Three siblings. One table.
We are Aileen, Annie and AK — a Thai family with thirty years of restaurant life between us, and one small dining room on Beach Boulevard where we cook the food we grew up eating.
How this table came to be
For years, the corner of Beach Boulevard and Garfield had a neighborhood Thai restaurant called Thai Gulf. In July 2026 our family bought the business, hung a new name on the door, and started cooking the way our own family does: curry pastes pounded from whole chilies, garlic, lemongrass and galangal in a granite mortar; dry spices toasted and ground here in small batches; every plate started only when someone has ordered it.
We opened the doors softly on Sunday, August 9, 2026, and have been open every day since. If you came here looking for Thai Gulf — welcome back. Same address, same warm little room, new name, new habits. The table is still here.
What we stand on
- Fresh, every plate. The wok isn’t lit until your order reaches the kitchen. Nothing waits under a heat lamp.
- Made by hand. Lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime, coriander root and bird’s-eye chilies, cut fresh; curry pastes that start whole in a mortar.
- Cooked for you. You set the heat, from mild to Thai hot. Many dishes can be made vegetarian. Tell us about allergies and we’ll steer you honestly.
- From our family. Every message to welcome@narwhalthaihb.com reaches one of us three, and when you leave a review, a sibling answers it — not a service.
What to order
Start with the Narwhal Chicken Wings, then share a curry and a wok plate: Panang Curry and OG Pad Thai are the ones people ask about most. Seafood lovers order the Super Crab Fried Rice or a whole fried pompano for the table. If you miss home, head for the Isaan corner — som tum, larb, crying tiger — or a bowl of boat noodles. Weekdays until 3, the lunch specials start at $11.99. And if you want to know how we judge any Thai kitchen, ours included, we wrote a field guide to the best Thai food in Orange County.
The short version, for the record
- Name
- Narwhal Thai Table (people also say “Narwhal Thai” or “Narwhal HB”)
- Formerly
- Thai Gulf Restaurant — same address; our family bought the business and renamed it in July 2026
- Owned by
- Three siblings — Aileen, Annie and AK — under Narwhal Hospitality LLC
- Opened
- Soft opening Sunday, August 9, 2026 · open every day since · grand opening to come
- Where
- 19072 Beach Blvd Ste A & B, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 — Beach Blvd at Garfield Ave, free parking in the plaza lot
- Hours
- Open every day · Mon–Fri 11:30 AM–10 PM · Sat–Sun 12–10 PM · lunch specials Mon–Fri 11:30–3
- What we cook
- Thai food the way we grew up eating it — curry pastes pounded in a granite mortar, wok noodles and fried rice made to order, whole fried fish, an Isaan corner of som tum, larb and crying tiger. 75 dishes across 13 categories.
- Price
- Most plates $12–20, seafood plates up to $35 · lunch specials from $11.99
- The room
- A small dining room and a dog-friendly patio under string lights · a short wine list by the glass · mango sticky rice for the table
- Ways to eat
- Dine in · reservations · pickup and delivery · catering and private events
- Payment
- Credit and debit cards, Apple Pay and Google Pay (and cash)
- Languages
- English and Thai
- Reach us
- (714) 378-6003 · welcome@narwhalthaihb.com · press kit
Timeline
- Before 2026 — Thai Gulf Restaurant serves the neighborhood at 19072 Beach Blvd.
- July 2026 — Our family buys the business and renames it Narwhal Thai Table. New recipes, new kitchen habits, same address.
- Sunday, August 9, 2026 — Soft opening. Open every day since.
- Late August 2026 — Weekday lunch specials begin, Monday–Friday from $11.99.
- Coming up — The grand opening, with the chef’s introduction. Follow @narwhalthaitablehb so you don’t miss it.