Chachawan

My favorite restaurant in Hong Kong hands down! Actually I can say that chachawan is one of my favorite restaurants across the globe (and I travel extensively). Their salt crusted whole grilled fish is soooo good. They pack the outer skin of the fish with salt and they grill it to perfection. So you can’t eat the skin. But you can just lift the skin off the fish, and it should give away quite easily. The meat inside is moist and «fluffy», they also add a stalk of lemon grass in the mouth of the fish and that gives the meat a hint of lemongrass flavor without overpowering the natural taste of the fish. Also their grilled chicken thigh and fried chicken is so good! Their grilled chicken thigh is the most moist I’ve ever had and the sauce they add on top really soaks into the chicken. Also their fried chicken is just perfection, no need for me to describe anymore.
Drinks– get the mango one with the salt! Or the one in the coconut! They have the option of adding alcohol but I’m good off that. I prefer the virgin drinks!
Tip: at the end of the meal, they give you slices of green mango with some type of salt that is

one thing doe– lots of foreigners. I mean I’m in Hong Kong but I see more foreigners than locals eating here.

The food here was delicious and plentiful. Why three stars you ask?
The seating here is a bit cramped, I get it– small space/​big city. However, when the party beside our table got up to leave we asked if we could push their table against ours for our party of four. We were told no, that another group was coming in for that table. Cool.
Except, they never did. We stayed for another 45 minutes or so — we had more dishes to order and wine to drink– and no one ever sat at that table. Not so cool. We ordered a pile of food and may have ordered more if there was room to put it on our small table.
That being said, we loved the larb and the whole fish. Very memorable and dishes I would order again in a heartbeat. They tend to have a bit of a wait so grab a beer from 7 – 11 to enjoy outside while you wait for your table.

Casual atmosphere, great food! Combined with good friends, one of the best meals on the trip. Would definitely come back. Everything ordered was delish!

One of my favourite restaurants in Hk. I try and avoid the weekends, as the no reservation policy is a pain and I don’t like the idea of queueing for 1 – 2 hours. Once you’re in the food is exceptional and the whole place has got a laid back, cool atmosphere.

Hands down from first plate till the final sea bass feast. Thai cuisine is absolutely on my top 5. And I turn to switch to more authentic sour, salty, spicy style than various curry in my younger days. This spot, nostalgia HK deco, small plate and industrial/​street vibe, drag me to such a care-​free Sunday night.
The drinks are some LKF bar standard. We two wanna swallow a whole tiger that we determined to pass the long listed salad session. Chicken thigh to start. Greedy skewers if you are used to Yardbird portion. And of course, since Thai, you will be anticipating that sweet savoury soy sauce with hot chilli. We growed our appetite right after. Veggie salad with anchovy. inspirational.
Signature salted whole sea bass. ‘We don’t flip fish here, let us know when you are done with this side. We will help you with the bones’. Two waitress passed by and convinced/​repeated this. Alright. The taboo is defiantly no salted cod skin. They warmed me but that does not stop my curiosity. They are right. The fish is perfect for two to share.
I hate that we missed mince pork with lettuce, that my all time favourite. We are marking our calendar to go back.

This is far and away my favorite Thai restaurant in HK and I highly recommend coming here if you like the strong flavors from the north of Thailand. (Not so much Pad Thai or curries — in fact they don’t even have that there).
First of all, the food is authentic and the chef has a down to earth personality that makes you feel good about being there. He is always there in the kitchen expediting and overseeing the orders in his small but open kitchen. The flavors are on the spicier side with strong flavored Thai sauces to accompany virtually every dish that comes out of his kitchen. The sauces are worth trying so don’t forget to dip when you order up.
Favorites to order are:
–pork rinds. They make them themselves and are good to nibble on while drinking your hipster-​inspired cocktail
–The pounded papaya salad (mention your spicy level if you can’t eat spicy) with roast pork or shrimp.
–Have the clams. They are steamed with basil, ginger, galangal, and other herbs and the green spicy sauce is one of my favorites here
–grilled pork collar. This order is large for pork neck but so juicy and tender — you’ll want this and is great to share.
–not crazy for the chicken but if I did order up — then the marinated drunken fried chicken.
–order the fish. It is good to share when you are among 4 people and order the crab fried rice to go along with the fish. This is usually our main (even when it’s just my husband and I).
–last, have the dessert here. The coconut ice cream is my personal favorite to cleanse and refresh the palate but the mango sticky rice is also solid. And not always easy to find in HK.
*Note to order 2 – 3 dishes at a time because they cook fast and want to turn tables relatively quickly since it is a no reservation restaurant. Only the grilled fish is something you will want to order at the beginning of service (takes 20+ mins to prepare).
Prices are moderate but I would say, if you order a few of the above with drinks for two people — the bill is around 400 – 500 HKD.
Service is decent for HK– but more on the hipster side so you may not get warm fuzzier from everyone but they are definitely professional. Though be warned this place does get popular on weekends and during peak times for dinner. Dinning for two is better than big parties because of the no reservation policy and if you really still want to come in a group of 4 – 6, just be prepared to have a short wait on weekdays and 30 – 45 min wait on weekends if it’s busy. Luckily 208 and other bars are very near by to kill time while you wait for your table to be ready. Oh, also, if you go — everyone needs to be there to be seated. So keep that in mind so it won’t be frustrating when your table is ready but your buddy is hella late to dinner. Lastly, some seating can be tight (esp by the window upstairs or by the bar down stairs) and there is not much air conditioning — but I hardly think of Thai food as a white dining experience and find it more fun this way!
Again I love the food here a lot and am always excited to eat here. It’s not overly pretentious and consistently good since the time it opened their doors.
Always worth a visit for us when in HK.

Very nice Thai place. Friendly staff and delicious food. Only problem is their shop is tiny and completely open, so it could be chilly on a windy night

If I could give zero stars I would. Now I have to say that this review is given purely on the incompetence of the waitstaff. I sat down and immediately told them of my gluten intolerance. After ordering and going trough what I could and couldn’t have. The good came and I started to chow down. Half way through eating a plate of morning glory I was told oh sorry ma’am you cannot eat that — it had gluten. How on earth is this something she did not think to tell me when I ordered the dish. But I suppose after ordering the marinated chicken which she said was made without soya sauce, after delivering to our table she advised I could not in fact eat it.
All that said. If you can handle spice and like Thai food this is a place to try. I just won’t be coming back. If on the off chance I do I will be speaking directly with the kitchen.
The dessert rice dumplings are a must try

Chachawan is a bustling Thai restaurant with a great lively atmosphere. At the front is a small bar area serving Thai themed cocktails with patrons spilling onto Hollywood Road when it is busy. Behind the slightly hectic bar is the restaurant itself with a series of bistro style tables in the middle of the room and a bar at the back looking onto an open kitchen. There is more seating to be had upstairs, although I have not ventured up there yet, preferring to look into the kitchen and watch the chefs at work.
Unlike most Thai places, Chachawan specialises in Issan cuisine, from the North-​Eastern region of Thailand. As a result, the typical curry or noodle dishes are nowhere to be found (or almost nowhere as one dish has a curry element to it). Instead, the food focusses on the ingredients, whether grilled fish/​meat (the marinated chicken thighs are fabulous) or vegetables (I am a big fan of their smoked eggplant and morning glory) with a particular emphasis of salads. The raw material ingredients are complimented by hot and sour sauces — perfect lip smacking fare from my perspective. If you don’t light spicy food, the kitchen can tone the dishes down for you if you ask.
I have been here a few times here and have not been disappointed once. Watching the kitchen operate at full steam is something to behold. It is all quite frantic but it all comes together somehow at the pass. The food itself has been universally lovely. My favourite so far being the river prawns with the aforementioned egg plant. I have also watched salt baked sea bass wander past me out in the restaurant a few times which looks great as well — maybe that will be the next dish I sample!

Being half Thai, I generally hate eating Thai food in Hong Kong — most dishes are over thickened with coconut cream and everything is just a touch too sweet. On top of that, nobody seems to pay attention to the fact that Thai cuisine extends beyond tom yum soup and green curry.
However, Chachawan is the exception. The chef whips up Issan food which hails from the North of Thailand and is generally eaten with the hands… although this is optional at Chachawan!
Always packed at dinner time, the lunch set is a fantastic deal. For $ 118 per person you get a choice of a drink and two authentic Issan dishes with either jasmine or sticky rice. Ever homesick for my mama’s cooking, I always opt for the sticky rice and a delicious Thai iced tea which is considerately served with an eco-​friendly paper straw.
The dinner menu offers a larger selection of dishes with spice featuring heavily in most. The vibe is funky and the restaurant is always packed with patrons spilling into the street with cocktails in hand. On that topic, the cocktails are inventive and fun with outrageous names such as the Bloody Sex Change.
Dinner for two is around the $ 500 mark and is always a hoot with a trendy crowd guaranteed.