In order to get fed, starving stomachs resort to innovative tactics, such as making guttural growls and brandishing iron magnets to inexorably draw bodies towards the fridge. Prevent magnetic mutiny with today’s Groupon: for $15, you get $30 worth of contemporary Thai cuisine at Maile’s Thai Bistro on Keahole Street.

In a setting of casual elegance, Maile’s Thai Bistro’s culinary crew crafts a menu brimming with authentic Thai dishes. Start with a slurp of tom yum soup, combining a mélange of lemon grass, Thai ginger, kaffir lime leaves, and a choice of tofu or meat in a tangy broth ($8.90+). Thumb noses at egg-based noodles in favor of pad thai, tender rice noodles sautéed alongside tofu, bean sprouts, and chives, and garnished with crunchy peanuts ($12.90+). Pad ped kung, also known as Evil Shrimp, blends red-curry sauce, vegetables, and fresh basil ($15.90) into a morally questionable dish that seduces taste buds and refuses to take its hat off during the National Anthem. Maile’s also showcases myriad meat-free options, such as the ong choi tofu, a mixture of Chinese watercress and silky tofu sizzling under yellow-bean sauce and crispy garlic ($11.90).

Reviews

Haute Living named Maile's Thai Bistro one of the Top 5 Thai Restaurants in Honolulu. Maile's was also named a critic's choice in Honolulu Pulse, and was reviewed in Metromix. OpenTable reviewers give the restaurant an average of 4.3 stars, and more than 40 Yelpers give it a 3.5-star average.

• Maile’s is Thai light — exotic, but in a still-in-my-backyard kind of way. The flavors suit local tastes. – Mari Taketa, Metromix
• Good food and great service makes this place a nice lunch or dinner stop. – Miles B., Yelp, 9/6/10