Marked with the use of aromatics and spicy flavors, Thai food is a must have if you’re looking to expand your culinary taste buds.
We prepared a list of some of the best Thai restaurants in Cork, perfect for those seeking to explore a daring and delectable cuisine.
How much does Thai food cost?
Thai dishes commonly use a lot of aromatics and vegetables, examples of which include spring rolls and curries. Because of this, ingredient sourcing is what primarily affects the price of the dishes.
On top of this cost, an authentic Thai cuisine experience would entail either hiring professional Thai chefs or training their current staff.
Below is a table of estimated prices of Thai food.
Top Thai Restaurants in Cork
We assessed the restaurants based on the following criteria:
1. Koto
| Prices | ★★★☆☆(3/5) |
| Menu range | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Main dishes | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Appetizers and drinks | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Atmosphere | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Customer feedback | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Service | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Satisfaction | ★★★★★(5/5) |
Koto Asian Kitchen and Bar first opened its doors in 2017. They are focused on providing restaurant goers with vibrant asian meals through the use of fresh and local ingredients.
What’s nice about Koto Asian Kitchen and Bar is that customers have a good amount of options for where and how to get their food. Aside from dining in and taking out, they can also choose to order online and collect their food at the branch.
Koto Asian Kitchen and Bar is also partnered with the Deliveroo app, for a more convenient alternative.
We also like that their restaurant space is quite substantial. It is laid out over two floors and even includes a heated outdoor terrace, making it a good dining option during cold evenings.
As for their menu, they have an excellent selection of Thai food to choose from. This includes panko prawns with sweet chili mayo and Kei Mao, which is Thai drunken noodles that have Thai green peppercorns and mixed vegetables.
What we especially like however, is that they have an excellent list of options as well for vegan and gluten free foods. Their chefs make all of their food and sauces in-house making them very flexible to any request or dietary needs customers may have.
If you would like to purchase one of their vouchers, we do advise looking over their list of rules on the site. Voucher requests need to be sent through their mailbox and they will only be issued the next morning through their till.
Additionally, we would also like to point out that online reservations have a limit of a party of 12. We advise calling them ahead should your group exceed this number.
Pros
- Open daily
- Able to order their food through the Deliveroo app
- Excellent restaurant space
- Staff are flexible to adjusting their sauces and food
Cons
- Pricier options
- Need to contact restaurant for reservations for parties larger than 12
Customer Reviews
Incredible Food
Just loved the whole experience! Food is delicious we had the pad Thai , duck red curry and chicken wings. Each one of them was incredible. The waitress was lovely and helpful! – Christelle Moussaed
Great Food, Accommodating Staff
The foods are so great that made me comeback almost every week to experience the good food again and again. The staffs are very accommodating. The restaurant have the high quality service for the costumers. -Kennedy Jacob
2. Golden Elephant
| Prices | ★★★★☆(4/5) |
| Menu range | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Main dishes | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Appetizers and drinks | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Atmosphere | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Customer feedback | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Service | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Satisfaction | ★★★★★(5/5) |
Dubbed by many as having some of the most authentic and delicious Thai food in the area, Golden Elephant is a must try if you’re looking for amazing dishes.
We really appreciate that this restaurant gives emphasis on a genuine Thai experience as their food is prepared by Thai chefs. Restaurant goers can be assured that although the ingredients are local, the preparation is overseen by knowledgeable staff.
Unlike most other restaurants, they have an app available where you can view and order their selection of dishes. Aside from this, they also respond very quickly to reservation and booking requests.
We would like to warn customers with large parties though, that their online table reservation feature has a limit of six persons maximum.
Nevertheless, their facilities are kept very clean and the staff are very friendly and polite. We like that no detail goes unnoticed, making a trip to their restaurant very worthwhile not only for the food, but also for the excellent atmosphere and customer service.
Their menu consists of many options including roasted duck with curry to traditional stir frys with spicy and sweet sauces. We think that customers will definitely be satisfied looking at the selection of flavors they have.
Pros
- Offers pick-up and food delivery
- Efficient coordination and processes for reservations
- Adapts stir fry to vegetables in season
Cons
- Table reservation only available for specific time periods
- Online table reservation is limited to 6 people
Customer Reviews
Have Never Disappointed
Golden Elephant is my favourite Thai restaurant in Ireland hands down. They do the best red curry duck and it’s our all time favourite. Both takeaway and dine in have never disappointed and I’ve ordered countless times. Sadly we are moving away and the food will be really, really missed. But we will be definitely back whenever we will visit Ireland again. -Kristine Maglane
Spot On Flavors
Having lived in Thailand and looking for good Thai flavors now that we live in Dublin has been a challenge. We came during midterm break for a little escape and this restaurant did not disappoint. The papaya salad was Thai spice level ( or super close at least) and the flavor was spot on. Not too much fish sauce which I hate when that happens and just well balanced in flavors. Pad Thai and Ginger chicken were also delish but papaya salad for those who can handle spicy. It’s better when it’s spicy. 🙂 -Jenny T
3. Kanok Thai Restaurant
| Prices | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Menu range | ★★★★☆(4/5) |
| Main dishes | ★★★★☆(4/5) |
| Appetizers and drinks | ★★★★☆(4/5) |
| Atmosphere | ★★★★☆(4/5) |
| Customer feedback | ★★★★☆(4/5) |
| Service | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Satisfaction | ★★★★★(5/5) |
Kanok Thai has quite an impressive selection of food and dish categories. What first caught our attention about their restaurant were the different types of food they offer.
We like that their appetizers and sides have a good variety of options in terms of meat and seafood. These include Thai fish cake, ribs in BBQ sauce, as well as a pork and crab roll.
We also like that in this category, their spring rolls have a vegetarian option available making it more flexible to customers with specific dietary needs.
Moreover, we find that among other Thai restaurants in the area, their menu of main courses, noodle dishes and rice dishes, to be very flexible. Customers can have their choice of meat when it comes to items such as pad thai and fried rice.
Now, do take note that this restaurant does not offer delivery for their food. So if you want to enjoy your menu, you’ll have to physically go there.
This isn’t a big deal though since this restaurant allows restaurant goers to customize their orders and try different flavor combinations. It entices us to make multiple visits to the restaurants, as each time we can try a distinct mixture we haven’t tried before.
We also recommend Kanok Thai as an excellent venue for families. They have experience with birthday parties, and offer a separate menu for kids.
Pros
- Wide selection of menu items
- Customers can choose different meat options to accompany different dishes
- Has a separate kids menu
Cons
- Does not offer delivery
- Closes earlier on certain days
Customer Reviews
Excellent Green Thai Curry, Friendly Staff
Absolutely love the green Thai curry here, so tasty and fresh and staff are really friendly. Always check the cheesecake flavour they have on the day as well, heard the Oreo one is meant to be worth ordering! -Sophie Shanahan
Great for Families
Staff are lovely & extremely helpful! Great for families with a nice childrens menu & great choice of food with vegans, gluten free etc catered for. I had the spring rolls & noodles from the children’s menu 😂. I asked for vegetables and soy sauce in my noodles and they happily added them in! (It didn’t come out this messy I had already eaten some of it 😂) Highly reccomend and will come back here again! -Caoimhe Doherty
4. Camile Thai
| Prices | ★★★★☆(4/5) |
| Menu range | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Main dishes | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Appetizers and drinks | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Atmosphere | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Customer feedback | ★★★★☆(4/5) |
| Service | ★★★★☆(4/5) |
| Satisfaction | ★★★☆☆(3/5) |
If you’re looking for a restaurant that has extensive nutritional information on their dishes, you may want to check out Camile Thai Bishoptown.
What’s nice about their restaurant is that they go beyond the food and business side. They also have several health initiatives to provide more nutritious food.
We greatly appreciate that they have extensive nutritional information available on their website for all of their dishes. They are even partnered with the diet and exercise application MyFitnessPal.
This allows customers to view these details alongside MyFitnessPal’s other resources like its exercise tracker. It’s an extra detail that will surely please anyone looking to pair their food with lifestyle tips.
Aside from this, we greatly appreciate that Camile Thai Bishoptown is engaged with sustainability schemes like using compostable packaging and reducing their total food wastes.
Their selection of Thai food has a good amount of fresh and vibrant dishes, making use of local ingredients and vegetables in season. Some customer favorites include the crispy chilli chicken as well as the ramen noodle soup.
If you are a vegan or vegetarian, you’ll like the amount of options they have here such as the vegan pad king stir fry and the fried tofu and kale slaw salad.
We also like that Camile Thai offers catering which is especially great for people looking for large orders of healthy dishes. Their process is quite hassle free, and they even allow a tasting before finalizing the food choices.
We would caution that some customers have had experiences with poor food quality in regards to takeaways. It might be best to order within the restaurant in this case.
If however, you are looking for healthy Thai dine-in dishes, we highly recommend Camile Thai Bishoptown for their wonderful selection.
Pros
- Offers catering
- Extensive nutritional information on their website
- Has sustainability and health initiatives
- Good amount of options for vegans and vegetarians
Cons
- Some customer complaints on takeaway food quality
- Slightly higher average prices
Customer Reviews
Catered to Our Vegetarian Needs
My partner and I always order from here and are never disappointed! We are both vegetarians and I feel like Camile caters to our needs by offering seperate vegetarian and vegan menus to the other meat alternatives 🙂 we like the food here so much that we even dined in the restaurant for Valentines day 🙂 the service that day was excellent too as the staff tweaked one starter course for us, by making it 100% vegetarian 🙂 10/10❤ -Aoife O’Callaghan
Surprisingly Wide Vegan Menu
First proper meal we had while visiting Ireland. Ordered off the surprisingly wide vegan menu and every single dish was a hit, with the pad thai, massaman and chu chee curries particular stand-outs (and the latter is proper spicy, too). Very prompt delivery as well. Thoroughly enjoyable! -Nils Smeuninx
5. Soba Asian Street Food
| Prices | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Menu range | ★★★★☆(4/5) |
| Main dishes | ★★★★☆(4/5) |
| Appetizers and drinks | ★★★☆☆(3/5) |
| Atmosphere | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Customer feedback | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Service | ★★★★★(5/5) |
| Satisfaction | ★★★★☆(4/5) |
If you’re looking for a combination of various Asian street foods that includes Thai specialties as well, then Soba Asian Street Food may be the way to go.
They make sure to source high quality local vegetables and Irish meats. On top of this, they avoid using MSG in their recipes, offering healthy yet tasty dishes.
What separates Soba Asian Street foods from other restaurants is that they have four branches around the Cork area.
This makes them very effective in covering a wide delivery area as well as providing customers with different options when one branch is full.
One thing to note however is that their different branches can have slightly different offerings and service hours. For example, their Carey’s Lane branch opens earlier and is also the only branch that offers bento aside from their Limerick stores.
Nevertheless, wereally like the menu offerings they have. Since they focus on general Asian cuisines, customers can try different dishes from different regions.
We like that in this case, customers can sample more varied flavor profiles. Some of their asian dishes include Red Tom Kha Gai as well as both Thai green and red curries.
On the other hand, their other Asian dishes include teriyaki stir fry, Singapore rice noodles and mee goreng.
We also really appreciate the excellent customer service that they have. Many customers we’ve spoken to have described their staff as friendly and nice, making a trip to one of their stores even more pleasant.
Pros
- Multiple branches around Cork
- Good food for a great price
- Offers a wider menu including other Asian dishes
- Great customer service
Cons
- Different operating hours and delivery times for different branches
- Bento boxes only available at their Carey’s lane/Limerick stores
Customer Reviews
Always Been Satisfied
They have this incredible offer for €6.9 which is great. I’ve been several times and I’ve been always satisfied. I can recommend the Gyoza too. -Carles Mateo
One of the Nicest Places for Food
It is one of the nicest places for food and healthy too I love it 3rd time in a wk have no pictures but IL find one -Dave O’Donoghue
FAQs about Thai Restaurants
We hope this list helped you explore your options when it comes to Thai restaurants here in the Cork area. You won’t regret diving into their wonderful cuisine!