In a quest to please my spice-craving taste buds, I wandered into Mema Thai & Chinese Cuisine located along Kuhio Highway in Kapa‘a. Quickly scanning a menu outside the door, I saw the restaurant offered an extensive menu of dishes,
In a quest to please my spice-craving taste buds, I wandered into Mema Thai & Chinese Cuisine located along Kuhio Highway in Kapa‘a. Quickly scanning a menu outside the door, I saw the restaurant offered an extensive menu of dishes, including five different curries and a whopping 19 entrees.
Inside, the ambience is casual. It seems takeout is a popular option at this Eastside restaurant, because a fair number of people wandered in and out waiting for their to-go orders. For those who choose to dine in the restaurant, guests are invited to seat themselves. The restaurant’s decor was traditional — wood carvings and Thai sculptures filled the large dining room while classical Thai music played softly in the background.
Scanning over the menu, I quickly put in my order for a Thai Ice Tea. The orange beverage was very strong, very sweet and very good. The drink is a mixture of black tea, spices and condensed milk, which provides a sweet taste, and is served over ice.
Next up was an order of chicken sa-teh with peanut sauce. The appetizer consisted of four skewers of chicken, a small bowl of peanut sauce for dipping and a side of cucumber relish.
The skewers were threaded with plump chicken breasts and mildly seasoned. The peanut sauce was thicker then I’m accustomed to, but still maintained a strong peanut-buttery taste. The cucumber relish was sweet — a mixture of vinegar and sugar — and was a perfect way to cleanse the palette after each bite of chicken.
I then moved on to the main course.
At the recommendation of my server, I ordered Pad Thai with shrimp. This dish was a mixture of stir-fried rice noodles, shrimp, eggs, chives and bean sprouts, garnished with crushed peanuts and slices of lemon. These tangy-sweet noodles had a bit of a kick to them, and the large portions yielded plenty of leftovers for my next day’s lunch.
I also sampled Mema’s Curry — a dish of kaffir lime leaves, ground lemon grass, garlic, coconut milk, potatoes and seasoning.
Each dish at Memas can be made with tofu, vegetable, shrimp, fish, chicken, pork, beef or a combination. For the curry dish, I chose chicken and requested it hot.
The curry sauce was creamy yet savory, and the coconut milk offered a hint of sweetness. As a whole, the dish offered an abundance of flavors. Compared to other curries I’ve tried, this dish is a standout.
Mema Thai & Chinese Cuisine is located at 4-369 Kuhio Highway in Kapa’a. It serves lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. The restaurant is open 5 to 9 p.m. daily for dinner.
For more information, call 823-0899.
