——-11/05/2012——-
I mentioned last time that I wanted to try Chat Thai at the next opportunity no matter how long the line was so there we were, waiting in line…
We wrote our name on the wait list and proceeded to wait 40 minutes before being seated for dinner. Luckily I wasn’t too hungry otherwise my eye would have been twitching every time they called a number that wasn’t ours.
We finally made it inside!
Water for the table.
Entree~
They had sold out of steamed won ton dumplings of chicken and prawn which was a shame because that was what Timmy was looking forward to eating.
The entrees came out pretty fast which was good because after so much waiting we were hungry.
Fresh spring rolls fresh spring rolls of smoked fish sausages, chicken and crab with caramelised tamarind relish ($12.00) I thought this had very interesting ingredients but when you took a bite you couldn’t pick out the individual flavours of the sausages, chicken and crab. It was tasty and even better with a little bit of extra chilli and coriander with each bite.
Gai Satay chicken satay skewers ($2.50 each) Nice but nothing too memorable.
Drinks~
Blended lychee juices ($6.00) This was full of lychee flavour with a really well pureed ice which was really smooth. We ordered two in the end because we finished the first so quickly!
Thai teas Iced Cha Nohm sweet iced tea with caramelised milk ($5.00)A delicious sweetened milk tea but it was really really sweet, it almost made the lychee juice seem sour in comparison.
Mains~
Khao Padt- fried rice with chicken, eggs and Chinese kale ($14.00) This was the first main to arrive but there seemed to be a bit of a wait in between mains, especially when we almost finished this dish and started to get full before the other dishes arrived. It was nice and (temperature) hot which is how I love fried rice, as for the taste it was nothing special.
Pat Thai- stir fried thin rice noodles with chicken, dried shrimps, bean sprouts, garlic and chives in a tamarind and palm sugar sauce *includes peanuts ($14.00)I use this dish as a measuring stick to compare Thai restaurants. Mmmmm this was really good especially with a squeeze of lemon, too bad the serving looked a bit small. It seemed authentic with the dried shrimps and tamarind and it wasn’t sweet like in most other Thai restaurants.
Chilli fried rice- chicken fried rice with chilli, holy basil and fried egg ($15.00) Surprisingly my favourite dish of the night considering it was really (chilli) hot (for me) and I had to scull the lychee juice to extinguish the lingering flame in my mouth. There was lots of flavours and not just chilli. YUM!
Kana Mhu grob- stir fried Chinese kale and crisp pork belly ($15.00)Nice greens tossed amongst some crispy pork.
After leaving around 11pm there was still a line although a lot short than the one we queued up in. Prices drop for the same dishes for ‘supper’ after 10pm which is worth noting if your plan to have a late dinner anyway. Everyone around us having supper seemed to be eating dough sticks similar to Chinese yau ja gwai but shorter and dipping them in a green sauce which someone explained to me was like Thai custard. I couldn’t find them anywhere on the menu which I guess didn’t matter because I was too full, but the smell of freshly fried dough sticks was amazing.
Is it worth the wait? My conclusion would be I’d prefer not to unless I had a big craving, there are heaps of restaurants in Sydney and so many choices. Although the clever thing to do is probably go to the store in Centrepoint Westfield (level 6) as it appears to be less busy in comparison.
Venue: Chat Thai (thaitown)
Address:20 Campbell St, Haymarket, Sydney
Phone: (02) 9211 1808
Website: http://www.chatthai.com.au/
Opening hours: crazy long hours!
lunch: 10am-5pm
dinner: 5pm-10pm
supper: 9.30-2am
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 