Chat Thai - Westfield

When I was researching a Thai place to eat at while I was in Sydney, Chat Thai's name came up more than once. Friends have also mentioned that this is THE Thai place to be eating at. So needless to say I gave it a go. I actually went to the Westfield branch twice during my recent trip. Once with friends and second time with my boy.


Overall the ambiance of the restaurant is as you would expect a new hip restaurant to be. Standout and loud decor along with slightly dimmed lighting.

There is no visiting a Thai restaurant and not ordering a green curry. I ordered the Gaeng Keaw Gai, which was a green curry with chicken, apple eggplant and kaffir lime leaves. The concept of apple eggplant was new to me so that took me by surprise with the distinct flavor. However the overall curry flavoring wasn't as aromatic as I hoped. It was a nice dish but just not as amazing as it reputation had it to be.

Also, got the Massaman curry beef. This was a dry curry with pineapples, peanut and potato. Compared to the green curry this had a strong coconut flavor in the body of the sauce and together with the peanut and pineapple, this made a good dish with rice. Something that I would happily have as a stand alone dish. I would recommend this to someone who enjoys curry with full body flavors.

To maintain a balance, I also ordered the Emerald Duck. Which was basically greens tossed with duck. Not a stand alone dish in it's own right, but if you are ordering a number of dishes, this acts as a good complement as it breaks up all the strong flavors. And makes you feel less guilty with the vegetable component.

I also tried their signature pork belly with lemongrass and beans. This did not disappoint and lived up the menu photos. It was a bit oily side but since it's pork belly, it kind of needs to be oily. I would definitely recommend ordering this for any first timers at Chat Thai 

There was also the Boat noodle. This was a very rich soup noodle with beef, Chinese broccoli and bean sprouts. I'm not sure that this would appeal to everyone as the flavor is so strong. I did enjoy it but my boy not so much.

By dessert time I was so stuffed and was struggling. However being the pig I am I still ordered a fresh mango with sticky rice. This was fairly heavy due to the sticky rice part but still really satisfying.

Overall the food was not bad, given the price I won't mind going back. One thing I do need to mention, the service was terrible. The first visit there was 8 of us, 5 of us got our food and the other 3 had to wait a good 30 minutes before they got their's. The waiters and waitress didn't notice either and was fairly rude when we asked them about it. Second time, the waitress that was looking my table kept wanting to take away the plate, even though I was clearly eating from it. She did this twice. I was a bit puzzled.... seriously WTF are you doing taking away the plate I'm eating off. Getting their attention was also a struggle. I understand the place was busy but seriously when the craze goes down I have a strong feeling their SHIT service will come back and bite them.


I would score them a 16/20 but given the poor service it only deserves a 14/20 in my books now.