Sydney Winter Holiday 2014 (Day 7): Chat Thai Restaurant (Westfield) ~ Review

After a week full of family time, I headed to meet my old-time friend for dinner. She recommended Chat Thai at Westfield CBD. Apparently it's a pretty famous Thai food place and this is just one of their branch.

It was friday evening and there was quite a queue when we came. Thankfully we only waited about 15-20 minutes before our table's ready. As you can see, Chat Thai's atmosphere is pretty bustling with so many people chatting and dining inside. They have an open kitchen in front foods that need minimal preparation and a larger kitchen inside to serve cooked dish. Really like the dim lighting and and decoration inside the restaurant, it has an authentic Thai but still modern enough. Loving all the wooden details infused in the restaurant from the ceiling to the chairs.

This is how they served their tap water. Must say that this is a pretty cool looking metal cup. Had my friend not told me, I would've thought this is a small bowl for washing hands >.< One kid that pass my table though thinks my cup is his washing hand cup. He dipped his finger into my cup -.- I asked for another cup and the waitress looked super puzzled and somewhat stern.

Anyway the reason I'm telling you this story is because the staff are quite stern in my opinion. You can feel how in a rush they are and how they want you to order fast. She had a very stern look when I ask to change my cup. Furthermore, when we try to settle on how many bowls of rice we want to add, she had an annoyed face while waiting for us to come into conclusion, like we need to speed up. I guess this is what happens when you're working in a super busy and crowded restaurant with overflowing number of customers. Must be a very stressful environment. 

Anyway here's what we got:

Dtoom Sap or Hot and Sour Soup of Braised Pork Ribs. This right here is super awesome. I've never found a Thai soup that compares to Tom Yam but this might be it! It has that sourness you find in Tom Yam but on a pork broth soup. The pork is also very tender and you can actually chew and swallow the tendons and soft bones. The hint of spiciness is like a cherry on the top. The soup might be too salty and sour to eat on its own. I suggest eating it with rice, which makes it taste just right :)

Kana Mhu Grob or Stir-Fried Chinese Kale and Crisp Pork Belly. This is another awesome thing. The dish is topped with a salty slightly sweet sauce which I believe is the marinate of the pork as well. You can feel the marinate sips in to the pork meat so well. Not only is this pork crispy, it is also so tender. It's so easy to chew and the Chinese Kale is cooked perfectly - still green and crunchy. This thing is another must-have. My friend actually swore by this and almost order 2 portion for the 3 of us. Eat this with rice too

I hate to end with a disappointing dish. I'm just following the order how the food was served. I am a sucker for Thai Basil Chicken. It's something that I always order when I head to a Thai restaurant so I had to try their version of this. Unfortunately, this dish taste bland compare to the other dishes above. The Thai Express in Singapore makes a better Thai Basil Chicken according to my tastebuds. The basil is there but they should amp up with the sauce. Make it more sweet and add some salt.

All in all, I will definitely pay this place a visit again next time I'm in Sydney. I am very interested to try their original branch. I heard they have a really good dessert in their original branch. Hopefully when the time comes :)