Page Contents

• Hat Yai Restaurant Listings Page 4
  • Dynasty Restaurant at JB Hotel [more]
  • Ep's Bake House [more]
  • Fuji [more]
  • Futai Steak House [more]
  • Gäp's Garten [more]
  • Gobpii Guwan [more]
  • Gun Eng [more]
  • Hamid Restaurant (Halal) [more]
  • Hia Kui [more]
  • Hong Kong Roast Duck [more]
  • Jae Lek [more]

Food - Page 4

Hat Yai Restaurant Listings Page 4

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: Palm Court Restaurant at the JB Hotel is one of my favourite places to eat in Hat Yai but just a few yards away in the same hotel is Dynasty which offers another fabulous dining experience.

It is described as a venue for 'Chinese fine dining' and I wouldn't disagree. The restaurant itself is beautifully decorated. On my first visit when I breezed in wearing shorts and sandals I actually felt quite embarrassed. There are a number of separate dining rooms within the restaurant suitable for groups of around six people.

The staff, as in the rest of JB Hotel and at other similar standard hotels, are beautifully dressed in traditional style costumes and are perfectly mannered. The food doesn't disappoint either, it's expertly prepared and quite delicious.

The restaurant is open in the evenings and for lunch between 11am and 2pm when they serve dim-sum. The dim-sum here is Bt25 to Bt28 per portion compared to Bt10 per portion at most other places but I would imagine the experience is far more enjoyable.

Regarding prices, everything is relative. For Hat Yai it is expensive considering I can fill myself with a rice dish for Bt30. Compared to England though it is cheap. A similar dining experience in London would cost upwards of £70. At Dynasty I can have a very special Chinese dining experience for the price of a takeaway in England.

Something else they offer, in addition to the a la carte menu is a Chinese feast option for groups of around 10 for a set price. I think it's around Bt2,000 or something which is actually very good value.

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Comments: There are a number of small cafés in Hat Yai that sell coffee and cakes, and they are very good. The drinks are tasty and the cakes are as good as any sold in European countries.

Ome Bake is probably the cheapest but there is no air-conditioning and it is quite a long way out of town. Ep's is similar but a little more upmarket. It is air-conditioned and fully up to European standards making for a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere.

Most of the cakes are chocolate but there are fruit cheesecakes and sometimes even lemon meringues.

It is located on Niphat Uthit 1 very close to the original Lee Gardens hotel - not Lee Gardens Plaza. Coming out of Lee Gardens hotel, turn left then right and you are there.

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Comments: Fuji offers a fabulous Japanese dining experience. The food is authentically prepared and delicious. There is an army of waitresses who are very efficient and polite.

The cleanliness in Fuji is of hospital operating theatre standards. The dining area is spotless. In the kitchen the chefs all wear surgical masks while preparing food. I met one of the chefs who told me that every month the kitchen is sprayed to eliminate any pests. This is one restaurant in Hat Yai where you won't find ants in the salad or see rats running around as you eat.

Update October 2004: Another branch of Fuji has opened inside the new Carrefour superstore on Phetkasem Road. The food and service is the same high quality as the Lee Gardens branch but the ambience isn't quite as good (in my humble opinion).

Update March 2011: A third branch of Fuji in Hat Yai is just about to open at Tesco Lotus (where the old Se-ed bookshop used to be).

In recent years there has been a big Japanese restaurant craze in Hat Yai. Lots of small restaurants selling Japanese have opened. They are all smaller and cheaper than Fuji but despite all the competition, Fuji is still packed every day and business is strong enough to open a third branch.

I think this illustrates that although Fuji is the most expensive, it is still the best. The restaurant operates a loyalty card scheme. It is somewhat confusing but the more you eat there, the cheaper it is.

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Comments: Thais, the same as everyone else, get bored with eating one type of food and they have quite an appetite for Western style food. A number of small steak houses have sprung up as a result, and I have listed some in these pages.

This one is a bit out of the way but it's very clean and the food isn't too bad at all. The only problem is that it's a way out of town and if you aren't familiar with Hat Yai it might be difficult to find.

However, all tuk-tuk drivers should be able to find Klong Rien 2 Road easily enough.

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Comments: My biggest complaint about the restaurant scene in Hat Yai is the lack of choice. Most restaurants serve Thai or Chinese food but good Western food is difficult to get. Many places offer Western food but it is nothing like the real thing.

The Basil's second branch was the only place in town that had real pizza (for a short time) but it was devastated by the 2010 Flood and may not reopen. You can't get a good sandwich or a kebab anywhere, and even good Indian food is impossible to find despite the town getting quite a few ethnic Indian tourists from Malaysia.

I'm not a fan of the well-known tourist areas in Thailand but at least these places have good restaurant options.

Gäp's Garten is therefore a very welcome addition to Hat Yai. This small German restaurant has a German owner, Jan, who hails from Baden-Baden and who understands the restaurant trade as a result of his father running a restaurant in Germany.

The menu has many German dishes that are well-known internationally and cooked as they should be. Jan spent two years teaching his girlfriend how to prepare German dishes properly. Thai dishes are also available.

The food is served on gigantic white plates and the attention to detail is even evident in the ornate cutlery that the owner has chosen. A free salad is on offer with the type of salad dressings foreigners are accustomed to, and not the sickly sweet dressings that Thais smother their salads with.

The portions are designed so that customers leave feeling full. For example, full portions of French fries are served instead of the five skinny chips you get at a Thai steak house.

Imported German beers and other German beverages, such as Kirschwasser, are available. Considering that the drinks are imported, they are priced quite reasonably.

The owner has plans to organise a mini Oktoberfest to coincide with the large event in Munich, and also to do something at Karneval (Fasching) which takes place 40 days before Easter.

Bad points? Not really, but if you arrive at a busy time you may have to wait a while for your food to be served. With only one cook who does her best to make sure that the food is cooked how it should be service isn't always quick.

The location is a little out of the way. On Map 2 you can see a Soi that runs alongside a canal behind Phetkasem Road (near the Honda and Isuzu showrooms). The restaurant is located on this Soi directly behind a branch of the Krungthai bank. It's not too far from JB Hotel.

Diner Comments:

• Finally found this place but not open till 4pm. Will go back on my next trip. I had some cakes at a nearby cake shop. I see there wasn't any tourist from Malaysia or Singapore around that area except us. I have been following your recommendation when I am around Hatyai. (April 2011)
• Price of food is compatible to Penang standard. The main platter doesn't comes with veggies, we are entitle to have a plate of salad for each main dish ordered. I ordered the crispy pork knuckle and fried pork kidney with sour cream (seldom find this dish in Penang) Service is ok. (7 June 2011)
• Good: Authentic tasteful German cuisine at affordable prices, perfect service, friendly owners.

  Bad: You might get drunk on that great German beer too fast. Watch out! (again and again and again)

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Comments: I can offer no address or phone number but this place is easy to find. Just head out of central Hat Yai on Thamnoonvithee Road until you see the High Society nightclub on your left and it's just behind.

The 'coffee shop with a garden' concept is similar to Chill Chill except that the garden is more open and there are no bonsai trees. The opening hours are 4pm until midnight. I don't think the staff speak English and the menu is in Thai so it helps if you can read, or at least speak, a little Thai.

โกปีก๊วน

It's just coffee and cakes so don't go there looking to eat anything more substantial.

One minor annoyance (obvious really in a garden setting that opens just before dusk) is that mosquitoes are abundant. Cover up or wear some repellent to ward them off. Other than that, it's a nice place.

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Comments: First, let's get the transliteration out of the way. The restaurant refers to itself in English as 'Kaneng' but 'Gun Eng' is a more accurate phonetic transliteration. I don't like the transliteration of the road it is on either. 'Gim-bpruh-dit' is better.

This restaurant is very well known to Hat Yai locals and to the many Malaysian visitors who visit Hat Yai often. Thai and Chinese food is served, but I should remind you that Chinese food in Thailand is a little different to Chinese food as served in Europe or North America.

This kind of eatery is much favoured by the Chinese: large with big, round tables. The Chinese tend to eat in large groups. I often eat alone and restaurants like this are totally unsuitable for solitary diners.

I have only eaten there once, and I was taken as a guest. I am not fond of Chinese food in Thailand so had a few doubts but the food was very Thai and very good. Without being ungrateful or disrespectful to my hosts, it wasn't too expensive either.

The nearest landmarks are the two BP hotels - the BP Grand Tower and BP Grand Suite (Map 3) - and the restaurant is opposite a Chinese temple.

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Comments: Asians like to eat in big groups but most large restaurants in Hat Yai intended for Malaysian tourists cater to those of Chinese ethnicity. This one, however, caters to Muslims.

There are a number of Muslim restaurants in Hat Yai but this one is a little more upmarket and is located in the prime tourist area of Lee Gardens Plaza. It's a stone's throw from Lee Gardens. Because of its location - and because the restaurant tends to attract tourists rather than locals - the prices are a little high.

There is a good selection of food on the menu including Western, Thai and Malaysian dishes. Naturally, everything is prepared to Halal standards so this is not the place to go if you fancy a bacon sandwich.

The staff are very friendly - I know because I often chat to them as I walk past if they're not busy.

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Comments: Hia Kui, a long-standing seafood restaurant in Hat Yai, had a change of ownership about half-way through 2009. It is now called Samila Seafood and belongs to the same people who run the Samila Sea Sport restaurants.

The restaurant looks exactly the same - apart from the sign outside - and serves the same food.

Comments: There is plenty of Chinese food in Hat Yai but a lot of it is not to my taste. This restaurant is an exception. The choice of food is extremely limited - duck or duck - but it tastes great. I normally just go for the straightforward duck on rice which they serve with a delicious plum sauce. It's really cheap and worth seeking out.

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Comments: Located just opposite the Kosit Hotel, this is an excellent restaurant serving Thai and Chinese food. The sour pickled mango they serve as an appetiser is one of my favourites.

Jae Lek's omission from this guide for such a long time was my mistake. I thought I'd added it years ago but for some reason I didn't. This is an unfortunate side-effect of old age.

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