The Village Green,
10 / 415 Remuera Road,
Remuera
Auckland,


(09) 523 3005

add to my map

Thai Village in Remuera is nestled behind the Remuera shops in a surprisingly open space with delightfully high ceilings. But it wasn’t until my partner and I were at the front door I realised I’d been here a year or two before and we really should have parked in a public carpark off Clonbern Rd rather than out on the prominent Remuera road where parking wardens like to roam.

Not to worry, by the time we were seated with menus in hand my partner had stopped complaining about paying for parking and was keenly focussed on more important matters – dinner.

On offer was a routine selection of soups, meat and poultry dishes, curries, seafood, noodle and rice and vegetarian collections usually found in contemporary Thai restaurants as well as a few delightfully named choices including ‘waterfall beef’ and ‘the drunken chef’. Despite these distractions, my eye was instantly drawn to Gai Ob Pu Kao Fai, which is described by the chef as ‘NZ’s original baked whole chicken marinated with Thai herbs, flam-bed in brandy and served with sweet chilli sauce’ ($28.50). I was sold.

My partner ordered Pla Neung Seeiew, or steamed whole snapper topped with spring onion, red chilli and ginger ($27.50).

Both meals came with a time warning; don’t expect your meals to arrive within 25 minutes as the chef needs time to prepare both the chicken and fish. So I also ordered some prawn toast ($9.50) on the proviso our mains were started while we ate the appetisers.

While we waited I told my partner how last time I was here a young boy had locked himself in the toilets and a waiter had to help him out. Though it was probably a bad experience for the young lad, it did not take away from my evening and it appeared as though no other dramas would on this night.

Suddenly with a sizzle and a roar a flaming whole chicken was being paraded on a plate from the kitchen to our table. It turned heads. It looked yummy.

Then, while it was being carved the fish arrived and was boned in front of our eyes. With the rest of the diners returned to their previous conversations leaving us to devour the fish and chicken away from prying eyes. I asked the waiter how popular the chicken was, he said it was very popular and it wasn’t unheard of for 20 or so of these flaming chickens to be served in one night.

After a couple of mouthfuls I could see why. Tender, juicy and sweet, but it was the snapper which caught me off guard. Melt in your mouth with a chilli kick, the snapper up to the challenge.

Unfortunately we were three quarters of the way through before the offer of rice appeared. Perhaps the excitement of serving up two more flaming whole chickens shortly after mine was just as distracting for the staff as it was for the other larger groups coming through the doors. Not to worry, it saved us $5 off the bill.

There’s a decent beer and wine list, but you can BYO wine to the Thai Village for a small corkage fee.

In all, Thai Village served up what a contemporary Thai restaurant should, good food, friendly service and decent prices. Recommended.