We made a special Saturday trip into Kona after I announced over coffee that I was in the mood for some good Thai food. I was content with heading to Charley’s but Tsunami had another idea.
We watch a lot of Triple D on Food Network and it seems that Guy is a frequent visitor to Hawai’i. Who can blame him, right? But on a recent episode, he was visiting the Original Thai Cuisine Restaurant in Kona and we both had said that it looked like a place we needed to check out. Turns out, Guy was right. Tsunami was right, too, turns out and thought we needed to have lunch and then go see Aquaman. lol!
So we head over to Kona and get our movie tickets in advance because there are only like 3 theatres, actually 4, I think, on the whole island. Movies are a bfd. You definitely don’t wait until just before the movie starts or you won’t get a ticket or a seat, believe me.
Once the afternoon entertainment was secured, we head over to the restaurant around the corner for our first look-see.
OH. MA. GAH.
First of all, we should never go to Thai when we are really really hungry because we will order everything. And that’s really ok because when you have really good Thai food, there is a greater satisfaction knowing that you can have it again later if you happen to have leftovers.
Today, we kinda knew… knew we not only would have leftovers but were a little conscious of making sure we ordered enough to do so. lol!
Freaks. But I guess lots of people do that, right?
We ordered the Thai chicken wings, laab gai, Thai basil chicken and shrimp stiry fry, Thai Spicy Holy Basil Fried rice and Roasted Red Duck Curry with sticky rice. Oh my lord, it was ALL FANTASTIC. But like seriously… really really really good. We probably irritated the other guests around us because we could not shut the f up about how much we were enjoying ourselves. Didn’t even bother to order a beverage or a beer or anything. lol!
Just lots of really great, authentic food. And, while we trust Guy, the wall full of local 1st place Restaurant of the Year awards should also give you a clue that what you are about to eat is some truly good eats. Some outstanding eats, in fact. We could not stop talking about even the next day.
Tsunami woke up saying he dreamed about the duck curry last night and when he sat down with his coffee and his curry at 10:30 am the next morning, I knew he wasn’t playing. He offered to make me some and while I wasn’t quite ready for Thai breakfast in that moment, it smelled so good, I almost changed my mind. Instead, I decided to write this post and tell you about it before I head to the kitchen for my own breakfast buffet.
The movie, I loved. The Thai food we had here, was just phenomenal so it turned our beautiful Saturday beach crawl into a truly spectacular afternoon family outting, reminding us, once again, of all the beauty and bounty of this gorgeous Hawaiian island.
Island of Hawai’i, I love you like forever for-real… especially because I can get top notch Thai food on top of all the other million reasons that make this island so super special to me.
The only Costco on the island is in Kona so while this is a bit of a trek for us from where we live on the North of the island, it’s always, always such a stunning drive that we’d do it on purpose regardless of Costco or not. But who can say that a trip to Costco can include a scenic beach drive, a stop for snorkeling at a world class resort and perhaps, a decadent lunch buffet fit for Hawaiian Royalty? Um, we can.
And the funniest part is that we actually forget to go to Costco on a pretty regular basis…. Aw, shucks, Maynard. Guess we’ll just have to make that heinous drive again. 🙂
Even though it’s about an hour’s drive, there is literally only 3 stoplights the entire stretch as you pass through several microclimates on your way down the mountain and into the Kona area. Scenic drive is an understatement of massive proportions but it’s so easy to make a beautiul day of it, you will probably do like we do and make up every excuse in the book to do it at least once a week.
Original Thai Cuisine
75-5629 Kuakini Hwy #175
Kailua-Kona, HI 96740
United States
Phone: (808) 329-3459
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