ChatThai is one of the highest rated Thai restaurants in Sydney and I’m not sure why it never popped up on my radar on previous searches for lunch destinations in Haymarket. Granted, Sydney’s Thai Town is a small strip of the CBD that I’ve never really set foot in either. Yet here we are — it’s busy for lunch but the turnover is quick.
This is the Gaeng Keaw Gai ($15.00, +$3.00 for steamed rice), ‘green curry of chicken with apple eggplants, kaffir lime leaves and thai basil’.
When it comes to meat dishes, I tend to expect a small amount of meat bulked up by vegetables, so I’m delighted by the generous pile of juicy and tender chicken breast here and even a little disappointed that there weren’t more apple eggplants. Overall, the dish is hearty and flavourful, with the spices in the curry delivering a moderate, yet pleasant, burn that’s enough to slow me down.
This is the Padt Ho ($15.00), ‘stir fried glass noodles with chicken, fresh chilli, bamboo, lemongrass, pea eggplants and kaffir lime leaves’.
N’s surprised by the generous serving of chicken mince and vegetables in this dish and actually wanted more glass noodles to balance it out, which is rare for any restaurant. The heat from this dish is prominent even for N who is very tolerant to spicy foods.
It’s easy to see how ChatThai earns its high ratings — the food and the friendly and quick service is difficult to fault.
ChatThai is located at 20 Campbell St, Haymarket NSW 2000.