Page Contents

• Hat Yai Restaurant Listings Page 3
  • Ching Sin (Vegetarian) [more]
  • Ching Sin 2 (Vegetarian) [more]
  • Chok Dee [more]
  • Choladah [more]
  • Chongkhao Seafoods [more]
  • Coffee Break [more]
  • Crown Bakery [more]
  • Cup and Rest [more]
  • Daothiam [more]
  • Darbar Indian Restaurant [more]
  • Daychaa Fried Chicken (Halal) [more]

Food - Page 3

Hat Yai Restaurant Listings Page 3

For a general overview of the food scene in Hat Yai see Hat Yai Food and Restaurant Listings Page 1. The following restaurants are some of the places I've eaten at in Hat Yai.

Comments: One of Hat Yai's many vegetarian restaurants, this little place is one of the best. It has a selection of pre-prepared food (kaaw gairng) but will also cook food to order (ahaan dtaam sung). There is also a lot of non-perishable vegetarian health food for sale inside.

A little reminder that if you come to a place like this you are not in tourist Thailand; you are in real Thailand. If you try to find it, don't expect a sign outside in English that says 'Ching Sin'. There isn't one.

Don't expect an English menu and don't expect any of the staff to speak more than about three words of English. If you don't speak or read any Thai you can still get by. Pointing is universal. However, if you can speak and/or read a little Thai it makes life a lot easier.

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Comments: The restaurant above has a second branch. It is located behind Gim Yong market, very close to Wat Cheo Chaang - the large Chinese temple that is constantly under construction.

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Comments: With around 50% of the local Thai population being ethnic Chinese (some actually say as many as 80%), and most tourists being Malaysian or Singaporean ethnic-Chinese, there is no shortage of dim-sum restaurants in Hat Yai. They can be found in most places.

However, I have been told that Chok Dee is the best and the most well-known. I am told that when Bangkokians are in Hat Yai, for whatever reason, they make a beeline for Chok Dee, such is its reputation.

I've eaten there and it didn't seem much different to other dim-sum restaurants in Hat Yai but perhaps that's because I'm not a real dim-sum connoisseur? I actually prefer other places.

Because of the predominantly Thai and Chinese customer base, nothing is in English - including the sign outside - so don't go expecting to see a 'Chok Dee' sign in English. The business card I picked up had Thai on one side and Chinese on the other.

If you can find the place, the lack of English won't be a problem. The normal procedure is just to select what you want and they will then put the dishes in the steamer.

The opening times are from 6am to noon, and then from 17:00 to 22:00. On the map, it's quite near Tai See Hee restaurant but a bit further down and on the other side of the road.

It gets busy and if you go at a busy time you may have to wait for a table. Also, I have found that if you eat there shortly before the restaurant is due to close there is garbage everywhere.

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Comments: There are several large restaurants in Hat Yai known as moo ga-ta (literally 'pig pan') where customers take raw food and cook it at their table.

Diners first help themselves to meat, fish, seafood and vegetables. These can be cooked directly on the hot-plate or boiled in the water around the edge. The selection of meat varies from decent looking cuts of chicken and fish to pig offal, but then again pig innards are popular with many Asians. There are huge pots of rice and also desserts.

Cholodah is just one such place but there are many others. The entertainment is a guy playing traditional Thai music very loudly and Karaoke singing. Thais love singing along to Karaoke machines and can't resist the urge to participate. It's OK if they can actually sing but many can't and the sound is often reminiscent of a cat being strangled.

The charge for all this is a measly Bt85 and you can eat as much as you like. There is a charge, however, for those whose eyes are bigger than their bellies (as my Mum used to say) who take more food than they can eat. If you make this mistake you could always try feeding your leftovers to the cats who wander around the restaurant scavenging for scraps and being strangled.

I'm not sure of the exact address. The easiest way to get there is to catch a Songkhla bound sawng-thaew from the clock tower on Phetkasem. As you go along Phetkasem it is a big place on the left, the same side as Carrefour but before you reach Carrefour.

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Comments: There are quite a few large seafood restaurants in Hat Yai, especially a little way from the centre of town.

This one is located on the way to Tesco Lotus (opposite one of the branches of Daychaa Fried Chicken). It has a fairly large garden area so you can sit outside if you want to.

Prices are reasonable and it is always busy which is a good sign.

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Comments: There are a lot of tutoring places and other businesses around the area where JB Hotel is located. It's a busy area and there are a number of eateries in the vicinity.

This is probably my favourite. As well as being tasty, the food is always very well presented and not that expensive. The menu consists mainly of Thai dishes. Probably the closest thing you can get to Western food are a few spaghetti dishes.

There are also cakes, ice cream, and a good selection of hot and cold drinks.

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Comments: This is a pleasant Western-style, air-conditioned bakery and restaurant located quite close to Jiranakorn sports stadium. There is another branch in Songkhla main town that is actually more pleasant.

They serve all the standard Thai dishes, along with a number of Western favourites. There are bakery items, of course, and a good selection of hot and cold drinks.

The prices are more expensive than the typical hole-in-the-wall Thai rice and noodle shops but most Westerners will normally find this type of place more comfortable.

From the big roundabout in front of the President hotel, go towards the sports stadium and you will see the bakery on the right before you reach the stadium.

Diner Comments:

• I'd visited this place couple of times in Songkhla and once in Hatyai. My son liked their cakes and fried rice. (June 2011)

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Comments: Bpoonagun Road runs alongside the Prince of Songkla university and - as might be expected - is a big student area. There are lots of typically Thai cheap rice and noodle shops, but also a few more upmarket places.

Cup and Rest is a very comfortable and relaxing place. Housed in a most pleasant building; the interior is tastefully decorated in pastel shades with soft lighting - as opposed to cheap plastic furniture, a concrete floor and a couple of fluorescent strip lights as you might find in a Bt30 noodle shop.

There is an open area on the upper floor which is also very pleasant. It is, "Sabai," as the Thais would say.

On the menu is a good selection of Thai food and they also do Western food. Their steaks aren't at all bad and they serve the softest and most tender chicken steak I have ever eaten in Thailand. The promotional flyer also says they serve Japanese food but I haven't tried any yet.

Ice cream, cakes, coffee and other soft drinks are also served. Prices are reasonable. If you want to save money you had better get used to cheap plastic furniture, concrete floors and fluorescent strip lights.

Getting there isn't all that convenient if you don't have your own transport. As this area continues to develop it can't be long until there is a sawng-thaew service but as far as I know there isn't yet.

From Phetkasem Road in Hat Yai you can take a sawng-thaew going to the bus station, get off at the top of Bpoonagun and walk. Alternatively, you can take a tuk-tuk or motorbike taxi. Tell the driver to take you to Gate 109 (bpruh-dtoo-roi-gao). From there, continue walking for a little way and the restaurant is in a Soi on the right opposite the Prince of Songkla University International Convention Center.

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Comments: This could be the answer for farangs in town looking for a Western-style breakfast instead of rice and gaeng som. They serve Thai food but also do toast, eggs, bacon and sausages, etc. The Thai versions are never the same as you would get at a greasy spoon in London but they are OK.

The restaurant is located on Thamanoonvitee Road opposite Odean department, near The Pubb.

Diner Comments:

• Clean friendly restaurant with regular but decently made Thai and Chinese Cuisine. A good place for having lunch downtown, away from the dust and heat outside. (Frequently)

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Comments: It is normal while living abroad to get food cravings and, being a Brit, I naturally crave Indian food from time to time. Lots of Malaysians visit Hat Yai and quite a few are Indian so Indian food should be easy to get, right? Wrong.

Thais love food but most screw their faces up when you mention Indian food. They say it smells bad. Considering some of the things they eat, this, in my opinion, is rather a case of the pot calling the kettle black. I introduced Iss to Indian food in Singapore and Malaysia, and she loves it - especially popadoms.

At least two Indian restaurants have closed down since I have been living in Hat Yai, while Whisker Hat Yai did Indian food for a very brief period until their chef left. A couple of other restaurants claim to do Indian food but the single Indian curry they do is not good.

I was therefore very pleased when I stumbled across this place. The proprietor, Mr Butt, is standing in the middle of the photo in the red shirt. He's actually Pakistani but has lived in Thailand for a long time and has a Thai wife. Being Pakistani, the food is actually Muslim. The food here is the only Indian food I have eaten in Hat Yai that actually resembles Indian food as I know it.

The chef is from Nepal but I haven't met him yet. I prefer eating Indian food in the evening but Darbar does most of its business early in the morning and at lunchtime. It is very quiet in the evenings and every time I have been, the chef has already gone home. However, there is normally food left over from earlier in the day and there is another woman who can cook certain dishes to order.

What is a little disappointing is that when I have eaten there, very few items on the menu have actually been available. I have still not been able to order Naan bread despite the fact it is shown on the menu. Sometimes I dream of big pieces of Naan bread, burnt on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Indian style chapatis, however, are available.

Another little issue is to do with how they price the food. As menu items are rarely available, it is a case of having whatever is available. When the bill comes, however, they just seem to think of the first number that comes into their head.

On my first visit, the bill was Bt100. A couple of visits later, I had exactly the same meal and was told Bt140. I questioned this and was told, "OK, 100 Baht."

I imagined that English would be spoken at Darbar but the dialect of English spoken by Mr Butt and his Indian friends is very different to my own. I therefore communicate with him in Thai; his Thai being better than mine, but he has lived in Thailand a lot longer than me.

The closest reference on the map is Lovely Tour. Heading away from town on Niphat Uthit 3, Darbar is on the left. If you get as far as the Hat Yai Central hotel on your right, then you have gone too far.

Is the Indian food at Darbar as good as that available in Bangkok and Penang? No. Is it the best Indian food in Hat Yai? Yes. If you are in Hat Yai, is it convenient to go to Bangkok or Penang every time you fancy a curry? I rest my case.

If you decide to eat here, however, I do need to add a few more caveats. The level of professionalism with which the restaurant is run is a joke. When the owner isn't around - which is fairly often - there are a bunch of clowns who sit around trying to run it for him.

Most of them can't speak English or Thai. Nothing you want on the menu is ever available and they don't really have a clue what they are doing. Eating at Darbar is thus a very hit-and-miss affair. If you happen to go at the right time when the right people are around it can be good, but if not it can be a disaster.

I've been on a few bad days and have ended up just walking out and eating elsewhere, hoping that things might have improved the next time I visit.

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Comments: There are a couple of branches of KFC in Hat Yai but you will be much better off getting an MFC (Muslim Fried Chicken). It tastes better, it's cheaper, and it's probably healthier - although I have no evidence of that.

There are many individual Muslim vendors selling fried chicken in Hat Yai but Daychaa is quite famous in the local area. There are three branches: this one in Chee Uthit Road, one near Tesco Lotus, and one in Kate 8. Ask any taxi driver to take you to raan ahaan daychaa and he will know the location of the nearest branch.

I've eaten at all of them and the quality is consistent although I have a preference for the one in Chee Uthit road - which also conveniently happens to be the branch nearest to downtown Hat Yai.

When ordering chicken and rice in Southeast Asia, the chicken can be boiled or fried. The boiled stuff is very white and anaemic-looking so I always choose the deep fried version. The Thai word for deep fried is tort and so 'fried chicken' is gai tort using the noun/adjective structure of Thai grammar.

A quick word about rice.

Sticky rice is kaaw niaow. If you want this you ask for kaaw niaow gai tort but Isaan style sticky rice is more often eaten with grilled chicken kaaw niaow gai yaang.

In southern Thailand, fried chicken is normally eaten with yellow rice (kaaw mok gai tort) but if you prefer standard white steamed rice ask for kaaw mun gai tort.

Daychaa does other food (including seafood) besides fried chicken. Another advantage for Muslim diners is that as the restaurant is Muslim-run, everything is automatically Halal.

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