Yathai (Ya Thai) is a Thai restaurant in the heart of Wainuiomata, serving fresh curries, stir-fries and noodle dishes for dine-in and online pickup orders. It's the latest venture from the team behind Thai Tara in Johnsonville and Som Tum Thai on Cuba Street, two established Wellington Thai restaurants.
The story goes back to 2015, when Thanya and her husband opened Thai Tara, their first Thai restaurant in New Zealand. Originally from Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand, Thanya brought more than a decade of experience in Thai kitchens with her, along with a dream to share the true taste of home. She has since trained every chef who has come through her restaurants' doors, shaping how Thai food is cooked across several of her Wellington venues.
At Yathai, that experience carries through to dishes like Pad Thai, Green Curry, Tom Yum Fried Rice and Pad Kee Mao, alongside appetisers such as roti with satay sauce, spring rolls and curry puffs. Everything is made fresh, and the restaurant offers online ordering for pickup, with orders confirmed manually and customers able to track when their food is ready in real time.
In the heart of Wainuiomata, Yathai is bringing proper Thai kai to a part of Wellington that hadn't had a dedicated Thai restaurant of its own. The menu is built around fresh ingredients and bold flavours: spicy curries, tasty stir-fries, noodles done right, and the classics regulars already know and love.
Yathai isn't a standalone newcomer — it's the latest venture from the team behind Thai Tara in Johnsonville and Som Tum Thai on Cuba Street, two Thai restaurants already well known around Wellington. The story starts back in 2015, when Thanya and her husband opened Thai Tara, their first Thai restaurant in New Zealand. Thanya is originally from Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand, and arrived with more than a decade of experience in Thai kitchens and a clear goal: to share the true taste of home with her new community.
Since then, she has trained every chef who has come through her restaurants, shaping the way Thai food is cooked across her Wellington venues with her own style and, as the restaurant puts it, serious passion. Yathai is the newest expression of that same approach, now serving Wainuiomata.
Expect the dishes people already look for at a good Thai restaurant: Pad Thai, Green Curry, Tom Yum Fried Rice, and, for those after something a bit different, Pad Kee Mao. To start, the appetiser menu includes pan grilled roti served with satay peanut sauce, crispy spring rolls filled with chopped vegetables and glass noodles, and curry puffs filled with red kumara and curry spice — both served with sweet Thai chilli sauce.
Everything at Yathai is described as made fresh, with care and a whole lot of flavour, in the same spirit as the food back home. The restaurant leans on local produce and quality ingredients to back up that promise, rather than relying on shortcuts.
Yathai takes online orders for pickup, with every order manually confirmed by the restaurant and customers able to watch on-screen for real-time updates on when their food is ready. It's a straightforward way to sort dinner without waiting around, whether you're planning to eat in or grab it on the way home.
Yathai is located at 11 Queen Street, Wainuiomata. It's open Wednesday to Sunday, with lunch service from 11:30am to 2:30pm and dinner from 4:30pm to 9pm, and is closed Monday and Tuesday.