Sarah and Amanda both submitted posts on this new Thai restaurant — since they both loved it, we are sharing both their experiences with you!
CONTRIBUTED BY AMANDA NEMETH AND SARAH PHILLIPS
We take a back route to our vets and one day we noticed a new restaurant had just popped up. After looking closer it was a Thai restaurant which is one of our favorite types of cuisine. For those unfamiliar with Thai food it has five specific tastes: spicy, sweet, sour, tart/bitter, or salty, all depending on the meal. Often times you can pick out different flavors and its like a guessing game of freshness if your into herbs and flavors.
After speaking to the owners we found out that Aridoi means delicious in English….and the food speaks for itself.The outside is very warm with glossy orange accents. As you walk in the setting is very simple but with extravagant artwork. Come to find out all of the artwork was painted by one of the employees, which are quite intricate. When looking around you will notice hints of Thai in the decor and of course the smell of “Aridoi”-ness.
The dinner menu contained a pretty extensive selection but of course with the customary favorites. To name a few they had, Som-Tam, Yam-Wun-Sen, Ken-Pet, Pad-Kimao, Lab-Gai, Pad-See-Ew, and Pad-Thai. Each meal is served with rice and soup and is offered at your specific level of heat. The menu somewhat breaks down what each item is but also adds photos for those who need a visual push to go for it. If you go durning lunch your order comes with rice, soup and water or tea.
Amanda’s Order:
Our order started off with 3 beers, 3 sodas, and Lab-Gai. We all like everything spicy so we got what we asked for…..it was very spicy. That specific dish is chopped up to very small ingredients and is a salad……two words of description are Spicy Freshness. We also decided on 2 orders of Ken-Pet, which is a red curry chicken dish. With each meal we received a bowl of soup which was simple but a delicious broth. They will follow instructions of spicy so if you like it hot, expect it.
The last dish was Pad-Thai, its Pad-Thai with shrimp but we asked for chicken and they switched it for us. For some reason it wasn’t to our liking, but when we went they had just opened and were working out the quirks. We have hopes to go again and give their Pad Thai another try, hopefully it will taste more traditional. Our total bill was around 5,000 yen.
Overall they have a great selection and it’s nice to see dishes we have never heard of. The staff was very friendly and the food is a definite repeat in our book. After reviewing their website you’ll notice the chef is from Thailand so you know they brought their talent with them.For those of you with children, they do have “baby chairs” as they put it.
And Sarah’s:
I ordered the Pad Thai and my husband ordered the Pad See Ew. We both received soup with our lunch which was mostly a broth with some chives and garlic; simple yet good. Our food arrived shortly after we finished our soup and the portion sizes were generous. The Pad See Ew was very close to what we are used to eating at our favorite Thai place back in America. The Pad Thai didn’t have the same taste but it was good as well. We both had leftovers to take home.
Hours: Monday-Saturday Lunch ONLY; open 11:00-15:00; last serve at 14:30
Phone: 098-933-3327
Price: For lunch they have four options that you can choose from with soup and a drink for 850 yen but you can choose from the dinner menu for 950 yen.
Payment: Yen or Dollars
Address: 19-1 Takahara 4-Chōme, Okinawa City
Google Maps Coordinates: 26.3245301, 127.81990559999997
Directions: From Kadena gate 2, head straight out on 20 for about 3.5 km’s. You’ll pass 330 and continue to follow the road by going down a big hill, at the bottom will be 329, turn right at that light. You will go about 0.6 km’s and pass a Family Mart and Lawson’s on your left, soon after you will come to a light on a street which is 22 by Lucky Pachinko. Turn right at the light, at the next actual street you will come to Aridoi on the corner on your left side.
From Foster Legion Gate, head straight out on 81 for about 3.4 km’s. You’ll pass 330 and continue to follow the road, by going down a big hill, at the bottom will be 329, turn left at that light. You will go about 2.3 km’s and pass OK on your right, then a little ways more McDonald’s next. Soon after at you will come to a light on a street which is 22 by Lucky Pachinko. Turn left at the light, at the next actual street you will come to Aridoi on the corner on your left side.A map also is on their website but it is in japanese.
Parking: There are about 4 parking spots directly in front of their restaurant and 3 on the side.
Website: https://www.aridoi.net
For menus and maps click below:
Aridoi had changed their hours. New hours as of now are Lunch ONLY- open 11:00-15:00 last serve at 14:30 Monday-Saturday! They have awesome Thia food you should totally make the trip! Tea, coffee and water free- you serve yourself! Pick your heat level. The owners are awesome.. Check out their Facebook page at Aridoi!
Thanks, Shannon! I’ve updated the post to reflect the current hours.
Here is a more accurate address.
19-1, Takahara 4-Chōme, Okinawa, Okinawa, Japan 904-2171
Very good food!
Thanks for the updated address, Kylene. I’ve added it to the post as well as updated the map & coordinates.
This restaurant doesn’t open at 1700; it opens at 1800. This needs to be corrected. 🙂
Thanks for letting us know Krysta! I’ve just updated the post with the correct opening time. -Marie
This is the best Thai food I have had! The ingredients were fresh and they put their own twist on the dishes. I love Thai and this exceeded my expectation! I got the green curry spice level 3 and it was VERY spicy. Typically I get a 2-4 range on spice and enjoy it but if you haven’t has their spicy stuff yet I would start low and work you way up to the spicer levels.
Great food and they will also do take-out. Pad Thai is delicious and generous portions. Make sure to note their opening and closing days and times to prevent disappointment (been there).
1) the website is http://www.aridoi.net
2) the title of this okinawahai article should be ‘Aridoi’ vice “Airdoi’
We do enjoy this place.
Thanks Bill! I have made the correction.
So many ppl are saying this place is great. It is of medium quality at best. For those ppl who know what quality Thai food is you will not like this place. There is only one great Thai food place and it is at the south end of the island.
UPDATE: They do not take dollars or credit cards, only YEN.
Amazing food ! ! !
Oh, also they do NOT open at 1700, they open at 1800.
Did I say amazing food ? ! ? !
They DO take dollars.
By the way, this restaurant is closed on Sundays as well. We drove all the way out to find it closed 🙁 we ended up at jai Thai and I was really disappointed.
Thanks Katelyn, I’ve updated the post to reflect this updated information.
Look like their website is down?
“This domain is parked, pending renewal, or has expired.”
This place was outstanding. We went as a family and they gave me a small set to feed my son with, and also made my dish special per my request to include/exclude certain ingredients. It was sooo very delicious, I’ll definitely be going back! P.S.-they accept US currency 😀
Went there last week but sign on the door stated they were closed until May 1st. Will go back then. I miss Thai food.
This place is amazing!!! Btw, not closed on wednesdays! If u dont love it, dont go and take up space for us people who do! Yummmm!!!
It was great until I found a long black hair in my Pad See Ew – mine is blonde!
My husband and I went there last night. He got Pad See Ew add Thai spicy and I got Panang in Thai spicy. They both were really good and spicy like we want. We went to Jai Thai before and I asked for the most spicy, but it came out really mind in my opinion.
They gave big amount in one set also. I only finished half of the curry and had to ask for to-go box. I had again today for lunch. It’s still awesome.
I’m Thai and I want to say that the food’s so authentic. Only 950 yens for one set dinner.
Recommend paying in yen.
My husband, myself and my 14 month old baby boy ate here last night. It was my 1st time and his 2nd. He ordered his Shrimp Pad Thai, Kao Pad Gai for our son and I couldn’t make up my mind so I ended up ordering two meals- Tom Yam Kun and Pad Kimao. Needless to say, I ate both meals without a single morsel of rice left on my plate. It was that amazing and delicious!!! I cannot wait to go back and try the other dishes 😉
We took our family there to eat. My husband and I got the Tom-Yam-Kun, our girls got the Pad-Thai. It was wonderful! The Tom-yam was fantastic, we both had ours extra spicy an was it ever! I tried the girls pad-thai an it was also great. Its one place I am truly going to miss once leaving this island.
One of the most authentic Thai places on the island! Not sure why the authors said the pad thai was not on, but it was awesomely close to eating in Thailand! My wife and I are both Thai and Aridoi holds nothing back and creates every dish authentic. HIGHLY recommended if you crave authentic Thai food. The spice is perfectly added so you can actually taste the food immediately and the spice creeps up on you gently. As with most Thai food, you can ask to lessen or add more peppers.
One thing I can say is that Americans doesn’t know the authentic taste of any asian cuisine. To them pizza and burger is everything. Imagine eating a larger size pizza with a diet coke!?
FN: Give me a break. Americans don’t eat pizza and burgers all the time. There are many different Asian countries, and I’m sure Japanese people aren’t experts on Chinese cuisine, etc.
Just went there this afternoon
Had the beef salad (great), pad see ew (meh) and some curry dish (yummy). Got our food relatively quickly, kid friendly.
Table next to us ordered the same curry dish but took 3-4 times as long as ours did. Looks like it’s hit or miss
I’d go there again
My husband and I ate here for lunch today and it was great! We are so happy to have a good Thai place within walking distance from our house!