Royal Thai Restaurant is a neighbourhood dining room on Majoribanks Street, welcoming guests for a seated meal while continuing to offer takeaway. The kitchen frames Thai food around balance rather than heat alone, bringing aroma, sweetness, acidity, richness and chilli into the same spread. Its preferred way to eat is communal: several dishes arrive with rice at once, allowing each person to move between curries, salads and stir-fries instead of following a fixed sequence of courses.
A varied table can begin with fresh summer rolls or crisp stuffed chicken wings, then move into tom yum prawn soup for a sharper, aromatic contrast. Thai beef salad uses chilli and lime dressing, while the glass-noodle salad offers another bright route into the meal. These dishes establish the kitchen's recurring rhythm of fresh herbs, citrus, spice and crisp vegetables, making the starters and salads useful counterpoints to the coconut-rich curries and deeply savoury meat dishes that follow.
The curry section covers several recognisable Thai traditions. Green curry supplies the fragrant coconut-based option, yellow chicken curry adds potatoes, and braised beef massaman brings a slower-cooked, spice-led character. Wok dishes range just as widely: lightly salted lamb is sharpened with chilli, ginger, bamboo shoots and mint; pork is fried with holy basil, garlic and chilli; chicken comes with cashews and vegetables; and beef is cooked in oyster sauce for a milder, glossy finish.
Pad Thai provides the familiar noodle anchor, but the menu does not rely on it alone. Wok-seared seafood and vegetables, sweet-and-sour preparations, salads and a dedicated vegetarian section make it possible to build a shared meal with different levels of spice and richness. Complimentary jasmine rice with many mains reinforces the restaurant's communal approach. The result is a broad dinner format that works equally well for a quick favourite or for a table exploring several contrasting dishes together.
Address: 25–27 Majoribanks Street, Mount Victoria, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
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