Maunakea Marketplace
1120 Maunakea St, Chinatown
I surveyed all of the Vietnamese places at Maunakea Marketplace today before selecting Malee's. I was in the mood for pho, but ended up ordering Thai food, because that's what everyone sitting near Malee's was eating. One man, after finishing his meal, even came up to the chef and said 'Better than Bangkok!'
Malee's offers a wide range of Thai & Vietnamese foods: curries, pad thai, cold noodles, larb, spicy thai basil with pork, spring/summer rolls, and pho. I ordered tom yam goong ($6.50 for chicken, $7 for seafood) which comes with a side of rice. The rice was very nice, a sticky jasmine grain. They also sell rice balls (curry, basil and coconut milk) which I want to try next time.
Tom yum goong soup pic:
The tom yam goong was very nice, full of mushrooms, onions, pepers, and chicken. A few tomato slices, which I thought was a little strange, but a nice touch. The broth (the most important part of the soup!) was good, although a little oily. Nicely spicy. I want to go back to Malee's to try the chicken/basil, summer rolls, and the riceball...
malee's is one of the cheapest, but one with the most quality thai food i have ever tried in hawaii. even the high end restaurants cannot beat malee's flavor. i base my quality on pad thai and panang curries of thai restaurants. both of which you can taste the love. malee's is definately a treasure in the scums of downtown. it is worth the venture.
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