Review Arani Thai Restaurant - Geelong

Despite an unassuming exterior, the room is nested in a rouge glow which perfectly matches the delightfully spiced red curry I ate at Arani Thai last night. Friendly staff and inexpensive. The pineapple rice had too little pineapple and too much onion (imo)

The food is always great when you dine in but our takeaway experience has been very poor. Ordered a Hokkien noodle dish and was sent something with hardly any noodles and all soggy. Really disappointed.

I gave order , but when I got and open at hotel very different. Food very salty and oily also. I ate many places Thai food (because I love it ) I ever never eat like this bad food. My order and they are gave to me this food.

As a Vegan I find it hard to go somewhere with more than 1 option, Arani has a whole vegan menu when asked with plenty of options. The food was amazing and well priced. Staff were also really warm and friendly and kept making sure everything was perfect. Highly recommend trying this place out!

I called up this arvo expecting we probably wouldn’t get a table but they managed to squeeze in my partner and I on a busy night for a quick meal, we got there at 6:20 and had our food and left by 7:00. We were very impressed, the food was great and the service was good, prices were very fair too!

The wait for takeaway on 2 occasions was 3 hours. Both times I asked if I could have some fish sauce with chilli as an accompaniment but was told 'we don't have fish sauce" How do you manage to cook Thai food without the staple of fish sauce???? It was a vey obvious lie.

Ordering from Arani is extremely frustrating. They tell you it'll be ready in 30 minutes when it's really 45 minutes. I made an order tonight to be picked up at 8:30pm. I show up at 8:30pm and they haven't even started making my food yet. Your food is very good but I won't be coming back again due to the lack of service.

My order is confirmed. Then I get there and waited for 30mins. Later my order canceled, because no fish. Maybe next time before you confirm customers’ order make sure the kitchen got everything. Not wasting customers’ time.

Food has always been amazing from here but the service and wait time will make me not return. After finding out delivery was going to take 2 hours I tried to change it to pick up which resulted in them hanging up on me twice and asking for my order four times as they could not locate it. When they finally located it I was told it would be 30-40 minutes. 40 minutes later they called me and told me they had no fish and I would have to change one of my dishes. I was outside ready to pick it up so not only did I have to change dishes I had another 20 minute wait. When that 20 minutes finally passed they once again could not locate my order for another 5 minutes before handing me a card and telling me to go to a completely different Thai restaurant in Geelong. After expressing my disappointment I headed to the other Thai restaurant to pick up the order. Once again it took them over 5 minutes to locate it. I questioned the wait time and also if I would be receiving a refund for the fish dish they could not supply me. After speaking to three different people they could not resolve this and I was told I would not be able to receive one. This whole experience was very disappointing from a restaurant that I go to quite often. I won't be returning after the poor service and run around I received.

Amazing! Have been a coming for years, both as Geelong resident, and now that we're move away we still make an effort to come when we can. Flavours are spot on, portions are great, I don't know how many times we've been, 20 plus by now, never had a bad meal, last night's staff were great, prompt food service, really enjoyable. Thank you!

Love arani thai.. 100% best thai in geelong.. definitely will be back.

Not only best Thai but best and our fav restaurant we've ever been to... Food here is Delicous and Authentic genuine Thai... Can't praise this place enough...the decor and ambience is awesome and the staff are excellent

Thank you kitchen staff for working tirelessly in this heat to provide us with such quality food every time, and consistency is your key. Will definitely be back again "as usual". Mel

Best Thai in Geelong, no question! Pad thai and stir fried vegetables with cashews & chicken are completely delicious. Huge serves and full of flavour.

Amazing experience!! Inviting, warm and friendly, food serving was very generous and super fresh! We are regulars and Arani will continue to be our top choice of places to eat! ����

Very poor service, was sitting at the corner and no one comes, have to keep walking to ask them to come for order and etc...rude waiter. Food is ordinary, doesnt worth a second trip. Dont order the banquet, dont allow to take away if you order banquet.

Ordered Tuesday 9/5 at 6.07pm and our food wasn't delivered until 7.49pm. Crap service, no apology, the lamb and chicken were chewy and tough and not nice at all. 1st time customer and definitely the last time. Coconut rice was yum though.

The best Thai in Geelong!! Never disappoints!! Always a pleaser dinning in or takeaway !!

fantastic night with fantastic friends and brilliant food. The curry puffs, pad satay, spring rolls, and that satay dipping sauce is awesome!

Very delicious � I'm regularly there for lunch. Always fresh food and the restaurant is cosy �

The food was excellent but the drinks were poor the soft drinks were ice cold but the water wasn't

Just amazing!! I can't recommend arani highly enough!

First time eating here and it was fantastic. Great service, delicious food , large serving, very much a lovely evening enjoyed by a party of 4 . Will return for sure .

Omg the best Thai I've had since coming back from Thailand. Amazing delicious an reasonably priced food. My new home!

Amazing fresh thai food. They have a large amount of vegan and vegetarian options. I had the green curry with jasmine rice and was blown away by the quality. So fresh, fragrant and the perfect amount of spice. Definitely a must if you're looking for delicious fresh curry in Geelong.

This place used to be vibrant, always busy and yet they could get your food out reasonably quickly. Tonight not so busy, very noisy and we had to chase our meals. Four dishes mostly noodle ordered to come out together 35minutes from the first to the last (and had to chase the last). Meanwhile watched dishes similar to our head out to four other tables. Serving sizes appear to have been significantly reduced and the flavour is less vibrant. Very disappointed tonight. Probably won’t be back.

Yum love this place. Had really good green curry and the best coconut rice I’ve ever had. Good food and service and I will return next time I’m in Geelong.

Ordered my curry mild (jungle curry) and stressed that we couldn’t take spicy food and waitress reassured us that all curry dishes are prepared as mild unless extra spicy is requested. However I could hardly taste anything due to the extreme amount of chili, very disappointing this curry, didn't enjoy it at all and ended up having to throw most of it out. And we were offered with plain rice which we thought was complimentary but were charged for $3. Other than that, other dishes were delicious especially golden triangles.

Their lunch deal is a pretty good bang for your bucks. The taste is okay~ish but the portion is pretty good, for their pad thai at least. Their pad thai is a just on the border of being too sweet for my taste but I still like it. The Thai fish cake taste .. a bit unusual, a bit bland and more chewy than usual. The roti is pretty good, but the peanut sauce is again unusual, taste like peanut butter instead of actual peanut. Well as long as they keep the lunch deal on, this place is still good.

I tried this place out yesterday as I recently started working in the Geelong CBD. What I was presented with was a flavoursome and fragrant Thai green curry and rice at lunch special prices ($10). It was hard to fault, definitely ranked high up my list and very comparable to top Thai restaurants in Melbourne.

Really generous take away serves. We had Pad Thai, Sweet/sour Pork & veg and Yum-Beef. Would definitely recommend if your looking for delicious Thai in the Geelong area.

New to Geelong and came here for lunch. Was amazed by their cheap prices that included curries and rice. Ordered a red curry and Penang and were pleasantly surprised. They were fast, friendly, and served great food.

Tasty, friendly and fast service. We are regulars here for a reason! Best Thai in Geelong without a doubt!!!! And the deliver 👌🏼 The banquet is always a good idea!

Can't fault the $10 lunch special; very generous portions, plenty of options and consistently decent thai food. Service is quick, the small unpretentious restaurant is always clean and serves its job diligently.

When first arriving I pulled out my chair to find a wad of dirty wet brown tissues on my chair. Really put me off the food and ruined my experience. The food was all quite good but we ended up waiting nearly an hour to get our main meals which was a bit disappointing. Won’t be returning anytime soon.

Lovely atmosphere and food, but warning to vegetarians. I ordered a curry, specifying vegetarian, and then said 'no fish sauce', to which they asked if I was vegan and then said they used chicken powder in all the curries. Had to order a stir fry. Also once ordered vege spring rolls and was given chicken spring rolls and they weren't very apologetic.

Often dine here for a quick lunch, service is sometimes good but sometimes not so great. Food is yummy but flavours can be inconsistent depending on which chef is in on the day, but overall good experience and been here a few years now 👍

Food wasn't what was expected, not much flavour in any of the four dishes we purchased. Wouldn't recommend unfortunately and wouldn't really order from there again

This is my 'go to' Thai restaurant. The food is delicious and fresh. The Tom Yum soup appeals to my Indian tastebuds and all the food I've tried there are great too. Great service, great ambience, great food.

Arani has gone down hill. Have been twice in recent months and both times had to get up and go to the desk and get waiters for orders, wine glasses, etc. We ordered medium spice and the food was hot - the table across from us ordered hot and couldn't eat it. Management argued with them for some time before giving them a replacement meal. We said 'no egg' on one dish - which waiter confirmed, and it came out with egg. Wouldn't recommend anymore

Geelong has it's fair share of Thai restaurants so you have plenty of choice. For consistently good thai this is the place.  Curries are good....they usually are at most Thai restaurants. The pad thai is brilliant and I order it every time I visit.

One of the best thai in Geelong, especially for lunch special. Massaman curry with chicken is the all time favourite, order it medium if you can handle it

Small restaurant; but very busy! It was very tasty, meals came out in a reasonable time. I couldn't believe I hadn't been here before. Recommended!

After searching around Geelong for a quick lunch, I was extremely happy we settled on eating here. The restaurant is quite small and during our visit it was quite busy which was a good indicator of a decent restaurant. The food is fantastic and good value for money. Service was great, I don't often eat Thai so it took a quite a while to decide on what to order. I wasn't disappointed and if I'm back in Geelong again I wouldn't hesitate to visit again or recommend to friends and family!

This restaurant is tiny and always packed of customer, their food are quite authentic, and when we order hot, it means hot, not western hot. The basil chicken good, as well as the stir fry green curry. Didnt fancy the tom yum, as the taste was only salty n spicy, but the pad thai was good. Service was excellent, totally enjoyed having lunch here :) and will definitely come back again when visiting geelong.

Amazing food! The massaman curry was delicious and very filling, Will be back! If anyone wants the experience of authentic Thai food come here!

Every time I come here the food is always delicious. My favourite place to go for Thai in Geelong. Unfortunately the last couple of times I've been here the service has dropped slightly and there have been extremely long waits to get meals after ordering. Still highly recommend Arani for an authentic Thai experience!

I can't believe I didn't review this the night I went, I was so blown away! <br/>Best Thai in Geelong. Fantastic value for money. What else can I say. The green curry was beautiful, I was saddened not to finish my meal as it was so delicious and I was so full! The coconut rice; divine. So moist and creamy. The spring rolls were even top notch. The vegetarian ones are usually sub par and I expect it but here , I would certainly have them again. Verdict: my choice for Thai in Geelong and I will be back in a heartbeat!

Friendly staff and very quick service at Arani. A very popular restaurant for both takeaways and dine-in. All our meals were authentic Thai and very tasty. Although GF items were not marked up on the menu, staff explained that only the stir-frys were gluten free. Be warned that "Hot" means verrry spicy!<br/>

Was recommended from a friend in Melbourne that if you go down to Geelong, you have to try Arani <br/>We ordered for takeaway the Golden Triangle which consisted of chicken, beef and pork with vegetables and their sauce and Chef's Special which consisted of seafood and vegetables <br/>Overall after eating both for takeaway, we saw that half the container of both the seafood special and golden triangle was the sauce and other half the actual food, for $32, it definitely isn't worth the money.<br/>Flavourwise, pretty good, value, pretty bad

Excellent. Fast turn around for a take away order. Had the tofu stir fry cashews which was delicious and not too oily like a lot of other Thai places. Best Thai I've had in Geelong.

Yumm! Love their food. Make sure you book a table before you dine in. Place gets packed pretty quick. All the food is authentic Thai. Using fresh ingredients. I was impressed! Their pad Thai noodles is a must, the barramundi fish and their red curry.. Would recommend anyone :)

We had the deep fried prawns chicken green curry with rice YUMMM. Can't wait to go back and try something else great job guys. I enjoyed every mouthful. Second time there and had phad Thai awesome with yellow curry just sensational

This is the first time I have rated a restaurant/eatery this low. The food was tasty, until I saw something a little unhygienic that occurred in the kitchen, then that put me right off. Lets just say, I don't particularly like eating some random person's saliva. So, never have we returned again and never will. Ashame because the food we had was actually nice.

Love that food !. My wife & I recently tried Arani & enjoyed the food so much that we decided to take our friends there. We regularly dine at different Geelong restaurants & rate them on quality, price & service. Arani provides excellent quality food at a very reasonable price. Having visited Thailand in the past we know what good Thai should taste like- Arani captures the flavours & diversity of authentic Thai food-hot (temperature)-flavoursome & fresh. Can recommend this place to all that like Thai food :-)

Tasteless. I have eaten at many thai restaurants over the years and this one is unfortunately the worst I have ever eaten at. I wouldn't ever eat here again and definitely wouldn't recommend it to you. I was really disappointed with the food.

Delicious! A great place to go to eat superb and authentic Thai food. The service is nothing special but if you come here for the food, you won't be disappointed. This prices are very reasonable also.

Food great, service questionable. Unfortunately on the night attended there was a large table of people near us, which meant noise levels were excessive of the duration. However we didn't let this detract from the quality of food - as good as you could expect from a Thai restaurant and would recommend. Service levels were poor with the drink order being mixed up, side plates not provided for entrees and no follow-up provided for sweets or coffee. Left the restaurant a bit deflated even though food was great.

What a fantastic dinner. The staff are lovely, friendly and helpful and the food is exceptional. <br/>Job well done. Thank you

A new favourite. We have had take away dinner a couple of times now and it is beautiful. Very fresh and full of yummy crisp vegetables, no over cooking of their dishes. This is our new favourite Thai restaurant!

A small treasure. My wife and I had a day out in Geelong the other week and after an underwhelming coffee on the sea front, went in search of somewhere to eat. <br/><br/>Having walked past this place we returned and were glad we did. <br/><br/>This was a Wednesday lunch time and when we left there wasn't a spare table, which should tell you something. <br/><br/>To start with we had curry puffs which had the lightest flakiest pastry which married delightfully with the rich pungent satay dip. For mains we indulged in a noodle dish and a hot massaman curry. My wife was effusive about the light fresh fragrant flavours washing through her mouth whilst my curry was spiced perfectly so that my lips felt the heat but no more. This wasn't good food, this was great food. <br/><br/>It gets better though; the food was quickly out and the service impeccable and with a smile. This food would have been a bargain at $20 a dish, so to pay a mere $10 for each main was outstanding. <br/><br/>One small negative. It's in Geelong and not ballarat, and oh how I wish it were in Ballarat. Still, it gives us a really great excuse to head back down that way again soon.

Best Thai in Geelong. Easily the best Thai food I have had outside Thailand. Good price and good service.

Owner of a cafe / takeaway .. We went out to this restaurant after reading reviews , we weren't disappointed . The food was excellent and the staff were very friendly. We own a take away / cafe so we are very picky , when we go out . Will go back there .

Good find. In Geelong and needed a place for a quick biz lunch. Glad I found Arani - good flavours at reasonable prices, well worth a try

Best Thai ever. Found this place by mistake and boy what a find! The food is beautiful attractive to look at and great prices! Can honestly say the food is the best Thai ever! You need to book though as it is a popular place.

Amazing! My friends and I come to Arani Thai most weekends! This is by far the best Thai in Geelong! The service is great, meals are delicious and fast.

Love it - great service and taste. We went here for dinner last night and the meals were absolutely delicious. Very authentic and great service. We ordered take-away from there tonight and they gave us the wrong order. Not only did they hand deliver our order to our door but we got to keep the other one. Very great service and will be back again. Thank you

Exceptional customer service, fresh and appetizing food at cheap prices....The best in Geelong! Don't look anywhere else if you want to experience the best Thai in Geelong!

Fantastic cheap food. Lunch special bargain generous portions.<br/>dining area could be bigger very sqaushy otherwise great food value for money

I visit A Rani at last once a month since I moved to the Geelong area. I found it by accident and did not think it looked that impressive from the outside. I bought a lunch the first few times I went 10 dollars from a set lunch menu, brilliant value. I love the gang massaman curry. But they also do a few great stir fry dishes pad med ma muang is fantastic. Everything is cook fresh. It can be quite busy at times and sometimes there is a bit of a wait but I think its worth the wait to get good quality delicious food made to order. I have been since the renovations which are not quite finished yet but is going to look so good when its all done. These guys are great, service has always been good. <br/>If you want to try them have the lunch for 10 dollars. In the evening they have a more extensive menu but serve much bigger portions. I usually have to ask for a container to take some home. Lunch for the next day sorted.

Past and Present. Hi we have been going to Rani"s for the past 5yrs and thoroughly enjoyed the cuisine from the past owners and now we get to enjoy the same quality of food with the new owners. Very friendly staff and still great variety of fresh foods with all the old favourites still available. Just lovely great consistency HIGHLY Recommend..

Family Favourite. My family stumbled across A Rani Thai and it's now our new favoruite place to eat. The staff were friendly, food was great and prices reasonable. The food came our quickly and the staff were happy to make changes to the dishes to suit our needs. Highly recommended.

Service was rushed and abrupt. Not friendly at all,couldn't recommend a curry to us. Pad Thai was average to ok. Pineapple curry was terrible, beef was like rubber. Won't be returning.

Great take away option!. We've ordered take away dinners from here a couple of times, and both have been delicious! I recommend the green curry if you like a bit of spice! Order 20 mins in advance, as they're always busy!

Fantastic experience, from the minute we walked in we felt welcomed. Fresh, fast food. We will definitely be back! Young guy having a crack, well done!<br/><br/><br/>-----22 Apr, 2013-----<br/><br/>Fantastic experience, from the minute we walked in the food we felt welcomed. Fresh, fast food. We will definitely be back!

Nice and Fresh Thai food!! .... Nice and Fresh Thai food!!<br/>We've been here many times and it's been one of our favourite dining spot in Geelong. The food is always fresh and tasty. The staff were very polite, friendly and attentive. Throughly recommend and will return soon.

Fabulous food, fresh and tasty. Really generous sized meals. The service was very friendly and attentive(even though they were very busy) I heard many good comment coming from other diners. Will be back for sure!

Fantastic food, Good quality, Can't wait to go back!. Everything that we ordered we loved, good quality and fresh!! The staff were very friendly and polite. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone that likes Thai food.

I've eaten at a lot of different Thai restaurants in Geelong and in Melbourne, this one seems to have much better quality ingredients, really nice variety of flavours. Probably the best Thai food in Geelong. Well worth a visit, Highly recommended.

Sorry, but you insulted my taste buds. This place is dirty and smells worse than the food tastes/looks. My plate was dirty,I don't think they use detergent!!! <br/><br/>The service wasn't bad, but we were one of the 5 people there so...<br/><br/>I am sad to say that I wasted my money. I wouldn't eat here again even if it was for free. The chef should stick to cheese sandwiches, as it is obvious they don't know what they are doing.

I am seriously thrown back by these last few reviews! I am there at least once a fortnight because of how amazing the food is and the staff! I can't imagine why anyone would have anything bad to say about the restaurant! Food is exceptional and waitresses couldn't be nicer and more accommodating! They have great prices for such delicious tasty Thai dishes. Favourite place to go in Geelong hands down!!!

Mistake. Not even worth reviewing

Failed, Nice Try.. These people might look Thai, sounds Thai but their food sure as hell don't taste Thai. My "pad Thai" had more bean shoots than noodles... enough said.<br/>I felt lonely in the restaurant as me and my friend were the only people there, yet we still waited 45min for appetisers. Poor Form.

I have been to A Rani Thai a number of times and after reading the last review wanted to leave a couple of comments in response. I understand the restaurant is quite small and if it was a Friday and Saturday night I notice they do get quite busy. I am surprised they allowed a large booking on a busy night and to split the bill as on the menu it states no splitting bills, but I have found the waitresses quite accommodating if asked kindly. Although, I can understand why restaurants don't like to do this because it can be easy to loose track of things like corkage and drinks, and the last to leave is left with the remainder of the bill. The last thing I wanted to comment on was the small bowls. I've had the curries and Tom Yum in these bowls before and I don't believe you are meant to add rice to these but to add the contents of the bowl to your plate of rice. I'm sorry if I sound one sided but as I mentioned I have been to A Rani Thai a number of times and everytime I have been more then satisfied. The staff are friendly and helpful, if I needed anything they are very happy to listen and help. The food had been delicious and always fresh and I would recommend them to anyone looking for great tasting Thai to give them a try... A+

Ripped off. We had two tables with about 18 people. Everyone paid individually and left at their will. At the end of the night after everyone paid their share, we were told that we were $60 under. I find this very hard to believe as everyone would have paid slightly over rather than under. When i asked what meals were remaining to be paid, the waitress said she only recorded the amounts paid and had not crossed off what they had paid for (even though each person told her what they paid to total the amount they had to pay for).<br/><br/>I think they stuffed up the bill and over charged us. The customer service was slow, they didn't communicate which rice was which, and other people started eating the rice i ordered. I had to ask twice for an ice bucket and the place is very small and crowded.<br/><br/>I also don't like the fact that it is dificult to add rice to the small bowl you are served (Other thai places have a large plate with plenty of room to add rice to the main meal).<br/><br/>Disappointed and will not return to this place.

Decent taste and good value for money for lunch. Only $10 for lunch. The pad Thai is tasty, and the pineapple curry is rich. Tom yum soup is nice, not too sweet.

Went for dinner at A rani thai for the first time(Tuesday night) its so busy. The food were just incredibly good. The service was very kind. The dessert selrction was very well presented. highly recommended!!!

Best Thai restaurant in Geelong, previously swore by Lorme Thai but unfortunately will not be back there after experiencing A Rani! Food has that extra depth and staff are always friendly. My family have all been converted to after one experience, it is that good! 9/10

Food was amazing! Great offering of vegetarian dishes and also catered well to my needs with food allergys. No nuts or fish in either of my meals. <br/><br/>Staff are friendly and very chatty with you. Great atmosphere, small and cosy. Brilliant place for a nice winter meal to get out of the cold. Wonderfully adordofable also :D<br/>10/10

Great for cheap eats. Small restaurant, may require booking on weekends for dinner. Each time we have been there it's been packed.<br/>The food is quite simple for your normal Aussie-Thai restaurant with not too much to separate it from the pack. When the food does come out, it is always very good though, and for the prices they are charging you are getting a pretty good quality of food here. It appears to be fresh and vibrant, and not a lot, if any, MSG used.<br/>The service can be a little innocent, as they seem to have a lot of young kids working here, probably being paid peanuts, but there's nothing of note to complain about. Definitely recommend this place if you are in G-town and have a hankering for Thai.

Best AUTHENTIC Thai In Geelong!!!. I have been to many Thai restaurants in Geelong but A Rani Thai is the best I've been to by far. The food was very fresh and was absolutely delicious and I know it was authentic because all the chefs were ACTUALLY Thai, speaking it while they prepared the meal. Unlike a lot of other Thai restaurants in Geelong I have been to, this made me feel like I was getting the real taste of Thailand.<br/>The restaurant itself is quite small but it creates a more personal feel and warm atmosphere. Saying this, I would recommend booking on the weekends as when I went it was very busy.<br/>Overall a great night out, the staff were friendly, food was fantastic (try the Tom Yum and Grapow)... a GREAT night out.

Average food, rude staff. We went in for a table of 4 at about 8.30pm, the first waitress was nice and politely told us the other table was for 11 people so if we order after them the food might take a while... So we looked at the menu and another lady (seemed like she might be the manager?) quickly came and asked if we could start ordering? We told her we need a few more minutes to decide so we started with the drink orders. <br/>On the drinks menu there were 'Thai ice tea' and 'Thai ice coffee' so I asked if it's made from some special 'thai tea' (like Vietnamese coffee, Malaysian 'white coffee' etc) She said 'I don't know, it's just a tea, could be 'American iced tea!!'. What an answer! <br/>We then decided to order a salad, a couple of dishes, pad thai and a some coconut rice to share. She suggested that the rice may not be enough but when we asked how much rice should we order for 2 people then, she said 'I don't know, depending on how much rice you eat.' I was shocked.. She was rude and not helpful! Maybe she was stressing out with that 11-people-table but she was just terrible.<br/>The food was just ok. Kanitar Thai on Malop street served pretty good thai food if not better (esp pad thai) and the staff there are always friendly! We won't be back!

Absolutely awesome!. I love thai food and A Rani is fabulous. The food is always delicious and fresh, the staff are really friendly and the servings are generous. Love it.

LOVE!!!. Love love love! What more can I say, this is my favourite place for Thai food and the people are really nice. Definitely recommend to anyone.