Ka Lae Garden Thai Food

This was such a pleasant surprise for us on our way to Volcano - great pad Thai with lots of flavor! Lots of tofu options for vegetarians too.

Delicious, fresh, farm to table Thai food. The flavors were so rich. We loved the food. It is very popular though. We thought we would have no wait when we got there at 1140 but it took over a half hour because they had so many phone orders. Very popular. Kids got cheeseburger. We got Massaman and green Curry with rice. Both had amazing flavors and delicious veggies. My favorite were the spring rolls with shrimp. It was all yummy. My kids loved playing Uno. It was windy though and cards kept blowing. They have limited indoor and outdoor seating. Definitely a favorite in Hawaii.

Awesome. One of the best places to eat on the island. What is it doing out here in the middle of nowhere?! Good menu of options, good ingredients and flavor, and decent value. Friendly and authentic, a small family-run operation. Seating indoors and outdoors with ocean views. Some produce and other market goodies available here.

Absolutely fantastic! It does take them a bit to make the food (like an hour for two people), but once you get it you see it's worth it! The summer rolls are incredible and the Thai coffee is super delicious. You can call in to get takeout, the last call is at 5:30pm!

Nestled atop a scenic hill, this Thai gem combines exquisite cuisine with breathtaking views. The diverse menu boasts authentic flavors, from savory Pad Thai to aromatic green curry. Each dish is a culinary masterpiece, complemented by the restaurant's panoramic vistas that elevate the dining experience to new heights. The attentive staff and serene ambiance make it an ideal spot for a memorable meal, perfect for both intimate dinners and celebratory occasions. A delightful fusion of flavors and scenery awaits at this exceptional Thai restaurant.

LOVE this place! The ingredients were so fresh, so much attention to detail in the dishes, home grown vegetables and very authentic. Had the papaya salad, green curry and satay chicken - loved it all. The owners are als super friendly and so nice! Love coming here. Make sure to call in to place your order in advance. This place gets very busy with orders and closes relatively early. By calling in you are guaranteed to be able to enjoy this lovely food.

Really awesome Thai food. All the other reviews are spot on. Everything is made to order. Hence the wait but totally worth it. Great location with very good views as well. Quantity is also pretty good. Definitely recommend drunken noodles. Only regret is I could not try other dishes 🥲 Would definitely recommend this place !

We were privileged to eat lunch here today and the food was phenomenal. It was so fresh and healthy. The flavor was perfect and the lady taking our order was most helpful. If you haven't been you really are missing out!

I have eaten Thai food all around the world including Thailand but I've got to say for not being in Thailand this is one of the best spots that I've ever eaten at that is exactly what I get when I go to Thailand super fresh prices are extremely reasonable for being in Hawaii the service is outstanding the young lady at the front counter was smiling and bright and the older lady behind the curtains so to speak doing all the chopping and making I didn't get a chance to meet her but I made sure to tell the cashier that I appreciated her work and everything was delicious I highly recommend this place either stop here on your way going to Kona or Hilo Just come out this way and have lunch or dinner it is so so very good you cannot go wrong and takes him home with you for later. I had the papaya salad and the deep fried spring rolls. She also takes the time to grow her own food in the back of the restaurant how cool is that.

They have a little grocery store (very mini). Kind service. Restroom in back! That's a plus! No dogs allowed :( Great view from outdoor picnic tables and a shade covering! Let's see how this good tastes! I've heard great things! I ordered the green curry with chicken and pumpkin! My favorite

So glad we stumbled on this amazing place while driving to Kona! LOVE these family run places that serve delicious food that aren't a chain!

This place is probably one of the best meals i've had during my weeklong vacation in hawaii. Honestly even maybe one of the best thai places i've had all my life? :O The pad thai just tasted super fresh & flavorful. I requested it spicy and they added spicy peppers to it that added a nice kick. Definitely worth the wait. I also had the passion fruit cheesecake (I think it's called something else) and it was very good too. Not too sweet! There's a decent amount of seating. Like 4 rows of benches with tables outside shaded by a tarp(?) and then some seating inside.

Wow, wow, wow! If I could give 6*, I would. The food was amazing. They serve in to-go compostable dishes. Great views. Inside and outside seating. A Thai woman and her daughter run this wonderful place. They grow some of their ingredients on-site. I tried the Stir Fry Green Bean Red Curry ("Hot") and the Pineapple Fried Rice. Both were outstanding!! The flavors were popping! Loved the fresh ingredients and great spicies. ** I've been all over the world to include Thailand. I've tried Thai food in well over 50+ countries. This was a top 5 location (top 3?). If you are on Hawaii, it is worth adding this to your list of stops. If you are going south from Kona, especially to Green Beach, then definitely stop here. Warning from the owner and reviews, she is one person, thus one cook. If they are busy, you'll have to wait....it is worth the wait! She even recommended calling ahead to place an order. Apparently, they they get busy for dinner. I really wish I could go back.

Some of the best Thai food I've ever had. Super fresh ingredients and very personalized service. Ordered the drunken noodle, glass noodle, Tom Kai soup, red curry, pineapple fried rice, and fresh guava juice. The guava juice was sweeter than I expected, not sure if the guava here is just naturally insanely, sweet, or they added some sweetener to it. Other than that, every dish was amazing. Everything is made from scratch and made to order so expect to wait around 30 to 45 minutes for your food. They have a variety of drinks as well as lilikoi cheesecake for dessert (even though I didn't try it). Would highly recommend stopping here for a meal if you are on the southern part of the big island.

Such a great little restaurant from top to bottom. Family owned/operated - the girl behind the counter was sweet and helpful and said her mom was the one in the back doing the cooking. The outdoor seating area has a great view, and you can see where they grow a lot of the ingredients right there! We ordered the pineapple fried rice and drunken noodles. Both were delicious! The drunken noodles were very spicy! You could absolutely taste the freshness in the ingredients. There was another group dining at the same time we were and all the food they ordered looked delicious as well. Overall, I couldn't recommend this place enough and would absolutely return!

Food, service, ambiance. Great experience with great food and a mother daughter combo making your food and serving you.

Ka-Lae Garden throws down !! If you are in Southpoint area or just on your way to Kona the Thai food is ALWAYS worth it ! I've tried their pad thai , pad see ew , papaya salad and green curry and they're all so OnO ! It is hard to choose which one is my favorite dish . The ingredients are fresh from their garden and the view is beautiful.

One of my favorite local kine grinds ! Very good food and great staff, friendly and knowledgeable and very helpful! The surrounding area is pleasant and quiet! Very nice place to come to. And we love being local kine businesses!

Best spring rolls I've ever had! Kind gentleman at the front, great patio seating with a view. Made the long drive between Volcanoes and Kona a joy.

Don't miss this little gem the next time you're driving from Kona to the volcano or from the volcano to Kona. It's amazing.!

I have called twice in the past to order to go and made sure it's before the deadline for last call and I was told they cannot take the order because they already have enough orders before 6. Very disappointed

Hit the lunch spot on our way to the Green beach. Need energy to hike that trail. Nice family owned restaurant. We had to wait 30 minutes but worth it with the view. Covered picnic seating overlooking the hillside below. Ordered pad sew ew, pineapple fried rice, and stir fried veggies with brown rice.

Great fresh n made to order highly recommended the young gal is super nice n a great seating area outside with great view

The iced coffee was delicious while we waited over 50mins for our takeout order, was told it would only take 25-30mins for my food.

Stopped in for dinner last night and glad we did. Unassuming restaurant just off Hwy 11. Kelly enjoyed the spicy green bean red curry, well seasoned, and I had the Thai fried rice with chicken, which was excellent also. If your heading thru Ocean View, this is a great place to stop,

Loved the food BUT Be sure you have plenty of time to wait for your food! We were the only ones in the restaurant and our small order for two took an hour! There were lots of to-go orders happening but I would have thought being there in person would have been a priority.

By far the best Thai food on the big island you can get. each meal is prepared fresh. There it's a little wait but we'll worth it you can't rush quality cooked meals. if your looking for authentic Thai food this is the spot!!!

Found this gem on our south coast road trip on Big Island. We ordered the chicken pad see ew and tofu stir fried veg with Jasmine rice. Both were delicious. They managed to cook the broccoli to perfection with the 'al dente' texture. Their rice was also perfectly cooked with a very fragrant smell. The place has a big 'back yard' where a lot of home grown vegetables were seen. We believe that they use this for their cooking which is awesome to see this level of 'farm to table' quality on the island. However, with this level of quality, be prepared to wait for your meal, as our 2x entrees took 45-50 min to cook when the place did not seem too busy. Top tip - phone your order ahead of time (there is no online ordering)!

I love a good family-owned road side cafe and this did not disappoint. (Also, checkout Super J's and Randy's BBQ) Other reviews mentioned long wait times, but luck was on our side because we were the only ones at the restaurant on Sunday at noon. Great lunch spot on the way to Volcano from Kona. We had the yellow curry with pumpkin and shrimp summer rolls. Everything was very flavorful and fresh. Medium was a little spicy for my taste so next time, I'll order mild and scale up from there! Covered outdoor seating only with nice view of south point! Will definitely be back.

Everything tastes very homemade and fresh. Dishes are made to order, which makes the wait MUCH longer. Good pit stop for food. There's not much else around here and this is one of the better options. Tip: To avoid the long wait, order ahead!

This is usually a great place to stop for healthy Thai food, with many vegetables being grown in their own garden. I love the green curry (mild) and the fresh spring rolls (not fried). Probably not the best place if you are in a hurry, as it takes time to freshly prepared each meal. Very glad to have this eatery and the nice owners nearby.

Had this restaurant bookmarked for a while and finally made my way down to try it out! It's located in Ocean View away from the main "shopping area". Pulling up, it reminded me of one of those off-the-road food stops after a long drive in the mainland. The building itself was relatively small but there's a small parking lot with outdoor seating to eat. Really serene, peaceful place to eat at! My friends and I called in a phone order at around 2pm as we drove from Punalu'u side and was told the pick up time was an hour which was crazy! Shows how great the food must be. They were nice enough to call us once our order was ready. My friends and I all ordered their pad kee mao. The amount of food looked a bit smaller compared to other places. But maybe it was because I was super hungry LOL. The dishes looked delicious and in a sense, really healthy. I could tell that they used super fresh ingredients from the taste of our food (aside from the fact that they also had a big garden of vegetables LOL). The flavor of the dish was delicious! Not too salty (tad bland) and oily and surprisingly really spicy which overpowered everything. My friends and I were dying halfway through our meal, but it was sooooo good. We also got a lilikoi cheesecake (thankfully it helped soothe the spice) which was creamy with a sweet lilikoi coating. It wasn't too sweet either! Definitely recommend trying this place if you're ever around the area. Also, highly recommend phoning in your order as it might take some time for it to be ready.

Amazing Thai food with super fresh ingredients. Take in the incredible view while you wait for your food to be ready.

I'm Thai (and a picky one at that) and I can tell you Ka-Lae Garden is worth every second of the wait. We were ready to be bummed out because we waited for 50 mins but IT WAS SO SO SO GOOD. We got papaya salad, drunken noodles, and Panang curry. While everything was great, the true highlight was the Panang curry. Pork was sooooo soft and the curry was so flavorful and creamy - it was OUT OF THE WORLD. It was honestly one of the best curries I have ever had in my life - in and out of Thailand. The kitchen is run by La and her daughter using vegetables and herbs grown from their garden. We also got mangoes which were SO SWEET. La kindly peeled them for us to eat on the road (and they were much cheaper than the ones in Kona). Pro tips: - Get the panang curry (pork) and buy mango - THEY ARE SO SWEET - Call to order ahead of time to save 30-50 mins wait

The quality of the homegrown produce and herbs, makes Ka-Lae Garden beyond delicious. The courtesy of the owners is evident. Something for everyone. My favorite Kona Coast Thai food. Green Curry is my favorite. We have enjoyed their plentiful meals for 9 years. You must order ahead by phone. Otherwise there is a long wait. Well worth it. Fairly priced.

Never used to be a thai fan until I came to THIS place Everything is soooooo fresh. They grow everything on their farm there! Attention to detail, flavor, and the ambiance is what keeps me coming back!!! SOOOOO DELISH! Ai pono

Highly recommend this restaurant- had the best vegan pad thai and pineapple fried rice ever, after ages! However, the biggest con that makes me think twice before ordering from here is that the service is SUPER SLOW. We had pre ordered an hour before reaching the restaurant and 45 min later, we were still waiting for our food ( close to 2 hrs to get 2 dishes) . Since we had an appointment after, we checked with them on our order status and received it shortly afterward. Quickly gulped it down since there was no time to enjoy the food. We could make out though that our food was rushed since the rice was undercooked and the quantity was slightly less than the previous time we had visited them in the same week. We also tried their fresh guava juice, lilikoi juice and steamed banana dumpling - all of them were so flavorful! The restaurant is located just off the main road and has a breezy, calming ambience. If they had a restaurant manager or more folks helping out, the dishes would probably come out sooner. Go here if you have nothing else to do for the rest of the day and can hold on to your hunger for a long time, it can be worth the wait!

Anyone complaining about the Slow Service doesn't realize this place is mainly a Take Out business. If you are the only person at the restaurant there could be 7 orders before you. Just realize that and order ahead... Been coming here for 4+ years and will never stop. Best Thai food anywhere in Hawaii! LOVE this place!

Good and service are absolutely amazing! Such a Beautiful view and prices are fantastic. Definitely recommend trying this place!

Amazing thai place in the middle of nowhere ! Please make a stop here and try their food. It is so authentic and you have a outside seating area. You get a view of the southern most point in US. You can enjoy while you wait for a food cos that is gonna take some time to reach. If you don't wanna wait, you can order online and enjoy

I've come back to this restaurant everytime I am on big island. This last trip i came back twice. The food beats many other Thai restaurants by far. Most recommended dishes are green papaya salad, tom yum, pad kee Mao fried rice. My most recent order I tried thai coffee and guava cheesecake. I greatly appreciate the ice cubes are made with the coffee so as they melt, they don't dilute the flavor. Thank you for that fine detail. The guava cheesecake was so good I wished I had bought the whole cake instead of 1 slice but I stayed an hour away from the restaurant and unable to come back. I will find reason to come to big island again just to have your food. Maybe you can ship the cheesecake in the near future?

Pretty good food. Amazing views. Call ahead to order as it can take a while for them to prepare it and have it on the benches outside.

The food here is wonderful. All the curry dishes, the papaya salad, pad thai, it's all so yum! I love La and her daughter. They are both wonderfully sweet. There is a wait time. Be patient, it's worth it! Plan ahead or call in your order.

The food here was INCREDIBLE. The food is prepared from a garden right outside the restaurant, and they even sell fresh vegetables inside. Everything tasted super fresh and flavorful. Everything we ordered was delicious, and the most memorable item was the papaya salad. So fresh, tangy, and spicy - I'm craving some as I write this! The restaurant itself is pretty small, and food is served ok paper plates/ plastic cutlery. Don't go here for a fancy experience, but definitely do go for delicious food. Oh, and there's an ocean view... :)

Tourists might find the south side of Big Island a little barren in many regards, but this place is a true food oasis. Modest in appearance, but clean, fresh, friendly and a vast ocean view from outside. Just be careful (like another review warned) not to speed past, this place has a low profile off of the service road. The dishes are made to order which takes a little longer than some might be used to, but the food is legit. Worth the drive around a volcano to get there!

Great Thai food! Dropped in for the drunken noodles and hit the spot! Will return! Shoootz

Great food, their website says to order ahead and highly recommended doing so. Everything's made fresh so ordering ahead will save time. Kids loved the mango smoothies and Thai iced teas.

Our hometown Thai restaurant serves up fresh, delicious dishes consistently! Great backyard produce for sale and not to mention desserts! Guava cheesecake was amazing. Amazing service and all the aforementioned is why we keep going back!

Incredible tasting and FRESH Thai food made from scratch. Located right off 11, try not to miss it! (Not the best signage). The chicken satay and Pad See Ew are some of the best we've had. Great view of the valley and ocean too! It's take out only but don't worry, there's a covered outdoor seating area with a fence that protects you from the wind really well (which can be pretty darn strong). HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

I accidentally stumbled upon this Thai restaurant on the way from Kailua Kona to Punalu'u Black Sand Beach- and thankfully so, because I was genuinely impressed. I happen to live in a huge metropolitan area with thousands of Thai restaurants... and this on just beat all of them! Nice flavors, authentic, satisfying! The Thai chef cooks everything from scratch. She clearly has a lot of talent, but also a warm personality, my family loved her. So nice and approachable. In addition to the Thai cuisine, the business sell high quality fresh local produce that looked incredible... Also, many of the Thai ingredients were grown right there by the chef herself. No wonder everything tasted so great! I also wanted to mention the tasteful wood print art on the wall. As an art professional, I wasn't expecting the artwork to be that good!

Such great food and a very friendly family. I honestly think this is the best Thai I've found on the island. They make everything fresh so order ahead it is well worth it.

What a fabulous find on our travels to Kona from The Volcanoes area. Seriously, the best Thai meal we have ever had! The Chicken soup was extraordinary with garden fresh spices as was the Pad Thai with pork. Seating is outside with a view of the coastline and a lovely garden. Very quiet and very kind family that own the property. 100% recommendation!!!

Excellent Thai food! My husband and I enjoyed the Drunken Noodles and Spring Rolls while looking out on the water. Fresh, delightfully spicy and delicious with lots of fresh vegetables in it. The service was friendly as well. If you are in the area, this is the place to go!

Food was pretty good. Too loud inside for me but I am old! :)

Awesome, fresh, homemade-to-order Thai! Driving back from Black Sand Beach, we scoped out Ka-Lae Garden & decided to make a stop. Best Papaya Salad I've ever had.....ever! Tender slivers of fresh papaya & a ton of jalapenos in a delightful soy-based sauce. They even actually ask on the menu to specify either fish sauce or soy sauce so no threat of meaty misunderstanding .....AWESOME! Stir Fry Pumpkin - nice mild spice & lots of squash chunks - they didn't skimp on the pumpkin Green Curry - lots of different veggies like broccoli & pumpkin in a spicier sauce. This rocked & the Mr even went so far as to drink the leftover sauce he didn't want to leave any drop behind Paired it all up w/ their sticky rice - b/c anytime you want to offer sticky rice, I'm going to take it & let's just say this was the perfect pairing to soak up all those delish sauces The place was totally packed - albeit there are only a few tables & everything is made to order so it takes some time but believe me when I say it's well worth the wait! If you're looking for a refreshing & delish Thai experience, this is place to be!

The green curry tasted like coconut with barely a sign of curry. The pad kee mao was very sweet. The pad siu was decent. Over all very sweet. Most of the veggies are fresh. But the curry really did not do it for me. The Tom yum soup was absolutely amazing though.

Super nice and authentic Thai Food. Friendly staff and tasty food. Definitely worth a stopover on Big Island's South Coast.