Our Modern Contemporary
Restaurants
Simply Asia Food Group’s restaurants and cafés offer options for everyone in the Nelson and Blenheim areas. Our five brands and seven locations cover Asian fusion cooking for the entire market. We have fresh and delicious Asian meals for those wanting quick snacks, takeaways, intimate dining, large group dining or business meetings.
With a focus on our native Thai food, Simply Asia’s brands also offer Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese flavours. We focus on authentic recipes – learnt in our mothers’ kitchens and refined while working in restaurants around the world. With over ten years’ experience cooking for our loyal local New Zealand customers, we also pride ourselves on adapting our recipes to suit the Kiwi palate.
Simply Asia Food Group
Owners Bu-nga Krataitong and Nuttavut Rodsienglum met while working in restaurants in Blenheim. Both originally from rural areas in Thailand, the Nelson and Marlborough regions always appealed to the couple. They chose Nelson to launch their first restaurant, Samko Asian Gourmet Café, which was quickly followed by Chai-Yo and then The Lemongrass in Richmond. Deciding on a move back to Marlborough to raise their son, the busy couple opened a second Lemongrass restaurant there as well as another Chai Yo café. When the chance came to buy the iconic Bamboo Garden Restaurant in Blenheim, Bu-Nga and Nuttavut jumped at it and Miracle later followed to keep Nelson customers happy.
A love of good, fresh food inspired by their family recipes, a focus on listening to customer feedback, and an emphasis on great staff – there are now about 70 across all restaurants – has led this entrepreneurial couple to corner the Asian fusion market in the top of the South.
What We Offer The Community
All of Simply Asia’s cafés and restaurants are designed to feel homely and relaxed and all are family friendly. We see everyone from teenagers, families, business people and groups of friends in our venues and all offer either dine in or takeaway meals.
With a focus on our native Thai cuisine, Simply Asia offers a popular Thai-Vietnamese blend in our two Lemongrass restaurants. The Lemongrass is also based around “nature cooking” – we do as little as possible to the raw ingredients. This is Asian fusion at its freshest and healthiest. Chai-Yo and Samko cater to those looking for healthy fast food, with options to dine in or takeaway we serve up noodles and rice dishes for those on the go. Bamboo Garden Restaurant is all about yum cha – the perfect food for sharing, with an emphasis on Chinese and Japanese flavours as well as Thai on the menu.
And of course our regular customers know that due to popular demand, our most popular dishes can be found across all our restaurants! So, those who can’t go past Nuttavut’s Crunchy Chicken with Creamy Coconut Sauce or Roti Duck can rest easy.