Khrua Charoenkrung or Charoen Krung Kitchen in Hua Hin, <a re headed to the Hua Hin night markets but are looking for a local gem restaurant that is quiet and away from the bustling crowd with a menu full of hits, walk 5 minutes away from the market and head towards Khrua Charoenkrung. The service here is genuinely sweet and lovely and the female only team serve and cook for their devoted clientele of Thais and visitors from neighbouring resorts with wide smiles.
The restaurant is clean with a breezy vibe with a couple of outdoor tables and half a dozen inside tables. Start with a pressed juice – they have rosella, a tangy sweet juice or chrysanthemum which is sweet and syrupy (alas the longan juice was sold out) for 15THB ($0.66AUD) each. There’s also beers and soda water as well as the usual soft drink selection.
The food prices here are very reasonable with most dishes around 60THB or around $2.64AUD. The waitress is so hospitable and friendly and makes sure that all of her customers are well taken care of. They are also very accommodating with vegans, vegetarians and anyone with specific dietaries.
We start with noodles in gravy with chicken. The chicken is tender and the noodles are sunken below the mixed vegetables. When you lift them out they’re gossamer thin wide rice noodles that just melt in the mouth. This is pure comfort food on a plate.
We decide to try one of the pricier dishes (it’s the only one above 80THB) and it is baked rice with Tao Si pork ribs. Tao Si pork is pork cooked with black beans and you often see this in yum cha trolleys. The rice comes in a sizzling pot and they remove the lid with a flourish worthy of a French waiter. The rice is soft and saucy with discs of Lup Cheong and stubbs of soft, melting pork ribs on the bone. Heaven.
The morning glory isn’t on the menu but when they came to take our order the woman showed us her phone and her google reviews where others have uploaded pictures of her food just in case we want to see what it looks like and the morning glory was one of them. It’s cooked in the classic way with shrimp paste and chilli. It hits the spot nicely with a good crunch in eat bite.
Another night we stop by in the early evening for a quick meal. The Pad See Ew is fantastic with a fantastic char from the wok. I add a little soy sauce and chilli powder and it’s absolutely delicious.
The noodles with pork comes with a clear broth, bean sprout, pork meatballs and your choice of noodles. The broth is quite mild so I add some fish sauce and a dash of soy sauce but the noodles and meatballs are tasty. Out of the two mains the pad see ew is definitely the pick for flavour.
As the dishes are on the more modest size (they’re perfect for me but Mr NQN needs a bit more) we order a third option. I’m a Pad See Ew gal over Pad Thai because Pad Thai needs to be made fresh otherwise the noodles can clump together but this version is made fresh to order and has the requisite sour tang to it along with crushed peanuts and chicken.
So tell me Dear Reader, do you have a dish that you always order at Thai
Charoen Krung Kitchen Thai Street Food Restaurant Hua Hin
87, 20 Phet Kasem Rd, Hua Hin, Hua Hin District, Prachuap Khiri Khan 77110, Thailand
Open 7 days 10:30 AM–2:30 PM, 5:30–8:30 PM
