Smiley's Thai Kitchen (trading as Smiley's authentic Thai food & Takeaways) is a Thai restaurant and takeaway at 232 Palmerston Street in Westport, describing itself as bringing "a taste of home by Thai Chef." The kitchen offers a takeaway menu alongside separate dine-in and fish & chip menus, giving customers a choice between a full Thai meal or a more familiar option on the same visit.
The takeaway menu opens with a range of appetizers served in portions of five pieces, including prawns wrapped in spring roll pastry, grilled chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce, crispy Thai dumplings known as money bags, vegetable spring rolls, and traditional Thai fish cakes. From there the menu moves through noodles, fried rice, Thai curry and soup, stir-fried dishes, and laab, each offered with a choice of chicken, prawn, or pork (laab comes as chicken or pork), most served with steamed rice. A gluten-free option is available on request across the range.
Smiley's is open Wednesday to Sunday from 11:30am to 8:30pm, and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays year-round, including through winter.
On Palmerston Street in Westport, Smiley's Thai Kitchen brings what it calls "a taste of home by Thai Chef" to the West Coast, serving a full takeaway menu alongside separate dine-in and fish & chip options. For a small town, it is a rare chance to get proper Thai cooking without a long drive, and the menu is built to give diners plenty of choice while keeping the format simple and approachable.
The takeaway menu opens with a solid line-up of appetizers, all served in portions of five pieces. Prawn in Blanket sees marinated prawns wrapped in spring roll pastry and deep fried, served with sweet chilli sauce. Chicken Satay is grilled marinated chicken skewers paired with a creamy peanut sauce, a familiar starting point for anyone new to the menu. Money Bags are crispy Thai dumplings filled with chicken and vegetables, also served with sweet chilli sauce, while Spring Rolls stick to a vegetable filling in a golden, crispy wrapper. Thai Fish Cakes round out the appetizer list, made with herbs and spices in the traditional style and again served with sweet chilli sauce.
From there, the menu moves into heartier mains: noodles, fried rice, Thai curry and soup, stir-fried dishes, and laab. Each of these comes with a choice of protein — chicken, prawn, or pork for most dishes, with laab offered as chicken or pork — and the curry, soup and stir-fried dishes are served with steamed rice. It's a menu structure that rewards regulars who know what protein and style they're after, while still giving newcomers an easy way to build a meal around the appetizers.
A gluten-free option is available on request across the takeaway range, which is a useful detail for anyone catering to a mixed group or dietary need without wanting to skip Thai food altogether. Between the takeaway menu, the separate dine-in menu, and a fish & chip menu, Smiley's covers a wide spread of tastes under one roof — useful for families or groups where not everyone wants the same style of meal.
Smiley's keeps a clear, consistent schedule: open Wednesday through Sunday from 11:30am to 8:30pm, and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, including through the winter months. That steady rhythm makes it easy to plan a visit or a takeaway order around the working week, without guessing whether the doors will be open.
For a coastal town the size of Westport, having a dedicated Thai kitchen with this much range — from prawn and chicken appetizers through to curries, stir-fries and laab — gives locals and visitors a genuine alternative on the dinner rotation, backed by a name, Smiley's, that promises exactly the kind of home-style welcome its tagline suggests.