Chat Thai, Westfield Sydney, CBD

I think I have a bit of an obsession with coconut. Which is why I have such an intense love for Thai food! There's just something about coconuts which seem to scream holidaying in a tropical paradise. Chat Thai always seems to be one of my go-to restaurants because the food is always nice. And the desserts there are to die for! But before we skip to all things sweet, we do have to get some proper food into our bellies (:

L to R: coconut milk with silky pandan dumplings, $4.50 ; fresh homemade coconut juice, $5.00

Drinks to start off with. I definitely fell in love with both these drinks for different reasons. The coconut milk drink contained pandan dumplings and jackfruit pieces which were beautifully the sweet. The drink itself was really like a liquid dessert. The young coconut juice contained pieces of coconut and was very refreshing.

Fresh spring rolls with smoked fish sausage, chicken and crab with caramelised taramind relish, $12.00

These were like healthier versions of spring rolls where the same outer skin was used but they weren't deep fried! Obviously, the flavour profile was also different with the fish sausage dominating the more subdued flavour of chicken and crab.

Green papaya salad with peanuts and dried shrimps, $11.50

Whoever can say no to spicy salads? I love the sweet, sour and spicy elements that shine through in this one salad. I almost always order this when eating out because I seem to have trouble balancing the three flavours myself at home! What a shame. Anyone have any tips? I love the saltiness that the dried shrimp provide to give this dish just that little bit extra. This salad is best eaten with sticky rice to take away the heat!

Padt si-ew, $12.50

Loved the smokiness the wok provided for these noodles. Definitely on the sweeter side, but I enjoyed it nonetheless (: The greens make you feel like you're eating something relatively healthy ;)

Crying tiger, $12.50

I was expecting something that would be crazy spicy and leave your entire mouth tingling and burning from this dish. That's what you would expect when you call a dish "crying tiger"! Though this was a far cry from the spiciness I was expecting and it was definitely mild. The beef was quite chewy and hard to eat so this wasn't one of my favourites.

Fried green curried prawn mousseline, $14.00

These were interesting enough. Had a texture reminiscent to fish cake that you buy from Chinese supermarkets. The taste didn't stand out for me though.

Coconut jelly, $3.50

This coconut jelly is amazing! Not like your usual supermarket jelly. It's not bouncy and harder in texture. There were pieces of fresh coconut hidden inside that just made it that more delicious.

Clockwise from top left: tup tim grob, $6.50 ; khanom busing, $2.50 ; pandan sticky rice and mango, $6.50

The tup tim grob had tapioca coated chestnuts that had a slight bite on the outside which gave way to a small crunchy chestunt piece. The soup was quite aromatic with jasmine and coconut, and was quite sweet. Which is where the ice came in to break the sweetness up!

I was curious about the khanom busing because of the meringue filling which was topped with threads of candied egg yolk and candied herbs and shrimps, encased by a thin, sweet wafer. I was interested to see how the sweet and salty would work together. I guess I could definitely see how people could like this dessert, but I don't think I'm used to it quite yet! Dried shrimp tends to be very strong in flavour after all.

We specially asked for a mix of pandan sticky rice and normal sticky rice for this dessert. I love how fragrant the pandan sticky rice was! I think they were pretty heady with the jasmine as well which I have no complaints about because I love jasmine. Coconut cream, fresh juicy mango that is sweet, and sticky rice. Absolutely nothing wrong with this flavour combination and everything right!

Coconut ice-cream, $6.90

So many textures in this one dish! We have the chewiness of the pandan sticky rice, the sweet and savoury crunch from the palm seeds and peanuts, and the smooth creaminess of the coconut ice-cream. The coconut ice-cream was sweet and not at all icy, and definitely did not skimp out on the flavour. I hate it when ice-creams at restaurants are on the icy and bland side. Luckily it was not the case here! I think I have found a favourite out of all the desserts :P

My friends and I left clutching our bellies after this feasting. There were only five of us girls after all. How did we manage to devour all this food? I guess we were misguided about the capacity of our stomachs ;)

Chat Thai
Level 6 Westfield Sydney, 188 Pitt St Mall
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Opening Hours
Monday-Sunday: 10:00am - 12:00midnight