Hat Yai

Hat Yai opened on NE Killingsworth this past spring, in a popular little strip that includes Podnah's Pit and La Taq.  Hat Yai is a city in southern Thailand and the restaurant Hat Yai serves some of the specialties of the area, fried chicken, curry and roti.  I spent a semester abroad in Singapore many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed curry and roti, which was a popular late night student snack, so I was excited to give it a try.

We ordered soy cured short ribs braised in coconut, shallot, and cilantro and served with jasmine rice.  This was pretty fabulous, the broth was really flavorful and the short ribs were tender.  Thai cooking commonly uses shrimp, and due to my crustacean allergy, I was unable to try the curry at Hat Yai.  Fortunately, they offered a vegan curry option.  So we ordered the curry and roti set with fried chicken.  I thought the chicken was nice and crispy, but the coating had whole coriander in it and it was very strongly flavored.  I liked the roti and I thought the curry was okay, perhaps a bit thick for me.