to say they have the WORST service possible. Their so called manager/waiter had no patience, the minute we walked in, he was super rude, and when we tried to place an order and tried to ask a few questions about the menu, he said "JUST GIVE ME THE NUMBER". It was a disgusting experience. They rip customers off by serving small portions after you purchase a MAIN. They said a drink was included in their lunch deal but forget to mention its only for a soft drink, when we asked for drinks menu he said I'm telling you YOU CAN ONLY GET A SOFT DRINK. Don't go here, they ruined a special day for us. They also deleted our online review on their site.

My Mum and Aunt used to go here for lunch all the time years ago, and since we moved back into the area we figured we would try it for takeaways for dinner one night. It has gone massively downhill since the last time they were here. This place now has extremely average, bordering on terrible food. We got the mixed entree, which was ok, as well as the praramrung song stir fry with lamb and the kao pad sapparos (pineapple fried rice). The broccoli in the stir fry tasted microwaved, and the whole dish was massively over salted. The satay sauce may have been quite nice if it hadn't been congealed/separated. The fried rice had no flavour AT ALL and desperately needed salt.The fried rice tasted like it had been microwaved too. It was advertised as having chicken and prawns - and there were two prawns TOTAL in it. A total joke. The only thing nice about it was the cashews (and their cook had no part in these). The fried rice was also very yellow, something you would not expect with Thai cuisine. When you pay over $20 per main for takeaway you expect the flavour and quality of the food to be good - this place is a total rip off. Overall it just seemed like the cook at this place (it would be a joke to call them a chef) just doesn't know what they are doing. We will not be going back here again.

One of the worst hospitality excperience in our life. Extremely rude service!<br/><br/>We went there from Auckland city, spending $16 each tickets (3 ppl) and 1 hour by bus. <br/><br/>Waiting 5 min for someone to wait us. The manager asked if we had a booking and we said "no". Once seated at the table we told him we got a grab one voucher of $100 value for a four course seafood meal. He straight told us that we should have booked at least 12 hours before to use the grab one. <br/><br/> Acutally was Monday night, 5.30, with almost the whole floor empty and we explain him that we came fom far away and asked if we could find another solution since we were already there. He told us the only solution was go away and book for another day.<br/><br/> At this point we said "if there are tables available and you have plenty of dishes with seafood on the menu, what's the reason we have to come back a different night?<br/><br/>He said that for the grab one meals they had to imported different food from other branches. What does that mean??? I let you guess.. <br/><br/>The other food was certantly a really low quality food. <br/><br/>He encouraged us to live the restaurant. <br/><br/>Finally we went away hungry and really disappointed. <br/><br/>WE PREFER TO LOSE $100 RATHER THAN CAME THERE AGAIN!!!<br/><br/>Strongly not recommended!

This place was terrible from the very start of our experience. First, we went there with a grabone voucher and they wouldn't allow us to use it, saying we needed to book in advance, which we found strange considering they only had two tables full and plenty of tables available. When we asked why, and if we could just book right then for later that night, she said no because the chefs needed to know how much food to make in advance, leading us to believe it is all pre cooked and then reheated and not freshly made when you come in. Then we booked in for another night, and upon arrival we were told that we had actually booked for a completely different night and time which was not true. They ended up seating us right in the corner and basically forgot about us all night. It was a four course voucher, and between each course we were left waiting for about 20 min for our plate to be cleared from our table even though there were only two other tables of people. Then between our main and dessert we waited for about 45min just for a scoop of icecream. Every course was not nice at all, it didn't taste fresh and it didn't have the beautiful flavours you'd expect from Thai cuisine. I love Thai food and I have to say this is the worst I have had. We will not be returning here ever again.

One of the many pretty average thai places around. Went on a grab one deal. Starters were deep fried and obviously from frozen. The Tom Yum wasnt too bad but the mains were quite plain. There were no to little drinks offered. With the choice being only "red wine or beer or coke". Wouldn't go back again.

The worst service I have ever had and the food wasn't great either. <br/>We were never asked if we wanted drinks, they did put a jug of water on the table which disappeared quickly and they didn't refill until we finally asked for more, and it was just room temperature tap water. <br/>One of the people in our group accidentally spilled her glass of red wine and it took a long time for anyone to come over and help us clean up. Although help would be too strong a word. They mopped up a little bit of wine while we did the rest with the napkins we had on the table. They didn't offer my friend a refill and they didn't offer to move us tables even though there was a massive puddle of red wine on the table and on the floor. My friend eventually asked if her wine could be topped up and if we could move tables. In regards to the wine the waiter said he would have to ask his manager and then never came back to refill the glass. Instead of moving us tables they just brought over a clean tablecloth and my group and I all had to lift everything off the table so that the new tablecloth could be put on. There were still bits of wine on the table which wasn't cleaned before the tablecloth was put on and there was still a puddle in the floor which didn't get cleaned up. There were so many empty tables but for some reason they thought this was a better option. <br/>The food was just ok and at the end of the night when we asked for a doggy bag they said it would be 50c each....I have never heard of such a thing. <br/>Our whole group was extremely disappointed and appalled at the service and definitely will not be going back.

Average dinner, portions sizes were very small for the price and the rice portions were definitely not worth $2.One lady serving tonight made it a long wait, they only had one staff on floor. The food itself was tasty but not worth the price!

Food was good but the staff wouldn't let us hold onto the drinks menu and would take it off us every chance they could it was strange and the staff weren't the happiest.

At a loss of where to eat in howick. We chose here. The restaurant was full, a good sign we thought. <br/>We were eventually given menus and settled in to wait for orders to be taken. <br/>Chose the shared mixed entree. Pretty tasteless. Not bursting with flavor sadly and the chicken satay was tough.<br/>I ordered the Tom yum gai soup as my main and my partner went for the duck red curry. <br/>As we waited my soup was placed in front of me but no sign of partners main. Mine was shared by both. As soon as we finished, we were brought two plates for the duck. As he had ordered and rice is charged seperately, two plates were brought out. I don't eat rice but was charged for it even when I hadn't asked for it.<br/>Overall not many staff working. A stressed waitress and someone serving the food. Cocktail I ordered was full of Ice and very weak. I'll stick to my local on the shore next time.

Never again will I buy a Groupon voucher. ..what a joke of a menu. The only nice thing was the curry puff roll. The rest of the entrée was overcooked Yuck. Disappointing that soup was unbearable..no other options. The mains were low rent - No flavour. The wine was chalet cardboard. ..less than 150mls. My guest ordered another glass to be stung $9.50. Do not go to this rubbishy place.

Worse than a dogs dinner!!! we went there for there lunch Tom yum soup which should be bright red and colourful was a deep dark gray, filthy, my main gang paneng chicken was just as horrible with a 4 pieces of chicken.<br/><br/>The owner at the end asked how our meal was, i let him know that it wasn't very good at all, he just shrugged his shoulders and couldn't give a shit!! never going back!

Purchased a grab one voucher for a 4 course seafood dinner for 2. Worst service i have ever experienced. We got crammed in between 2 other tables when there were half a dozen spare tables elsewhere. We waited 20 minutes once we had been seated just to get a menu. The table next to us left, so we moved to that table as it was more comfortable, both the wait staff reacted rude and were visibly upset that we moved tables announcing it loudly so that other patrons clearly heard. We didn't receive any drinks of whih were included in the offer, we asked for 2 glasses of red wine, it tasted like a cheap overly sweet grape juice. The fish cakes were from a frozen packet as were the spring rolls. The tom yum was not yum. ... the pad thai with prawns was made with frozen prawns and noodles but not much else. The red curry was similar and made with frozen prawns. After our mains we decided to skip the dessert as we didn't want any further dissapointment. The waitress again appeared rude and made no mention that we had forfeited the 4th course. My best advice to anyone reading this is do not waste a second considering eating here, go accross the road and get takeways.

<br/>This resturant and the food served her is Average.The depth of flavor is just not there like other Thai restaurants. <br/><br/>There is only one staff taking orders and serving food and our order took a while to arrive as we went in a large group. Some of us nearly finshed our meals while the others were still waiting.<br/><br/>Was hard to ask questions as the staff didnt understand what we had asked. <br/><br/>Lack of service needs a lot of improvement. <br/><br/>They also need to improve on the layout of there Resturant. It seems more like a café.<br/><br/>I would never go back again.

Hi visited as a result of a GrabOne voucher etc was very disappointed with poor waitering serve and food quality not much better ie no option spicy/heat choices etc wouldn't recommend or return again k:-(

As regular visitors to Thailand we simply love Thai food.  We have been to Elephant Thai a few times, the last time wasn't that great so when we saw a deal come up we decided to give it another go.  Went along with another couple.  Sadly the entrees were not great, deep fried and seemingly like supermarket made.  The choice of soup was 2 types of Tom Yum which we felt was not adequate seeing that some people do not like the "hotness" of Tom Yum, maybe a Tom Ka Gai and a Tom Yum would have been better.  My friend could not eat her soup and she is used to some chilli things but she found it too hot and spoilt the taste of the mains that came after....... The beef mussamun was as tough as old leather, hardly edible and the rest of the dishes very so-so.  Not sure what's happened at this restaurant, it used to be packed to overflowing, this saturday night we went there were hardly a dozen people in there.  Sorry guys, we won't be back......

8 of us went for dinner and we were not dissappointed.. Even though there was only one person serving the food, it came on time.. To be honest the food was not awesome but was good.. Ambience was also good.. The dessert served was only kids quality, could have been better..

Avoid at all costs, one word : atrocious.<br/><br/>The lack of service and courteous approach at this restaurant makes any diners there feel uncomfortable. Blase attitude, shabby food, and the surroundings are dated and pretty drab.<br/><br/>I think compared to all of the other Thai restaurants in Auckland, this is one place that has hit rock bottom and is digging.

Went there with my family last week<br/><br/>1. Food very yummy!!!<br/><br/>2.Staff friendly<br/><br/>3.Restaurant clean n amazing!!<br/><br/>4.Nice music

Food ok but place seems like a shabby cafe rather than a restaurant, with flimsy tables and chairs. But the worst occurrence of the night was our disgusting waitress. Obviously having to wear traditional Thai uniform, but couldn't she wear a clean one? Her emerald green dress was soiled down the front, and very grubby with old stains. It really put us off having her serve us.. And the other staff all seemed as miserable as her! Lots of other Thai places better than this

Went to this place after going to a couple of other thai resturants in the area within about a months time.<br/><br/>This place was definately the worst of the lot. There was a terrible amount of indifference towards the customers and they seemed to get annoyed by the simplest requests (e.g asking for an extra bowl).<br/><br/>The squid i ordered was over seasoned and so over cooked that it was almost inedible. Fyi, I like rubber, but not as food.<br/><br/>The only time we got a smile out of them is when we were paying for their ridiculously overpriced food. I would never go back again.

The Elephant Thai is rubbish and I wouldn't waste my money.<br/><br/>Purchased 2 takeaway dishes from them on the 14th of December 2011 and they were inedible! Ended up having to order similar dishes from Spices Thai in Botany and throwing the other ones out. Their dishes were so bad I took photos of them and send The Elephant Thai and letter with a photo attached. They never responded. I sent them another letter, to which they also never had the courtesy to respond to. <br/><br/>I also wonder if they have changed owners or chef's recently as up until this point their food has always been good. However, after this incident - we will never go back and will be advising friends and family the same. Too many good Thai restaurants in Howick and Botany to get served rubbish like this! And their lack of customer service and courtesy just seals the deal.

Just went with my friends Thuesday. The restaurants was full<br/>with customers. But the staff still can manage table for four for us. I try noodle tom yum prawn. very good.<br/>my friend order green curry fish, unforgetable .<br/>en up by banana fitter ice cream.<br/>lovely.<br/><br/>No question why this restaurant always full.<br/>

Good Thai food. It was reasonably priced but slow on the service.

This is definately not the best Thai in Howick. We love a bit of chilli but if you ask for it here you get raw chilli powder type heat and it is not pleasant at all. Food pretty average unfortunately.

This place must have changed hands? Certainly not what it use to be. Food is very poor quality, prices have gone through the roof. Corkage fee is a joke. If you want a divine Thai experience visit Na Na Thai in Botany!

Never again.<br/><br/>I had a take-away and it was very disappointing. The seafood and veggies were over-cooked - the seafood tasted like rubber. I got the impression that they added pre-cooked seafood and veggies to a sauce and then heated the whole lot up together.

I hate to be the first person to write a bad review on this place. Especially after only going here because it was recommended by two other people to us.<br/>Service was fine - entree was really good.<br/>My partners meal came on a hot sizzling plate, and not a word of a lie, his meal at one side (obviously where it had been under flame or something) tasted like pure petrol.... He could only eat half.<br/><br/>My meal looked totally different to the picture, I Evan had to ask if it was the right dish.... My meal tasted like spew - and again not a word of a lie.<br/>I could not eat mine at all.<br/><br/>The other off putting thing was that there was one other couple next to us who sent their meal back.<br/><br/>Not a good experience.

This place was great! My Husband had to work late on his birthday so I called these guys up to get Takeaway. The food was ready and hot at the specified time. Quick, easy and delicious!

good service was good, food was also, prie is reasonable, location is ok, but hey, food was very good.<br/><br/>would go back, suggest you visit:)

Excellent food. Best Thai in East Auckland! Staff are always lovely.

Great food nice place with attentive service best thai around this part of the city

My friend and I had lunch there mid week and the staff were so friendly. I have a couple of food allergies and they bent over backwards to accommodate me. The food was absolutely fabulous. Reasonably priced, not over the top. Highly recommended for a great lunch venue. Decor is wonderful and it was a real treat to go to a Thai restaurant where they actually play Thai music in the background. All important as part of the ambiance. Not tried it for dinner yet but looking forward to it.

Great food at this Thai restaurant! Staff were not very friendly with my large group and also very hard to understand when asking questions regarding the menu.. Was happy with food which is the main thing but will not be returning.

The Elephant has been my go to restaurant for lunch for about 4-5 years. <br/><br/>I love this place so much. The staff are lovely and it's so so cheap during the day. <br/>I will always go for the $10 lunch. It is so worth it, big portions and such tasty food.<br/>I also love the pan pipe music, bit odd I know, but for some reason i like it. <br/><br/>There isn't really much I can against The Elephant, it doesn't claim to be a fancy place, it is what it is and it does it very well. I go to a lot of Thai places, but he food here is always the best. <br/><br/>If you're in Howick and hungry, try The Elephant.