Street Side Thai Eatery is a Thai restaurant on 18 Central Avenue in Prebbleton, serving the Halswell side of Christchurch with a menu built on Thai street-food classics. The kitchen covers the full sweep of a Thai eatery menu: appetisers like roti with satay sauce and curry puffs, a deep soup list running from tom yum and tom kha to laksa and duck noodle soup, classic red, green, Panang and massaman curries, wok-fried noodles including pad thai and phad siew, and one of the longer stir-fry and rice sections in the area.
Almost every stir-fry — cashew nut, garlic pepper, oyster sauce, pad ga paow, ginger, chilli, black pepper, satay sauce and more — comes with a choice of meat, while house plates like roasted duck on rice, laab duck, crispy pork and BBQ pork, sweet chilli fried fish and ginger-rice chicken round things out. A dedicated vegetarian section offers tofu versions of vegetables, yellow noodles and noodle soup.
Beyond the food, the eatery pours Thai iced milk, lemon and green tea and Thai iced coffee, seven non-alcoholic mocktails, soft drinks and organic juices, with a house-made tiramisu for dessert. Dinner is served 4:30–9:00 pm daily, with lunch 11:30 am–3:00 pm Wednesday to Sunday. Table bookings and online pickup orders are both available, and gift vouchers can be purchased in a range of values.
Street Side Thai Eatery brings the flavours of Thai street cooking to 18 Central Avenue in Prebbleton, on the southern edge of Christchurch near Halswell. The menu is long and unapologetically classic: fragrant soups, coconut curries, wok-tossed noodles and generous rice plates, built around the dishes people already know and come back for. Rather than chasing trends, the kitchen leans on street-food staples done the familiar way — pad thai, tom yum, laksa, massaman — alongside a wide choice of meat-and-veg stir-fries. It is a setup that works just as well for a quick lunch as for a booked dinner.
The soup section is one of the deepest parts of the menu. Tom yum leads it — an aromatic, traditional hot soup with mushroom, tomato and herbs, served with rice — joined by tom kha, a coconut milk and lemongrass soup, and a Thai laksa that combines seafood, bean sprouts, beans and cabbage in a spicy coconut broth. Alongside them sit six noodle soups: a dark braised-beef broth, roasted duck, fried or steamed chicken, chicken wontons with BBQ pork, and a peanut-based satay noodle soup.
Curries stay just as classic, with red, green, Panang and massaman all listed. Vegetables such as broccoli, beans, capsicum and bamboo shoots run through them, and the massaman pairs potatoes and grilled chicken with onions.
The noodle list stretches from traditional pad thai — stir-fried with bean sprouts, leeks and cabbage — to phad siew, spicy fried noodles and yellow-noodle plates topped with fried or grilled chicken and a side of satay sauce. There is even a crispy fried-noodle option smothered in gravy sauce. For something extra, the special menu offers egg noodles tossed in the house-made sauce and topped with roasted duck, or the same noodles with wontons and BBQ pork.
The rice and stir-fry section is where the menu really spreads out, with around twenty dishes, most offering a choice of meat. Expect the staples — stir-fry cashew nuts, garlic pepper, oyster sauce, pad ga paow with basil, ginger, chilli, black pepper, satay sauce, sweet and sour — plus plates like roasted duck on rice with bok choy, laab duck with lemon sauce, a crispy pork and BBQ pork combo, sweet chilli fried fish, and fried rice in plain and spicy versions. Ginger-rice plates come with fried or steamed chicken and sweet chilli sauce on the side.
Vegetarians get a dedicated section too: tofu with vegetables, fried yellow noodles with tofu and a tofu noodle soup, all built on the same mix of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms and bean sprouts.
Begin with roti and satay sauce, spring rolls, satay chicken kebabs, fried wontons, curry puffs, stuffed mushrooms or deep fried chicken. For dessert there is one house-made option — a tiramisu. The drinks list covers Thai iced milk, lemon and green tea plus Thai iced coffee, seven non-alcoholic mocktails (green apple, strawberry, pineapple, lychee, watermelon, mango and raspberry), soft drinks and a small organic range.
Hours run on a split service: dinner is served 4:30–9:00 pm every day, and lunch runs 11:30 am–3:00 pm from Wednesday to Sunday. Monday and Tuesday are dinner-only, and on split days there is a break between 3:00 and 4:30 pm. You can book a table or order online for pickup, and gift vouchers in a range of values are available if you are buying for someone else. Questions before a visit? Call the team on +64 3 344 0159.
Whether it is a laksa on a cold evening, a quick noodle soup at lunch or a table spread of curries, stir-fries and iced teas, Street Side Thai Eatery keeps it simple: the classics, done street-side, close to home in south-west Christchurch.