This has to be the worst service I have ever had in a restaurant. We had a booking for 6.30pm and waited 8 minutes t be seated after people were seated before us. No staff member even acknowledged us. As it was BYO and we had a bottle of wine ,I had to go to the bar to get glasses at 7pm as we had been waiting over 20 mins for any staff member to come to the table. The meal was quicker to come but so over priced.This was more expensive than the best Thai restaurants in Auckland and Wellington. Having eaten at both of the Auckland Chang Thais and never having had an issue we were disappointed in the experience and definitely we will not be going back to Chang Thai Whitianga

Very disappointing. Was looking forward to a good Thai feed in a very long time. However, the service was slow and the food rather bland, especially for Thai! Sadly must rate as the low point of our holiday.

I dined at the House of Chang Thai on sunday the 5th Jan and the food was great..I spent over a year in Thailand and the food was a good representation of northern Thai food. I was however extremely dissapointed with the price and service…frankly it was appauling! We sat down at 7.20 and the waitress stood waiting for us to choose our food..once we had chosen our starter it arrived within minutes and very quickly followed with our mains, we had been in the restaurant barely 20 minutes and felt like we were being rushed. Once we had our mains it took and hour for someone to come and take our plates…a dish clearer not waiter. It then took another 40 minutes of trying to get someones attention before I walked up to the counter to pay. I was dissapointed that for $25.00 per main you also had to pay for rice and that when I said we had no service for an hour and 40 minutes they just said sorry and turned away. I would never go to this restaurant again!

I worked here for nearly a year and nothing can get as authentic as this place. I watched them preparing everything to serving the dishes. You can tell they cook from the heart, they do it because they love cooking their own food. If you wanted to know its all males cooking not females, now what does that say? I love the food they use to cook me. It was nothing from the menu but food that they would have cook their familys and man was it good not to mention really HOT lol. But i grew a tolerance to it because man it was soooo bleming good. If you go there favorite from the customers is the pad thai but my ultimate favorite is CHICKEN LARB now thats the dish i tell you to get you wont go wrong its got the perfect contrast of flavors. Dont trust me? Go up there order it, eat it then come back and right me a post. Ill be waiting guys, cause i know your now eager to try it hey? Ill be waiting..

Went there three times in a week – need I say more. My family loved the service, the ambience and the food. The dishes were flavourful with large portion sizes.

I called the House of Chang Thai Whitianga to see if they accept ‘Restaurant Association of NZ’ gift vouchers as it shows they do on the website, the man on the phone said yes they do. I then called back with my order, the man on the phone said he had better check with his big boss just to make sure, once again he came back assuring me that they do accept these vouchers.
I then went in 30 minutes later to pick up my meal, had it in my hands ready to walk out only to find that NO they do NOT accept these vouchers “It must be one of their other chains”.
So even though I checked the website (and it states that the Whitianga chain DOES accept these) and asked TWICE on the phone some how they got it wrong and I missed out on my Thai.

I cant tell you if their food is any good as I didn’t get a chance to eat it…..what I don’t understand is that rather than say how sorry they were for mucking us around and maybe let us have it for half price they would rather throw it out. SHOCKING !!

Having read the two reviews on here i feel that there should be some support for the above restaurant.My wife and myself dined there January 10th this year ,well what a surprise ,the surrounding’s where beautiful a very relaxing atmosphere,great food great service .we enjoyed the wit and humour of the matre’d whom was very attentive and helpful with information we asked for re various local sights ,we travel six months of the year to different countries including Thailand and believe me this restaurants food is very authentic maybe the two previous reviewers need to travel and compare ,enjoyed this place and went back 8 times out of our 10 day stay 5 star plus my wife and myself suggest you Don’t miss this MSG free restaurant ,we had trouble finding a MSG free restaurant in Auckland

From the outside as well as the interior, this restaurant has a commanding presence. As holiday travelers, my boyfriend and I were both satisfied by the quality of the dining experience: the ambiance, the presentation of the food, quality of the ingredients (though the mussels could be fresher), the balance of spices, the attendance of our server to our water…

That is, except for one glaring error: the maitre’de was PREJUDICED AGAINST AUCKLANDERS!

In a restaurant that can service a large number of guests– only two tables occupied on a Wednesday evening– he hesitated and smirked while telling us that much of the seating was reserved and added condescendingly that he would choose our table for us. After our meal, to satisfy his need to further estrange us, he confirmed that we were from Auckland and exclaimed “I can tell you gaffers anywhere!” When my boyfriend politely asked what gave it away, he continued “Oh I can just tell.”

Would not recommend unless you are from Whitianga.

I have been to this restaurant twice, in both time, I regreted that I went. Terrible experience. The food is far from real Thai that I had had in Thailand, and service…. oh I don’t even want to remember it. Will never go back or will recommend to anyone.