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Thai Chef’s Restaurant

3_half star rating
21 reviews

Cuisine: Thai, Asian

1 Blair St
Wellington Central
Wellington City
04-385 4535
 

Hours:

  • Lunch: Tues – Fri 12noon – 2pm
  • Dinner: Mon – Sun from 5:30pm
  • Price Range: Moderate, $15 - $25
  • Good For Groups: Yes
  • Takeaways: Yes
  • Delivers: Yes
  • Dietary Restrictions: Vegetarian, Gluten-free
  • Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Thai Chef’s Restaurant was awarded the prestigious Thai Select Award by the Royal Thai Government Department of Export Promotion for the highest standard of authentic Thai cuisine.
Come along and experience the taste of exotic, authentic Thai food.
Dine-in or Takeaway.
BYO (Wine only) Sunday and Monday only

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antqueen said: "My friend and I walked in there with no booking on a Friday night and the staff were friendly right from the beginning. It was very busy…"   read more »

21 Reviews for Thai Chef’s Restaurant

6th February 2012
1 star rating
went here for my daughters birthday. well to start off with. the service was awful. we had made a reservation and when we turned up the waitress came about 10 minutes later to take our drink order. she took a few orders and left while the others were still waiting to place their order. than the mains were ordered.the mains started arriving and we did not have plates. than a few plates came and the rest of us had to wait and after a couple of times asking the waitress for plates finally it arrived. than they were not washed properly.had to send them back. half the mains came while the others had to wait for more than 20 mins. we asked for more rice and it did not come after 25 mins and by that time the food was getting cold. the mains barely had enough meat in it. after we finished the mains we asked for desert menus and were given that but we waited for 15 mins and no one came to take our order. we just had to leave after that. wen had a look at the receipt found out that we had been charged extras for meals we did not have. we wont be going back.

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rosie

4

24th January 2012
4 star rating
Went there a couple of times for dining, and had also made a takeaway. Love the service and food here, amazing! The waitress is friendly and attentive. However, newbies might take some time to decipher the menu for all the food have fancy names. I would definitely comes back here again!

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28th December 2011
4 star rating
Good job, they have nice food and good service

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Mick

3

10th July 2011
2 star rating
We came here for dinner tonight. The food was kind of good. The service was not up to what I expected as standard. The waiters were joking around behind the counter and didn’t seem professional. After we got home I was extremely thirsty. And I realised that they must have used a lot of MSG in their cooking to enhance the flavour. MSG stands for monosodium glutamate which is not good for health. Therefore we were very disappointed.

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1st July 2011
2 star rating
This place has had a variety of reviews, from awful to A-OK! A great restaurant needs consistency, you need to know that at any time you will have a wonderful experience, no matter what wait staff are on or how busy the place is.

My partner and I went here on a date last night. We arrived and were seated by a young waitress at a table for TEN in the MIDDLE of the restaurant. What young couple on a romantic night out wants to sit at a massive table in the middle of the restaurant?? I could see a small table in the corner and wanted to ask to be moved to it (being a man, my partner begged that I didn’t cause a scene lol), however before I could ask, a young male waiter came over and said “why are you sitting here!?” and promptly moved us to the smaller table.

Right off the bat I was feeling fed up and annoyed.

We ordered the thai pork dim sims for entree and these took a good 25 minutes to arrive. The dipping sauce made up for the lackluster dish. The rice wrapper of the dim sim was very soggy and chewy, would have been great if it had a slight crunch to it. However, was edible.

For main my partner ordered the “Famous Chick” – essentially satay chicken and I ordered the “Sexy little duck”- roast duck stirfry with chilli sauce and veges. Both the dishes were over $20 and neither came with rice, this had to be ordered seperately at $2.50 per serving.

When the mains finally arrived they were reasonably small portions which was disappointing. My partners satay chicken had no peanut kick and instead tasted solely of coconut milk. It was also garnished with cashew nuts which confused the peanut taste even further. The good point was the chicken itself which was tender.

I have had fantastic roast duck and I have also had crappy roast duck. My “Sexy little duck” veered towards the latter. Stringy and dry with slimy skin. Not entirely satisfying. The good point of this dish was the chilli sauce and the fresh veges.

We didn’t bother with dessert as we felt that with the very mediocre dishes so far it was doubtful the dessert would be any good.

Rather disappointed with the service and with our meals on this occasion although I can see potential in the few highlights of the evening.

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Minh

3

14th February 2011
4 star rating
The food was good, the sauce were excellent. I had the Duck in Love curry, it was very tasty indeed. My friends had the Satay Duck and it was also very nice. With only two course and we were very very full at the end.

Nice location, good staff. Overall would definitely come back to try the other options.

The only missing star is for the weird taste cocktails.

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11th January 2011
4 star rating
Nice meals, and service was very good I would go back again. I ate there in December.

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Mt V.

2

11th December 2010
4 star rating
Good vegetarian selection. Authentic tasting. My favorite Thai restaurant in Wellington. However, if you want a quiet romantic dinner conversation, the place is very noisy.

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D-Dub

1

28th August 2010
1 star rating
Ordered takeaway over phone, drove in from J’Ville. We ordered 2 Thai Beef Salads and a Green Curry.

I got home and had three containers of rice and 2 beef salads but no FRICKEN CURRY.

Called them and was politely told to come back and get it. Um, no i told her, I’m in Johnsonville and we are not driving all the way back in. Also the message left on my phone by the lady said ‘you forgot your curry’ well actually they forgot to put my curry in the bag, so they even had the nerve to make it out as if it was my own fault.

Anyways apparently i can have a free curry – the one I actually paid for so it’s not free, and they weren’t even willing to offer me anything else, poor poor customer service.

Also the beef salads were missing lettuce and cucumber, so all in all not a good experience this time.

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nat c.

2

1st June 2010
5 star rating
I rate this restaurant the best in Wellington, yes, you pay what you get but in fact only 2-3 dollars more than other Thai restaurant. I fortunate enough to bump into the restaurant when they were having Royal function for Asian Ambassadors.

Superb meals which we cannot fault anything. Surely we recommend it.

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22nd March 2010
5 star rating
went there on Saturday night – the food was just amazing. We like authentic thai food, we had the number two banquet – lovely and spicy.
We received separate entrees and shared four delicious mains and had a desert called the hairy banana – which was again delicious, battered bananan with maple syrup over it with chocolate sauce and vanilla icecream. Favourite main – the Naughty Pig!
Get in there!

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Yvonne

2

10th October 2009
3 star rating
The food was good. But the service was average . We have read the reviews before we went there, tried naughty pig as recommended, the pork was really tasty. Bit pricey compare to other Thai restaurants, but you pay for what you get. Will definitely go back but not Friday and Saturday nights since they’re busy, the staffs seems very tired, just ignore you.

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10th September 2009
3 star rating
we went there last week, the food was good and the menus were very exciting to read. however, it is a bit pricey when it comes to sides eg. nam-pla-prik (fish sauce w/ fresh chillies) costs $2.50 and plain fresh chillies costs $3.00 i dont think costumers should be charged for these kind of stuff, since we paid a lot of money towards the dish and when nam-pla (fish sauce) only costs $3to 4 dollars for 750ml at asian shops.

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16th August 2009
5 star rating
We tried Thai Chef’s for the first time on a Friday night and were impressed from start to finish. The mixed appetiser is an excellent way to sample several different flavours. Our mains (beef red penang curry and chicken with cashew nuts) were absolutely flavoursome and beautifully presented. Our service was very efficient – just the right amount of time to order and very little wait between courses. We will definitely be back.

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22nd July 2009
4 star rating
Have been here twice and enjoyed it. Have taken kids as well and they also enjoyed. Staff were very friendly and in general the meals are of a very good standard. I do agree with some other reviews that the heat has been westernised, and sadly they have some ‘kiwi’ versions on the menu which were disappointing, essentially meat and vege with gravy – that was the only serious letdowns – but knowing that I would happily return and order different foods.

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Dee

14

11th June 2009
4 star rating
had a wide choice menu available. waitress was friendly, checking after the meal had arrived to see if it was satisfactory. would definitely be going back to dine.

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ando

1

6th May 2009
5 star rating
great food, I have been to Thailand many times and I rekon they trump most of the resturaunts over there. i reckon the guy who gave the bad review probably got bad service cause the staff must tier of people like him and probably switched off half way through ‘the speach’ and who can blame them. I too love hot HOT food and after asking for this I got some of the hottest food i have ever had, similar to Thailand

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19th March 2009
2 star rating
Unfortunately NOT a good experience here! T
he attitude of the staff member present was atrocious.(the only reason ANY stars were awarded was the food was tasty, and reasonably authentic and fresh)
Myself and my fellow diner are well versed in all cuisine, particularly Asian. I do not have much tolerance for the continual “Dumbing Down” of food to the western palate particularly in regards to chili.
Most New Zealanders are feeble and think that what is mild is HOT.

I am very specific that i want to be able to TASTE the chili(every new restaurant with spicy food i visit is given “the speech”) as not enough spice leaves the dish flat and drab.
The man taking the order was told in no uncertain terms that hot means HOT, no mild nonsense, we also checked before we even sat down that they had fresh chili, which they had.

We ordered 2 lunch panag curries and a special salad, we were again very specific about heat and had said several times we wanted the salad to be “bloody Hot” as per the selection on the menu. When the food arrived the curry was a solid mild(Thai infants eat hotter) and the “bloody hot” salad was SWEET with NO heat at all, this particular dish is heavily reliant on the capsaicin to engender the aromatics and balance the salt/taste of the fish content.

After finally getting the waiters attention and explaining the problem we were told that we had not ordered “bloody hot” and blah blah it was our problem. I said that was unacceptable and i resent being called a liar. He then finally agreed to removing the salad from our bill but insisted we finish and pay for our curry!(we had 1 spoon out of each dish) I asked for some fresh chili but was told it would be $3! and that we could have some chili powder, the problem is that once prepared only fresh chili (plus it tasted way better) can be added to a dish without causing a “pasting” effect(the more dry powder you add the more paste like the sauce becomes)its all very well getting more heat but powder just makes it like sawdust.

THEN when we came to pay we were told we now had to pay for the salad again?(after we were told(with no sorry) it would be removed) AND again effectively told I/we were liars and had not ordered “bloody hot”. VERY unprofessional

EXTREMELY angry about this meal, we were going to go to a regular haunt but thought “give a new place a go”
Don’t like being called a liar, don’t like being told something is hot when it is not, don’t like being charged for a key ingredient in what is supposedly cited as “authentic” cuisine.

IF the attitude was conciliatory then the reasonable quality of the food would have meant this restaurant stays on the “list of options”.
There are many fine eateries in wellington, with very competitive deals and excellent quality.

It is very easy to make Thai food, as long as you have the right “exotic” components its a no brainer really.
Hopefully these guys get it sorted before they burn(no pun intended!) too many people too early on, OR they are lucky and have no more patrons who know what to look for and expect.

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tasi

12

8th March 2009
5 star rating
Love, love, love this place. great consistent food. Have been to their Napier restaurant as well and food great there with the same menu.
Heaps of choice – best menu of any Thai restaurant by far. We go Sunday and Monday nights in Wellington as it’s their BYO nights.
Try Naughty Pig! Also is an add-on to the 2008 entertainment card – they will accept!

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23rd February 2009
5 star rating
The food here is so good! So much choice, everything is super tasty.. a few favs.. Tom Yum soup, Mr Bean in BKK and Spicy Girl. They are all really yum, and the staff is very friendly.

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5th January 2009
4 star rating
staff were extremely friendly and cleaned up spilled water off the floor cheerfully . The menu was the most extensive I have seen at a tail restaurant
intend going back often

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