Chat Thai

I really cannot express my love and appreciation for this place enough. “Chat Thai” is a restaurant chain that offers delicious Thai food of authentic quality. The chain has restaurants in various locations, with the more well-recognised ones on Campbell Street (ThaiTown), Westfield CBD and Manly. For this post, I will discuss the restaurant on Campbell Street, which offers fantastic food until the early AMs.

I love this place and go there to enjoy supper after work around 11:00pm or even later every single week. Even a few times a week. The place is quite small, and there’s always a line. Always. I believe they do not take reservations, therefore you just need to try your luck against others and be there early. Although the line could take up to 30 minutes, I would definitely wait because the food is completely worth the patience.

The menu has a great selection of entrees, mains and desserts. This particular Chat Thai actually has the widest range of desserts that you could choose from in comparison to its sister properties. The clear winner for desserts must be what we can describe as fried bread sticks, with creamy pandan dipping sauce. This very dessert runs out very quickly, so be sure to ask the waiter/waitress and order them before hand. Yes, don’t wait for dessert time after your main meal, just order them first. Otherwise, your sweet cravings will be left very unsatisfied. 

Moving on to the main events, I usually have the classic stirred fried noodles, which we call Pad See Ew - or something like that, since writing the English name for a Thai word is virtually impossible. Other than the items on the main menu, they also have smaller portions in the exclusive supper menu. For the top of my head, there are congees and porridge for $5, and the best of the bunch, egg-noodles with wonton. This is the best and most authentic Thai-style egg-noodle dish you could order in Sydney. The best part? It’s only $5.00. It’s not a huge bowl, but just what you need for a late night. If anything, you could order another one. You also have the choice to have the noodles with or without the soup, which is an absolutely divine broth. Since I’m quite greedy, I always asked for them with the soup separated into another bowl. Now that’s enjoying the best of both worlds. Unfortunately I did not manage to dig up a picture of this classic egg-noodle dish, but be sure to ask your server if you’re interested! There are, of course, other Thai favorites like Pad Thai - which I did find the picture for - and Som Tum. 

Chat Thai is also take away friendly, and I think you could even call to order your food ahead of time if you want to take out the items. Otherwise, there are Thai sweets and desserts that are made fresh daily right in the entrance of the restaurant, already packed into their appropriate containers. These great sweets, along with Fried Chicken Skin and at times, Pork and Fish Balls, could be purchased and enjoy as a delicious snack.

The restaurant is next door to two Thai grocery stores. These stores have a great selection of products from Thailand, from frozen foods to drinks, to snacks and sweets. The store next to that also has Thai DVDs and shows for those interested. Otherwise, Campbell Street is spoiled with Thai restaurants, so you’ll never have to crave for food Thai cuisine!