The Hit And Run Restaurant "review" Thread

[Jingthing]

5 minutes ago, champers said:

And you get to enjoy the weekend leftovers.

Yeah, a dirty little "secret" about the restaurant biz in general. 

[The manic]

On 29/12/2012 at 8:42 AM, raro said:

it's a shop house, I'd say okay to bring guests, but it's not the Ritz really. Added bonus for you :the menu is in German.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect App

I like Balkan food. I'm gonna try it.

[The manic]

I enjoy the seafood restaurant on Naklua Rd about half a mile from the Dolphin Roundabout. Over on the other side there are some beer bars including Bulldogs. But they are not exactly opposite. The restaurant has large tanks of shell fish at the front on the corner of the soi and the main road. It has an open air dining area outside the front of the restautant and more live fish incuding crabs. I enjoy the clams with Chilli paste accompanied with crab fried rice. The service is efficient and friendly. Beer is a modest price. The place has few European  foreigners but occasionally small groups of Chinese and what appear to be Thai tour operators. Sorry I cant be more specific. 

[The manic]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Yeah, a dirty little "secret" about the restaurant biz in general. 

For such practices people should read Orwell's ' Down and Out in London and Paris'.

[Jingthing]

51 minutes ago, The manic said:

I like Balkan food. I'm gonna try it.

Post is from 2012!  How do you know it's still there?!?

[Jingthing]

42 minutes ago, The manic said:

I enjoy the seafood restaurant on Naklua Rd about half a mile from the Dolphin Roundabout. Over on the other side there are some beer bars including Bulldogs. But they are not exactly opposite. The restaurant has large tanks of shell fish at the front on the corner of the soi and the main road. It has an open air dining area outside the front of the restautant and more live fish incuding crabs. I enjoy the clams with Chilli paste accompanied with crab fried rice. The service is efficient and friendly. Beer is a modest price. The place has few European  foreigners but occasionally small groups of Chinese and what appear to be Thai tour operators. Sorry I cant be more specific. 

I think I know the place you mean and it's been mentioned here before. I also can't name it. If it's the same place, it's popular with Thai young adults later at night. 

[The manic]

19 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I think I know the place you mean and it's been mentioned here before. I also can't name it. If it's the same place, it's popular with Thai young adults later at night. 

I'll report back with a pic.

[bkk6060]

Michelin star in Pats!

 

http://pattayapeople.com/2017/09/26/opening-of-the-first-michelin-star-in-pattaya-hawker-chan/

 

I ate at the one in BKK at Terminal 21.   Very very good and not that pricey.

I am surprised they are at RG I thought they would wait for the new Term. 21.

Anyway, the chicken and small ribs were very tasty glad to see this place come to Pats.

[tomwct]

Hooter's In Pattaya just awarded a Michelin Star for their wings. Congrats to the Wing Chef for his excellent cooking!

[Jingthing]

9 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Michelin star in Pats!

 

http://pattayapeople.com/2017/09/26/opening-of-the-first-michelin-star-in-pattaya-hawker-chan/

 

I ate at the one in BKK at Terminal 21.   Very very good and not that pricey.

I am surprised they are at RG I thought they would wait for the new Term. 21.

Anyway, the chicken and small ribs were very tasty glad to see this place come to Pats.

HAWKER CHAN

 

Beat me to it.

Yes, they have opened!

In front of Royal Garden, beach side, you can't miss it.

The specialty is the SOYA SAUCE CHICKEN w/ rice but they offer a good bit of other appealing choices.

Don't compare to Thai street food khao man gai. Different dish. Different price. 

Anyway I was hungry for a big meal so I ordered the --

Soya Sauce Chicken with Ho fun noodles served with a wonderful XO type chili sauce. 130. 

According to the menu when ordered with rice you don't get that special chili sauce.

I recommend that special chili sauce which is also served with other (not Ho Fun) noodles. 

You can serve yourself the standard chili sauce, soy sauce, and dark sweet soy sauce. 

I also ordered an order of Chinese broccoli. Perfectly cooked with garlic on top. 100

Also rice. Unfortunately I wanted plain rice to eat with the broccoli but was served the standard chicken style rice soaked on soy sauce. I accepted it. Lesson learned. 20.

Also ordered a small side of char sui (BBQ pork). 50. Lots of fat on that. Small portion as expected.

You can also order sides of roast pork or ribs.

The amount of chicken with the chicken rice (or noodles) really isn't much, so if you're only ordering chicken rice or noodles, that's more like a small meal or snack for many. 

 

How was the food?

Bloody wonderful. 

The soya sauce chicken and the char sui were some of the best I've ever had.

It's self service sort of. You order and pay at the counter but I found the servers brought the food to the table. Not sure they will do that if they're busy.

Speaking of which, as the place is so famous, and they just opened, they were very much NOT busy. 

Personally I could do without all the Michelin hype and the slick Singapore branding but with food that good, I don't care. It's like my local dream come true for a real Chinese BBQ meat restaurant. 

 

To add if you want more meat, 1/2 chicken (which is only chicken) is 300. 

 

Other dishes for sale:

Won ton soup

Thai style tofu (why there?)

Meat combo plates, 2 or 3 pork meat choices

Plate of bean sprouts

 

Wait for it ... no plus plus. 

 

 

 

Edited September 27, 2017 by Jingthing

[digbeth]

When I tried Hawker Chan in Bangkok, the quality was very variable, the first time I tried their famous soya chicken it was dried and bland, I didn't get what the fuss was all about, only on subsequent visit that I get to taste the proper soya chicken, and then a lot of items on the menu were out of stock. It's no fine dining, I'd say they're gearing the franchise to be 'quick service' like western fast food. Looks like it's run by the same group of people that brought Tim Ho Wan the michelin starred Hong Kong Dim Sum place that's in Terminal 21 in Bangkok and Korat now too, that'll be in Pattaya soon enough

[Jingthing]

Of course. It's hawker food. It's served quickly.

 

In any case I really loved it served with the Ho Fun noodles and the special XO style chili sauce. I much prefer that to a serve with black sauce soaked rice. 

 

I think they might run of out of stuff when they get busy. So far, the Pattaya location isn't busy at all. That kind of surprised me. 

Edited September 28, 2017 by Jingthing

[bkk6060]

4 minutes ago, digbeth said:

When I tried Hawker Chan in Bangkok, the quality was very variable, the first time I tried their famous soya chicken it was dried and bland, I didn't get what the fuss was all about, only on subsequent visit that I get to taste the proper soya chicken, and then a lot of items on the menu were out of stock. It's no fine dining, I'd say they're gearing the franchise to be 'quick service' like western fast food. Looks like it's run by the same group of people that brought Tim Ho Wan the michelin starred Hong Kong Dim Sum place that's in Terminal 21 in Bangkok and Korat now too, that'll be in Pattaya soon enough

Not my experience at all did not find it as a western fast food place.  You can look and see thru the glass all the fresh food being made.

Yes, the service was fast because it is run efficiently.

It's no fine dining??  Well it certainly is a decent setup and isn't that the point, it is the first street food vendor to ever get the star..... 

[Jingthing]

I don't see the point of debating this. No restaurant is fully consistent. The place is very famous. People that like that kind of food (I love it) are going to try it. It's not like they really have any strong competition for that style of food in Pattaya. Like that Chinese food court place at Central definitely isn't in their league.

Edited September 28, 2017 by Jingthing

[digbeth]

The first few months in Bangkok Hawker Chan is packed full with queues to order and another queues to get seats... strange that the Pattaya

The whole beachfront of Royal Garden Plaza is a strange place, there's a lot of foot traffic, especially tourists, but it seemed so empty, McDonald's moved out, and recently Bon Chon Chicken moved to Central. Parking is horrible there but the tourist crowds and baht bus regular shouldn't be affected by that. Even Foodland's big Took Lae Dee down in the basement is half empty all of the time compared to their Klang branch

[Jingthing]

Well I'm happy if they're not busy if they can at least stay in business. I might queue up for Tim Ho Wan but not chicken. 

I think there are "ways" to drum up opening crowds with high investment places like that.

[champers]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Well I'm happy if they're not busy if they can at least stay in business. I might queue up for Tim Ho Wan but not chicken. 

I think there are "ways" to drum up opening crowds with high investment places like that.

I am not aware of any promos or advertising. Foodland generated more publicity about their opening at the same place.

First I heard they were open was when I read it in this thread.

[Jingthing]

Yeah, I agree. I don't think they made a special effort to make the opening a big bang. But it's open now. Come and get your chicken! 

[NewGuy]

Hawker Chan got a mixed review from me.  The soya chicken was really good, the char siu very nice, accompanying sambals quite sweet but terrific, nam prim okay, ordinary noodles disappointing, almost as they had been cooked before and reheated (can't be, I know, but boy did they clump). The won ton soup got zero stars. Most of  the minced pork balls (not shrimp) floated by themselves, a couple still had their wrappers which were too thin, IMHO. The broth was insipid with a too heavy hand on the white pepper.  Overall, I sure wouldn't line up for this at a hawker stand; we were the only ones at Royal Garden.

 

 

[Jingthing]

Thanks for the report. I was going to try the won ton and regular noodles but now I think I'll pass on the won Ton and stick with the ho fun noodles which I know I like. I think your description of the hot sauce as Sambal is probably better than what I said XO style sauce. I called it XO style because I tasted seafood in it but not sure it actually has it. 

I agree I would not line up for their food but it seems in Pattaya we won't have to. Well unless Chinese bus tourd start booking it that is. 

[Jingthing]

I lied.

I went back and tried the regular noodles at HAWKER CHAN.

They were OK for me but I prefer the Ho Fun.

The restaurant continues to be mostly empty. Weird. I hope they make it. It's really noticeable because the place is so BIG with so many tables. I passed by last night too ... almost empty. 

I think the local Thais are directly comparing them to Thai street food price-wise as I saw a Thai couple share one order of chicken rice. So even though "very cheap" for "Michelin star" food, it ain't cheap for street food or food court food.

This time had the chicken w/ regular noodles.

As I am already recognized as a "regular" after just two visits I was offered extra sambal sauce (not the regular chili sauce you can serve yourself all you want). 

The portion of soya chicken seemed a tad larger and hard to believe, even better than before.

Often great food is less exciting the next time. Not in this case.

Had a small side of ribs just to try the ribs there. So the only meat I haven't tried there yet is the roast pork. The ribs didn't seem as wonderful as the char sui but I wouldn't throw them out of bed either.

Tried the Thai style tofu. 95. That's fried tofu pieces sitting in a sweet sauce, topped with chopped peanuts, green mango, and scallion. The flavor was great but probably won't order much as I don't like sweet food very often. The tofu could have been crispier and less soggy. But I would still recommend the dish. 

Anyway, I think they need more customers so that they stay open so that I can get my fixes of their obscenely good soya sauce chicken!

Edited September 30, 2017 by Jingthing

[Damrongsak]

41 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

... I went back and tried the regular noodles at HAWKER CHAN.

They were OK for me but I prefer the Ho Fun.

I used to like a bit of Ho fun late in the evening.

[Jingthing]

22 minutes ago, Damrongsak said:

I used to like a bit of Ho fun late in the evening.

110 baht including chicken? 

[Damrongsak]

7 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

110 baht including chicken? 

Back in 1978, at the Panyang Tong hotel in BKK, you could get two legs and two breasts for 90 Baht.  Maybe it was a happy hour special.

[wpcoe]

Had lunch yesterday at Hawker Chan, and my jury's still out.  I always give a place a second try just in case I hit them on a rare "off" day.

 

I had the signature chicken with noodles.  I think the chicken was slightly undercooked.  It was not hot like the noodles were, the meat was slightly pink in the middle (not bloody, just a hint of pink) and had to be gnawed off the bones.  The noodles were rather clumpy, too.  Flavor-wise, though, both the chicken and noodles were top notch.

 

I guess compared to food court pricing it may be high, but I didn't think it was unreasonable for a decent size dish of chicken and noodles.  I also appreciated that they had Coke Zero -- so many places only have sugared soft drinks -- at B30.

 

I think next time I'll try the sliced pork and maybe ho fun noodles?

Edited October 1, 2017 by wpcoe

[KittenKong]

On 27/09/2017 at 3:15 PM, bkk6060 said:

Michelin star in Pats!

 

I always thought that Michelin stars were awarded to individual outlets and not chains or branches.

 

I suspect that mentioning their Singapore star is some creative advertising by the owners of this chain.

[bkk6060]

33 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

 

I always thought that Michelin stars were awarded to individual outlets and not chains or branches.

 

I suspect that mentioning their Singapore star is some creative advertising by the owners of this chain.

It was awarded when he was a hawker with one shop in Singapore.

Sure, now they are playing off that yes very smart of them.

Glad they are doing so.

[Awohalitsiktoli]

Ate at Hawker Chan 10 minutes ago.  The place is large and 1/2 was sort of ropped off.  There were about 7 other people there (some speaking Thai and others Chinese).   I tried the ribs w/ some noodle item.  The taste was good but almost zero meat on the ribs (will never order that again).  And the noodles were in a clump, but you have to separate them and drench them in the nice sauces.....tasty in my opinion.  Next time, I plan on ordering the pork w/ noodle.  One poster said the chicken was undercooked, but one poster said the chicken was great.........so, maybe I will try both.  The prices are inexpensive and the food does appear to be clean.   It is certainly worth trying.

[Jingthing]

The chicken isn't supposed to be served hot. I seriously doubt it's  undercooked. Some people might just not like that style of chicken. Some Chinese cooking styles for chicken have some red. Doesn't mean it's a safety issue. There is a classic dish where Chinese style boiled chicken is served with ginger scallion oil. There is usually some red on that style. I ate that dish for years. Never sick from it. 

 

 

Yes of course the Pattaya location does not literally have a Michelin star. 

 

I guess the regular noodles there are consistently kind of clumpy. Didn't bother me.

 

 

The ho fun choice for those that don't know are wide rice noodles. They're usually served in stir fry dishes like beef chow fun. My first encounter with them being served as is in a Chinese BBQ meat restaurant. 

Edited October 1, 2017 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

Just to show I wasn't kidding about some Chinese chicken cooking styles serving some red or pink in the chicken. This is poached actually, not boiled, which is what I meant to say before. Anyway. Hawker Chen won't be red like this and they don't serve the pictured style of poached chicken, but I'm just suggesting not to freak out if you see some what the other poster described as PINK in their chicken. So far, I haven't seen any pink or red there in their style. 

 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2017 by Jingthing