Best Grindz: Hawaii Edition: Episode 6: Dee Thai Restaurant

Rating by Yelp.com: 4 stars
Cuisine: Thai
Price Range: $11 - $30
Operation Hours: Mon thru Sat 11am - 2pm Lunch, Mon thru Sun 5pm - 9:30pm Dinner

Dee-Thai Restaurant opened up in 2008 as a simple family run Thai restaurant. Located on Kapahulu Ave, the cozy restaurant is able to seat 48 parties. The front of house team is led by the Son of the family while his Mother runs the Kitchen as the head chef. Dee-Thai looks to bring to customers a slice of Thailand with bold flavors and the warm and welcoming hospitality that gave Thailand the nickname the land of smiles.

Best Grindz Discovers Its Spicy Side! [Video]

Aloha viewers this is Natakorn "Thumb" Changrew checking in for this episode of Best Grindz's review. This week we explored one of the best rated Thai restaurants on yelp.com, Dee-Thai on Kapahulu, and who better to review Thai food than yours truly. Born and raised in the area that originated Thai food, I believe I can truly claim to understand the authentic sweet, sour, salty and spicy taste of Thai food. Upon arriving at Dee-Thai I came across the first problem; parking. Parking here is very bad.... because there isn't any customer parking available! Customers are advised to find the closest street parking available. Not a good start, but as I entered the restaurant the greeting I received turned it all around. Ton, the son of the family gave us a warm welcome and allowed us to pick the table of our choice. However, Ton wasn't dressed in any sort of uniform (wearing a normal T-shirt) and at first I thought he was another customer. Both the exterior and interior decoration of the restaurant wasn't exactly impressive, but it works for me. The lighting of the place is nice, and the Thai music played in the background was set at the right volume to assist the ambiance and give it a Thai appeal but at the same time not becoming too much of a distraction. I can see this place being a nice eatery to have a meal with your friends, but based on the feel the place gives I wouldn't have a business dinner or take my date for a special dining experience here as it doesn't exactly scream classy or romantic. The menu provided is pretty simple, properly describing cuisine's English and authentic Thai name, the options you have with each cuisine (I.E what type of meat) and its price. Although not mentioned in the menu, the staff did aware us how they can cater the spice levels to our preference; a flexibility that I think is a plus. I find the cuisines Dee-Thai offer to be very gutsy, featuring some authentic Thai cuisines normally not found in most Thai restaurants in America. Some of these signature dishes I believe require some authentic ingredients hard to get a hold of in the states or are simply not known to most foreigners. Two of these include "Pla-foo" fluffy fish salad and "Pad Kee mao" an authentic spicy Thai noodle cuisine. Good news for vegetarians as well as Dee-Thai dedicates a page of the menu to those who choose to stick to veggies and tofu. The food here, was definitely the star of the show. The three items I ordered tasted fresh and very authentic, having flavors that truly reminded me of home. The meal was rustic and very delicious, and also very well priced! Along with the great service they provide, I can see why Dee-Thai has received very good rating and I will definitely be coming back!