Chat Thai - Haymarket

Mini Tweet-Up with @_mel_ @sporbo @annies102 & myself.  We couldn't decide on any particular type of food, so i suggested Thai (i think this would be the 3rd time eating Thai in about 2-3weeks?)

Firstly suggested by @_mel_ was Longrain, then @sporbo suggested Spice I Am or Chat Thai, then maybe Rambutan?

Longrain didn't take reservations, same with SPice I Am, & i was anti Rambutan: unless we were having cocktails! (they don't have pad thai, did you know that?) haha so yeah.. as you can tell my fav dish is pad thai i really should venture towards other dishes but it's hard cos i don't eat meat.

I made a booking a couple days before, because i hate to wait whilst hungry..

The place was quite packed, and quite a few people already on the waiting list. We didn't get a table sttraight away, probably about 5 minutes since two guys were just finishing up on the table that was reserved for us (or was it just lucky timing?)

Massaman Curry $12

chunky strips of beef, pineapple, peanuts & potatoes

slowly braised in a rich mild coconut curry, made from

a paste of cardamon, turmeric, cinnamon, palm sugar & tamarind

Pad Cha Pbla Gaia $15

fish paste dumplings stir fried with spicy wild ginger, holy basil,

long red chillis, apple eggplants & fresh green peppercorns

Pad Thai $11

a sweet & salty stir fry of thin rice noodles with salted radish, ground peanuts,

garlic, chives, tofu & beansprouts

This pad thai was for me, but i shared it around as it was a big serving! They accommodated to my vegetarianism well, but the dish was not quite flavoury as i hoped it would be. Still nice nonetheless, & a great price for thai in the city.

Pak Boong Fai Daeng $12

water spinach tossed briskly in the wok with oyster sauce,

yellow bean sauce, garlic & chilli

I think this dish was overpriced, at $12 it was more than my pad thai.. but the leaves were fresh & crunchy, and the chilli on it tasted great :)

Desert time.. we couldn't leave without some sticky rice & coconut goodness :)

Sticky Rice Durian $7.50

sticky rice steamed with sweet coconut cream & palm sugar accompanied

with a durian custard & pieces of fresh durian

The girls could straight away pick out that the durian was NOT fresh, but continued mmm-ing whilst eating. I'm also not a fan of durian but this dish was alright for me hehe

Khao Nieaw Sangkaya $7.00

sticky rice steamed with sweet coconut cream & palm sugar

accompanied with a steamed coconut custard

This was basically the same as the durian dish, but with steamed coconut custard instead. Which didn't taste too great (more like rubbery) but the rice & coconut was just divine. Although, they kind of skimped on the coconut milk..

Tao Tung

Icy sweet herbal soup made with longan juice & a variety of beans & stuff

(stuff meaning the photo i took doesnt show the whole description lols)

toddy palm, mung beans, longan, aloe vera jelly

lotus seeds & tapioca balls

This reminded me of a typical 'sam bo luong' viet drink, and i think it's about the same. @sporbo wasn't a fan of coconut milk so opted for this fresh drink instead. To much ice me thinks though!

Overall, the food was very average, nothing to shout about. Service was quick, and pricing was decent. Would i come again? Probably not, knowing how many Thai restaurants are out there i really wanna try as many as i can ;)