Serves meat, vegan options available. Little Thai cuisine restaurant in the Old Lahaina Center, same plaza as Maui Theater. Offers an extensive menu which includes a "vegetable lover" section with approx. 20 dishes of vegetable and some with tofu. Choice of mild, medium, or hot spicy. All the vegetable dishes are mostly vegan, including the pad thai tofu without egg. Also spicy chili tofu, garlic vegetable, red curry tofu, fried rice vegetable, and others. Simple set-up and Thai music played in the background. Closed due to the August 2023 fire, please update HappyCow if/when this establishment re-opens.
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Last update on 25 Aug 2023 by condekedar
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22 Reviews
First Review by Chia
Jamaba824
Points +420
Tolerable vegan food - Edit
Maybe I'm spoiled by multiple vegan Thai restaurants near my home, but was glad to find one here with marked vegan options. The food however super oily and not as the menu described. I ordered the Thai basil tofu. Instead of brocoli, carrots and onions with basil per menu description, it was excessive onions, 2 slices of carrots, a couple green beans and 1 tiny green thing that I suspect was Thai basil?
Read moreSummer rolls were ok. Also seemed to be missing the mint noted in the description.
Perhaps better to eat in so you can get them to correct their mistakes??
Pros: Lots of vegan options
Cons: Average food
Guest
Lnealon
Points +346
Best meal in Maui - Edit
A little gem with great Thai off of Front street. Super flavorful and a separate menu for veggies. Hard to find because it’s behind Front street across from Bank of Hawaii and the post office.
Read moreGuest
EdithGoulet
Points +68
Pretty solid - Edit
Good amount of vegan option, lovely waiter and laid back vibes. Food was just good though. Curry was solid but not the best vegan Thai food on the island.
Read moreGuest
Ch246
Points +594
Meat in the vegan food - Edit
I can no longer recommend Thai Chef. We ordered the veggie papaya salad that is on the vegetable lovers section of the menu (which was all vegan with the old owners, now I am not sure it is.) It was made with fish sauce. Our tofu curry (again from the vegetable lovers section) had a piece of chicken in it. I am horrified and absolutely disgusted.
Read moreGuest
kristinak83
Points +58
Huge vegan menu - Edit
After walking the main streets of Lahaina and finding very minimal vegan options, Thai Chef was an awesome find. A huge vegan menu, quaint little interior, and super formerly service. Highly recommend.
Read morePros: Lots of vegan options, Friendly service
Cons: No bathroom indoors, have to use public restroom
Guest
NeeruRavi
Points +202
Delicious and great value for money - Edit
Wish I could give it 5 stars! Super tasty food and fresh! We had the pad Thai, green curry and veggie spring rolls. All highly recommended.
Read morePros: Lots of options , Fresh , Tasty
Cons: Not much seating
Guest
shannlightfoot
Points +98
Love this place - Edit
My boyfriend and I love coming here for date nights. They have a full veggie lovers menu which most of is vegan, always double check though. Tons of options
Read morePros: Spring rolls are bomb
Guest
ZeeElovich
Points +81
Accommodating to vegans and vegetarians - Edit
Got take out from here the other night with my omni husband. Not only do they have a full page of vegan options, but the server was highly knowledgeable about all things vegan. I had the spicy tofu basil and we split some fried spring rolls, which were tasty but a bit on the oily side. A word of caution: "spicy" means knock your socks off hot! We eat spicy food all the time, and were nearly breathing fire by the time we were done eating! Next time we'll for sure go for medium.
Read morePros: Lots of vegan options, Sweet and knowledgeable team
Cons: A bit of a challenge to find
Guest
carrieross
Points +42
Very good Thai! - Edit
Full page vegetarian menu with soups, appetizers, and entrees. Remove the egg, and all are vegan. Staff is very knowledgeable and helpful. They will make Thai iced tea with coconut milk at no additional cost. Food tastes homemade. The fresh rolls were terrific!
Read morePros: Lots of options. , Easy to veganize, Very authentic
Guest
phytophile
Points +1260
Entire vegetarian page makes ordering easy. - Edit
The portions are not very big but the food was tasty.
Read morePros: Lots of vegan options
Cons: Not a lot of food
Guest
AutumnTierra
Points +1462
Excellent! - Edit
I loved everything about this restaurant. Excellent and friendly service. The food was delicious and the entire vegetarian menu is vegan! That included probably 20 choices. They also have vegan appetizers and desserts. I also had a vegan Thai ice tea. I highly recommend! The prices were very reasonable, as well.
Read morePros: Tons of vegan options, Delicious food, Excellent service
Guest
nicole888
Points +295
Fab restaurant - Edit
So many vegetarian options which can be veganised. The staff were lovely and attentive and the place is good value for money. Would definitely go back again
Read morePros: Lots of vegan options , Good value for money, Friendly staff
Guest
BriggitteJ
Points +3002
Casual Vegan Options by Old Lahaina - Edit
Thai Chef is a friendly restaurant where they understand what vegan means. The entire vegetarian menu to my knowledge is vegan. The restaurant is very small and super casual, right behind the incredibly touristy old Lahaina area by the water. I didn’t realize that they have free parking out front for patrons and ended up paying so be aware that they are behind the Main Street and there is a parking lot with free parking for those eating in out front. Food was good and service was excellent!
Read moreGuest
veganicnomad
Points +39
Great food! - Edit
One of the only Thai/Indian places I’ve ever found that will actually make a “mild” curry that doesn’t burn your face off. I had a delicious Penang curry. Definitely recommended. Edit: went back a second time and had another great dish (Matsaman curry) , both times, the food came out unbelievably fast, like faster than any restaurant I can remember. Highly recommended
Read morePros: Lots of vegan options (one full page of the menu), Will customize spice level, Unbelievably fast!
Guest
weskivt
Points +181
Great food - Edit
Food was delicious! An entire vegan menu with 20 vegan meal options. Quaint place off the beaten path.
Read morePros: many vegan options , delicious food, quaint
Cons: off the beaten path (which can also be a pro!)
Guest
Courts&Cupcakes
Points +89
Fantastic vegan menu - Edit
Visited February 2018. My husband and I only had 3 nights in Maui but loved this restaurant so much that we had dinner there two nights in a row. Between the two nights we tried 5 dishes, plus dessert, and enjoyed them all. There is a full page of 20+ vegan dishes to choose from, and the owners are super friendly. The dishes that we ordered as medium came out on the higher end of our spice tolerance, but the mild was a bit too mild for us - if you’re like us and fall in between, just ask for a little dish of spice to add on as you please. Hopefully we’ll be back to Maui soon so we can visit again.
Read morePros: Great vegan menu!, Friendly owners/staff, Conviently located off the main drag
Guest
AlyHorry
Points +18
generous veg menu - Edit
An entire page of vegan/vegetarian options. We went two days in a row! The pineapple red curry was delicious, but none of the options disappointed. The restaurant was cold and if you ask for spicy, you better mean it! Portions were perfect sized- not enough for leftovers but you leave full without room for dessert.
Read moreCons: cold temp- bring a sweatshirt!
Guest
LeonardPDX
Points +32
Nice alternative to tourist food - Edit
Nice healthy option for dinner. Pay attention to the open times. We had a nice walk on the beach waiting for them to open. Nice little quaint location on the back side of the Old Lahaina Center. Tons of vegi/vegan choices. Nice staff, food was very good. Constant stream of locals getting takeout while we dined.
Read moreGuest
Librahi
Points +441
Awesome - Edit
Eat here a lot now that we live here but came when on vacation previously as well. So nice, food is excellent! Big vegan section of menu!
Read moreGuest
devinw
Points +107
Great little gold mine in Lahaina! - Edit
Thai is always a great go-to in areas without a ton of vegan options, but it's extra nice when they are very vegan friendly! That is the case with Thai Chef, as they have a 20+ items on their "vegetable lovers" menu which are all vegan. The employees are super nice and friendly and knowledgeable. I asked about what items could be easily made vegan and was told that all the vegetarian menu items were vegan and had no fish sauce, oyster Sauce, chicken stock, or otherwise. My only quip would be that the portions are not huge for the price, but that could just be an island thing.. A lot of things seem to be expensive in Hawaii. Anyway, I give a BIG recommendation to Thai Chef. We went two nights in a row and had some fantastic dinners while staying up the road in Kaanapali. Mahalo!!
Read morePros: vegan friendly, super nice staff
Cons: small restaurant (show up early, especially on Fri
Guest
·X·
Points +23082
Thai Chef - Edit
Hard to find! But don't give up, just give them a quick call, they'll help you. I ordered the pad Thai (my first time ever ordering this dish) and was incredibly thankful when they took my request for HOT seriously! The food was spicy and delicious...my mouth was on fire and it was great. This is a great little hole-in-the-wall if you're looking for Thai food.
Read moreGuest
Chia
Points +3635
Authentic Thai food - Edit
I had read about this place on happycow, and here's my Thai Chef review.
Read moreOn a past trip to Maui, Hawaii, on a day that we were to be in the Lahaina area with friends, we decided to give this one a try. We had trouble locating the Thai Chef restaurant since it was situated not on the front side of the street but on the backside of Front Street. We had to ask one of the tour shops for assistance.
The inside of the restaurant is small with maybe 10 tables for seating. The decor was simple. A few Thai artworks hung on the walls, Thai music played in the background. We quickly sat down and ordered our food as we noticed that other diners were coming in, and we didn't want to wait too long.
Our party of four shared the peanut tofu curry, the pad thai, ginger coconut soup, green papaya salad, and the eggplant tofu plus 2 large orders of brown rice. Rice was not included in the price of the main entrees. For each dish we requested medium spicy. Well, it turned out that medium spicy is pretty spicy, a little more than my husband liked, though the rest of us enjoyed the thrill of the chili peppers. Thai people like their food really spicy that's for sure.
The peanut tofu curry, aka panang curry, was pretty tasty ($10.95). The eggplant tofu was saucy and flavorful but overall just okay for me ($10.25). The pad thai dish had a nice taste and the veggies & baked tofu slices were delicious, but the noodle itself was too hard for me ($10.95). The green papaya salad, aka som tom, was decent though it could use more garnish and some more bit of peanuts ($8.95). The ginger coconut soup, aka tom kha, was the one dish that fell short ($10.50). It was too sour (from lime) and lacked the savory and spiced flavor of tom kha that we were all used to back home.
Overall, I thought the food was flavorful and well-spiced for the most part. I liked the spicy factor. As with Thai food, there were lots of salt and sugar in the food, but that's what makes this food addictive. The prices were a bit high for this kind of food (basically veggies, tofu, and spices), but this is Lahaina, and things are more expensive in this area.
Pros: veg friendly, food arrived quickly
Cons: serves meat
Guest
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