Page Contents

• Hat Yai Restaurant Listings Page 3
  • Palm Court Restaurant at JB Hotel [more]
  • Pee Lek [more]
  • Pee Lek 59 [more]
  • Puhong Valley and Resort [more]
  • Raan Kanom Jeen Pee Porn [more]
  • Rim Taang [more]
  • Ruanmai Punnagann [more]
  • Rung Nok Siam [more]
  • Salma (Halal) [more]
  • Sami Kitchen (Halal) [more]
  • Samila Seafood (used to be Hia Kui) [more]
  • Samila Sea Sport [more]

Food - Page 7

Hat Yai Restaurant Listings Page 7

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.

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Comments: Palm Court Restaurant at the JB Hotel is often the place I head to when I have cravings for farang food. It is one of the top hotels in Hat Yai and when eating there it is obvious that they have excellent chefs who have been properly trained in preparing international cuisine and have most likely worked abroad at some stage.

Not only is their foreign food very good but so is their Thai food. As would be expected in a hotel of this quality, the service is excellent too.

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Comments: This restaurant is aimed directly at the visiting Chinese Malaysian and Singaporean tourists. It's located just opposite the Sakura Grand View hotel (one of their favourite hotels) and the menu is in Thai and Chinese only with no English.

It's a pleasant enough place with friendly staff who I often chat with as I walk past when they are sitting around doing nothing.

The food is biased towards Chinese tastes and in my opinion the prices are high for local rates. I've considered eating there a few times but have always decided I can get better value elsewhere. Local Thais would appear to feel the same way and it remains primarily a place for tourists.

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Comments: Located near the Amarin hotel and just a few yards away from one of Hat Yai's red light 'Karaoke' districts, this place is very popular with visiting Chinese Malaysians and Singaporeans.

I have walked past hundreds of times but it just isn't the kind of place that appeals to me personally, so I have never eaten there. However, an e-mail I received from a Chinese Singaporean visitor praised it highly so I am including it here.

Diner Comments:

• ... we had two steamed flower crab for 294 bht it may sound pricy.. the crabs were both double shelled which is about to change shell and the meat is at its best at this stage. The other dish is stewed pork ribs with bitter gourd for 100 bht, it is soft and succulent as it should be and pork chunky. The last dish is deep fried soft toufu stir fry with chinese leek (looks like gaint spring onions) with generous slices of lean pork, this cost 60 bht.

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Comments: This restaurant is located in an attractive setting. It is situated on the road that runs alongside the university. I've used the transliteration that the restaurant uses but everyone uses a different version, such is the beauty of Thai to English transliteration.

The restaurant is a large wooden building sitting up on Kor Hong Hill. There are two floors and there is also seating outside. It is very pleasant and one of the only places in Hat Yai where you don't hear the constant roar or motorbikes and pickup trucks that have had loud exhaust pipes fitted by their considerate owners.

Previously you could get freshly made pizza but when the current owners took over they did away with the pizza and just concentrate on Thai food. The food is very good.

To get there go along 'Bpuu-na-gun Road' past the large convention centre and you will see the restaurant on your left. In fact, you may only see the sign to the restaurant because the actual restaurant is set back from the road a little way.

If you see the sign to Prataat Jedi you have gone too far.

The opening hours are from 10:00 to 23:00.

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Comments: This traditional Thai eatery, very close to the train station and the guest houses on Thamnoonvithee Road, specialises in Phad Thai with shrimp (Phad Thai Goong) or seafood (Phad Thai Taleh), and kanom jeen.

Kanom jeen, a very popular dish in southern Thailand, consists of thin, white rice noodles and various curry sauces. It is eaten with a selection of fresh, raw vegetables and mint leaves, etc. These will be brought to your table automatically.

Coming straight out of Hat Yai railway station, there is a road on the left opposite the exit for the Robinson department store car park. The restaurant is a little way along this road on the left. It's open between 10:00am and 3:00pm from Monday to Saturday, but closed on Sunday.

There are no English signs but it is always very busy which is a good sign. There are quite a few restaurants in Hat Yai that work to the same formula. They serve a limited number of dishes, but the food is good and cheap.

When it comes to food, Thais are very picky consumers. Many restaurants open and then close shortly afterwards because they don't have enough business. Thais vote with their feet and watch their money carefully. Therefore, any restaurant that is always busy can normally be relied upon to give good value.

After the sterile environment of eating in restaurants in Thailand that target tourists, this place is a genuine Thai experience. It is really fast moving as customers come and go, and the wait staff fly around shouting orders to the cook.

When I have been, I have never seen another farang or a Malaysian tourist. It might help if you can speak Thai but as the menu is so limited, you will be able to get away with just pointing at what you want.

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Comments: Hat Yai doesn't have the greatest variety of cuisine in the world. Thais like Thai food and most tourists that arrive are ethnic-Chinese so there is lots of Chinese food.

Western food is available but it's not great and there aren't that many places serving it outside of the central tourist area.

As you walk past Rim Taang, you would never think it is somewhere that serves Western food. It looks like a perfectly standard Thai eatery and there is no signage outside indicating otherwise.

However, there are steaks and hamburgers on the menu - and there are even English menus.

It's similar to Taste Add but not quite as good. The food isn't quite as good, but in its favour the service is a lot quicker. Prices are about the same or maybe a little cheaper.

I wasn't keen at first but it's a kind of acquired taste and now I go there quite a lot.

If you don't know where the restaurant is located it can be a little tricky to find. The way roads are laid out in Thailand is highly confusing and all the Niphatsongkrao tanons and sois are numbered very confusingly. Here are my easy to follow directions.

From the roundabout and clocktower, go along Phetkasem Road towards Carrefour. Before you get to Carrefour you will see a large building under construction which is the new Siam Nakarin building. The road running alongside the new construction is Niphatsongkrao 5 Road.

Go down this road and after a few hundred yards you will come to some traffic lights. Turn left at the lights and just as you turn left you will see the restaurant on your left. It's just around the corner.

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Comments: I've used the restaurant's own transliteration for the name but, as usual, it is terrible. If you say it as you read it, Thais won't know what you are talking about. Try Reuan (with the middle part sounding as if you have just stepped in something bad) and Bpuu-nuh-gun.

Bpuu-nuh-gun Road runs alongside the university and - as you might expect - there are lots of students in this area. It's also a long way from the centre of town, which is where all the tourists are. When you combine these two facts, the result is cheap prices.

This area has lots of restaurants, lots of variety, and good prices. There are several small rice and noodle shops, but also some fancier places ... such as this one.

There are quite a few large, seafood restaurants dotted around Hat Yai but quite a few are geared up for the Malaysian tourist trade. Consequently, prices are quite high.

This one is as good - if not better - than anywhere else, but it has mainly a local Thai clientele. Therefore, prices are lower. The food is excellent and it is highly recommended.

Getting there could be a little tricky. There are no sawng-thaew routes that go along Bpuu-nuh-gun Road. As this area gets busier (there are quite a lot of new housing developments being built), the situation may change but because it is mostly Thais here they have cars and motorbikes.

Sawng-thaews going to the bus station pass the top of the road. You can get off there and take a longish walk, or get a motorbike taxi. The restaurant is located opposite the large, recently opened, international conference centre.

The well known land marks in Bpuu-nuh-gun Road are Gate 8 (bpruh-dtoo bpairt) and Gate 9 (bpruh-dtoo gao). Ruan Punnagann is closer to Gate 9.

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Comments: There is nothing written in English at this restaurant, including the name. Everything is written in Thai and Chinese only, for reasons that might become clear as you continue reading.

The first clue is the name of the restaurant which translates into English as Siam Birds' Nest. The second clue is the pictures of sharks around the restaurant, and the bags of dried shark fins on display.

I received an e-mail from a Chinese Singaporean who felt offended about my references to Chinese eating habits with regard to restaurants in Hat Yai. He reminded me that not all Chinese eat sharks' fin and birds' nest.

I know that. Not only do many Chinese not eat sharks' fin and birds' nest, they don't eat any kind of meat at all as they are vegetarians. However, there is a big Chinese presence in Hat Yai and there is a huge trade in sharks' fin and birds' nest. These are just facts.

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Comments: Located just across the road from Hamid restaurant, this is another Halal restaurant fairly close to Lee Gardens.

It's not quite as clean or upmarket as Hamid but it looks OK and seems to do quite a good trade.

Diner Comments:

• I think the food here are over-priced. Taste is only so-so. Same goes to Hameed. Its clearly targeting Malaysian tourists. I'd save my money to eat someplace else. (September 2011)

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Comments: This large restaurant is located on the new road that runs between Hat Yai and Songkhla. As you leave Hat Yai going past Big C and turn right on to Lopburiramate Road, it is a few minutes drive on the left-hand side. The turning for the restaurant is about 400m after the PTT petrol/gas station.

There are clearly marked signs on the road telling you where to turn off for the restaurant. Finding it is not difficult.

It is close to the Songkhla central mosque, but located before the mosque as you travel from Hat Yai. The restaurant's proximity to the mosque is significant.

It is a Halal restaurant which has been built specifically to cater to the tastes and dietary requirements of visiting Muslims, most of whom visit the mosque. Visitors come from other southern Thai provinces, as well as from Malaysia.

All food served is suitable for Muslims and the menu is written in Thai and Malaysian. Unlike many other tourist establishments in Hat Yai, there is no English or Chinese.

In addition to serving Halal certified food, they have the Thai certificate for food hygiene and also claim to use no MSG in their food preparation.

It is spacious, airy and comfortable and the food is very good. I often stop to eat here with my wife if we are on the way to Songkhla.

From Monday to Friday it is open from 10:00 to 22:00, and from 08:00 to 22:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. It is closed on the third Monday of each month.

The owner is Khun Sommai Noonanant.

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Comments: The people who run the large Samila Sea Sport seafood restaurants in Hat Yai and Songkhla took ownership of Hia Kui (another large seafood restaurant) half-way through 2009.

I didn't notice the change for a long time because almost everything is identical, apart from the sign outside.

The restaurant is fairly close to the town centre and remains very popular with Malaysian tourists.

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Comments: The original Samila Sea Sport is located on Samila beach in Songkhla and is the most pleasant restaurant of the many seafood places that line the beach in that area. I've eaten there several times.

A second branch was opened in busy Hat Yai but of course it is nowhere near the sea and not as pleasant. The food is still quite decent though and it's a large restaurant.

The road it is on is known locally as saam-sip met (30 meters) for some reason I still haven't figured out.

Diner Comments:

• Choose your own fresh prawns, or other seafood, or eat from the menu. With a friend I ate one kilo of prawns for 1000 THB. That was ok, and their som tam is very good. On another occasion I asked for a dish with red chillies, and I was served something else. The Samila in Hat Yai is not my first choice, but when you go for fresh seafood, be there. (2010/2011)

To add your comments, send an e-mail to phil@phil.uk.net, or use the following form. Comments will be added anonymously.

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