One of the quirky things I will do when scouting out an area to live is to search for all the comfort food I need to survive well. For some reason, Thai food is always at the top of the list. I guess my rationale is that if there is Thai food, then the place can’t be half bad. And it’s clear that if there is Thai food, then the ingredients needed to make Thai food at home can’t be all that hard to find either.

Charley’s was one of the first Thai restaurants I found while searching when I was looking at the house we are living in now. Thai restaurants being fairly prolific on the Island of Hawai’i, I felt pretty good about moving onto more important factors for choosing a house. Like, is there a grocery store, a bank, a school, running water, toilets, etc.

But after living on another island in the South Pacific for a year and a half, you start to weigh the mundane with the greater needs of a foodie. If food is very much your thing like it is for us, then these minor details matter. A lot.

So, funny enough, the first Thai restaurant we tried was in Hilo next door to Pho Viet. If you read my previous post, then you probably have a good idea of how I came to eat there in the first place. I don’t know the name of this particular restaurant but given that it is next door to the best Pho on the planet, it’s best claim to fame is that it is a run-off restaurant and gets a great deal of its business simply because it is next door to the place that runs out of everything it’s so good. I may post, to be fair to them, at a later date but for today’s good eats shout out, the honor goes to Charley’s first.

Charley’s one drawback… it’s not always open. I guess their hours are somewhat normal being located in small beach towns along the coast. However, the Waimea location, which is closest to me, was quite elusive for many months. It was never open when we wanted to stop in. So being that there are others options in Waimea, it took a while for us to finally time it right. Are you starting to see a pattern with Hawai’i?? lol! I love it… they are open whenever the f they want to open and they close whenever they darn well choose to do so!

Welcome to Aloha, folks. Island Time. It’s amusing and endearing. Unless you are starving or need a tow or want to make an appointment for anything. But like I said, we’ve experienced Island Life for a while now. Nothing new here.

One day though, it happened. It was my time… and I was in the right place and I was alone. I went into town for something else and quite unexpectedly and to my utter surprise and delight, they were open!! Holy frijoles! Knowing I would get into a sticky situation if I reported this to the home station… I decided to go in and just check it out, see if it was worthy of our clan. No Tsunami. No ravenous college students. No game-addicted teenagers. Just me, myself and my sneaky little adventure.

This was a scouting mission, I practiced out loud. To no one in particular. lol! Getting my mom-story straight because Thai food isn’t just another option for dinner in our house. It’s a “thing”. Like, a pout-fest just waiting to happen if someone, any of them, get left out. And this was getting to be a serious thing because none of us had had it in awhile.

Tsunami’s kids had never had Thai food before they met me. And now, I have a tribe of addicts; sophisticated, well-traveled foodies they are becoming. They care about chopsticks. They care about “authentic”. They care about curry. What can I say? They are refined little beasts.

I order the Noodle Salad as a tester, feeling a bit naughty like I’m totally skipping school or something. I’m quite particular myself when it comes to Thai food so I can spot a fraud, faux-fusion hack a mile away. I can smell an authentic Thai kitchen; I know the real deal when I taste it. I’m taking this stealth mission pretty seriously.

Charley’s is the real deal though. With a smidge of Island fusion. And it’s the kind of fusion you hope to encounter. I knew from just one dish that we would eat there again in the next couple of days; super psyched to bring the family. I check the schedule and prepare for my surprise announcement when I arrive home.

Almost instantly, I’m greeted with a little hostility when I announce that I have found a great Thai restaurant that night at dinner. Comical. Dead silence. Our 17 year old looks up at me accusingly and says, “How could you? You went without me??” Prepared, I launch into my scouting explanation. It doesn’t fly. lol! I chuckle and add quickly that I think we should go tomorrow night for dinner and the ‘tude receded; teen mollified and appeased.

We tried to go, that is. Super excited, we load up for an early dinner and head out. It’s not exactly far, but when you have hungry monsters in tow, anything is far. We arrive and the drama unfolds immediately. CLOSED. OMG. Not the outcome I intended. Delete. Abort. Run, Forest, RUN!!

We eat somewhere else and it’s horrible, no one is satisfied and all we talk about the whole way home is how sucky it was and how sad it was we couldn’t eat Thai food. lol! There would be more trash talking but I can already see that the one child is trying super hard not to have an all out tantrum. He keeps it in check. I’m disappointed, too, and he knows it. When we get home, he asks me to please make him a  homemade pizza (which he loves). Ouch. That bad… No problemo, kiddo. Rough night.

Next morning, I call ahead. No answer. I call the Waikoloa location, thinking that if needbe, we’d drive just a bit further and go to this one instead since it’s near the beaches we frequent. Make a day of it. And that is exactly what happened. No choice because our location was closed for repairs. A fluke, supposedly… But, whatever, I had a plan B.

Our first experience at Charley’s was after a beach day in Waikoloa. Our beaching ended early I suspect because everyone was having an SOL moment they couldn’t get over from the night before. lol! It happens a lot. But having said that, everyone enjoyed their delayed foodie gratification that much more. I launch into a lecture about gratification that is completely snuffed out by the sounds of near-snorting. I ask them to slow down their eating because I can’t hear myself lecture them properly. We all giggle and proceed to eat our meals in near silence. With my crew, if words and quips are flying, someone isn’t enjoying themselves. If it’s quiet, this is the sound of real gratification. Satiation. Satisfaction will be ours tonight!

We’ve been to the one near our house now several times since. And oddly, we all try something new every time. I say oddly because we are all creatures of habit, but for some reason, we branch out at Charley’s. Between all of us, we’ve definitely had nearly everything on the menu at some point.

Most notably, though, their Soft Shell Crab appetizer is just outstanding. We always start out with 2 orders because one simply isn’t enough for us since we all LOVE it. That’s what I meant by fusion… this is island-fare, to be sure, but done in a Thai style that is so freaking good I could eat a dozen of them by myself, no exaggeration.

Their combo plates, are also, amazing. They have 3 options and they are all so good. One has pad thai, spring rolls, fried wings and sticky rice. Another has papaya salad, spring rolls, chicken satay and sticky rice. And the other has Thai salad, chicken satay and fried wings. A bargain. The presentation is beautifully done in the Thai style so it’s so pretty to look at, you don’t want it eat it. My 17 year old son is a serious foodie that like me, takes pictures of everything he eats. If he has his camera out, he’s impressed. We switch phones and take pics of each other’s plates then carry on with the food fest.

I cannot help but mention that their daily specials are almost always something truly outstanding. I had a peanut curry there a few days ago that just rocked my freaking world. Their peanut sauce for their satay is like gangster… so good that you hear every table asking for more. When our waitress told me what the specials were that day she said, “You need to get this curry… you love our peanut sauce so think that, but as a curry.” Sold. She knows me well and did not stear me wrong. They make Nam prik, the spicy fish sauce with chilis, just for us when we come in. Our 15 year old doesn’t do spicy yet like we do, unless it’s a challenge or dare, so he won’t touch it but I laugh because it’s nothing like the spicy we do at home so he’s pretty safe. But, it’s delicious and made to order so do try it if you like an extra kick.

If you are on the North side, you have both locations available if you run into family dinner drama like we do sometimes. Good to know there’s a backup plan if it’s desperate. lol! Obsessed is putting it mildly. Wonder where they get that from….? This is the longest story post yet. 🙂

Obviously worth the grief. Just call ahead, to be safe, if you are heading to the Waimea location as their hours are very much Island hours. That means their posted hours of operation are very much subject to the Trade Winds of Eh Maybe, Maybe Not Open. Check before loading whiny kids in the car… or you will regret it.