Hua Hin, Thailand – dining recommendations required

[RickBehl]

Hi all,

Heading to Hua Hin in a few weeks with the family (wife and two young kids). Everything I've read so far seems to suggest that there are not a lot of great 'authentic' dining options in Hua Hin? I'm hoping that has changed over time and that there will be some places to get real Thai food hopefully specific to the region and some specialities. Anyone have any advice or personal tips on where to go? We're quite adventurous travellers and eaters although now we have two kids (aged 1 and 3) we obviously cannot climb down a mountain to get to a beach side restaurant anymore :-)

Thanks in advance,

Rick

[IrishAdventurer]

Hi Rick,

We stayed just outside Hua Hin about two years ago, and really enjoyed it. I'm not sure what counts as authentic in that part of Thailand (or any part for that matter), but the food we had was certainly different to European Thai food, and it was very good in every case.

We stayed in a small resort between Hua Hin and Cha-am, and had some very good local restaurants so we didn't go to the two larger towns too often. From what I recall, our travel guide (Lonely Planet I think) was a bit snooty about Hua Hin, but there were some recommendations for there too. I can check if you'd like. The restaurants built on piers over the water are obviously catering to tourists, but we found the seafood there (everywhere in fact) very good, and the setting really is lovely. My best advice would be eat wherever you want: I deliberately tried food from the little stalls built around mopeds (sweet and savoury) and it was uniformly excellent, without any gastro-intestinal distress shall we say. That isn't supposed to sound condescending either to you or to the food vendors, and if you're based in Hong Kong then I'm sure you're well-versed in street food culture but I think many visitors from the US and Europe would be a little wary. Dive in would be my advice.

Again, I'm not sure if it's 'authentic' (I think it's one of those dishes that would provoke endless debate about the recipe) but try the Tom Yam soup everywhere you go. The variety is surprising and it is utterly delicious.

[RickBehl]

Thanks for the tips. We did a trip to Hua Hin over 5 years ago and the one thing I do remember was the Tom Yam Soup which was completely on another level compared to what I had eaten in Thai restaurants outside of Thailand. Will try and take your advice about the street eating although to be honest the older I get the more cautious I seem to get too... Trying to deal with tummy problems is one thing but trying to deal with the same problems and having a 1 year old and a 3 year old jumping and screaming around you is a whole other ball game :-)

Anyway, I'm slowly accumulating a small list of places although it doesn't seem to have the same amount of amazing foodie destinations as say Bangkok... Will try and report back hopefully with some more up to date advice for the next traveller...

Cheers

Rick

[NickLam]

This is too late, but for any future travellers to Huahin, there is actually a lot of great food there, but you'll need to be a local to find it! My advice is, once you are there, ask your concierge about these places:

Huahin

• Krua Kannikar - Thai BBQ Chicken (Gai Yarng) near the Railway Station
• Pa Jue - Mango Sticky Rice across the road from the Hilton Hotel
• Mee Chai - Sells an assortment of sweet snacks, try the coconut and taro custard using duck eggs and kanom tian, sticky rice pyramids flavoured with a wild herb and stuffed with a savoury sweet filling. Amazing. Give the mango sticky rice a miss, even though they claim to be the best and the oldest in Hua Hin
• Nong May - Great Thai Chinese food and some seafood. Open lunch and dinner, go early or it'll all be sold out. The hor muk (Curried Fish Custard similar to Otak Otak in Malaysia/Singapore) is to die for.

Cha-am

• Jae Daeng - Thai Chinese food. Try the Plaa Goong, a herbal salad with a lime dressing tossed amongst fresh prawns barely swirled in boiling water.

And of course, the only reason I would drive 4 hours to eat when the craving strikes!

Pranburi

• Yok Sod - The best mangrove crab I've ever had, simply steamed. The crabs are grown there and harvested less than 500m away daily. Other dishes are brilliant as well, some of the best food I've had in Thailand. My favourite side dish is the Seablithe stirfried with garlic. its like Marsh Samphire in the UK.

This place is just a shack in the middle of no where next to a small river where thousands of baby crabs are spawning. Its a 75 min drive from Huahin and would require a GPS. The great news is that along the way, you'll be treated to breath-taking mountainous views of the Sam-Roi-Yord or 300 Peaks. If you go on Saturdays, the owner, who is a professor of logistics in Bangkok will be the one steaming and chopping your crabs. For any tourist who doesn't have a car, I would rent one or get a taxi driver to join you for lunch.

The price you'll pay for the meal will be cheaper than any restaurant in Huahin for crabs of that size and quality. I've had king crab in Japan before and I can assure you eating at Yok Sod would be an equally impressive experience. Your wallet won't hate you either!

Get the concierge to call ahead to book the biggest, juiciest crabs. They sell really fast.

GPS Coordinates: N12.19420, E99.99381

Phone: 085-0657123 or 0868832356

Edited July 24, 2013 by NickLam (log)

[NickLam]

For those headed up to Huahin or Pranburi, you can read about Yok Sod, my favourite restaurant. Thailand's version of farm to table, eating in a shack! Crabs, fish, prawns, sea vegetables, etc.....harvested in the region and simply cooked to perfection. Anyone with a morning to spare in Huahin would do no wrong in having lunch at Yok Sod.

[Chris Amirault]

I shared a few thoughts on Hua Hin here.