Restaurant Guide

Sheung Wan’s tranformation from a scruffy bedroom community into a foody paradise has gotten another shot in the arm with the arrival of a trendy eatery serving spicey food from the Isaan region of Northeastern Thailand.

Chachawan Isaan Thai and Bar officialy opened last night in the Sheung Wan section of Hong Kong Island, which has seen the arrival of many trendy new restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and cafés in recent years.

The restaurant’s menu features hearty dishes from the Isaan region of Northeastern Thailand. Expect grilled meats, yummy seafood, and lots of sticky rice. And wait til you sink your teeth into those yummy Thai desserts!

“Isaan food is from the Northeast of Thailand, a region full of good-hearted, feisty, funny people,” says Chef Adam Thompson, who previously worked at popular Thai restaurants in London, Bangkok, and Singapore.

“Chachawan delivers a sweet-salt-sour-heat smack down, changing the typical Hong Konger’s expectations of a traditional Thai meal of one-dimensional coconut curries and tom yum soup. Expect simple, delicious, small-plated dishes cooked ‘a la minute’ either on the charcoal grill or in the kitchen.”

Small plated dishes? Uh, oh! I’m not a big fan of those!

Neighborhood Feel

The stylish Thai restaurant has all the trappings of a traditional neighborhood eatery. It’s intimate, informal, and friendly.

“The design is raw and impactful like the food,” says Hong Kong Entrepreneur Yenn Wong, who has sought to mix elements of Old Hong Kong with the down home earthiness of Thailand’s Isaan region.

“It has bursts of colours, raw textures like zinc, iron, concrete, and vintage raw wood. Our graphic designers also worked with a lot of interesting Thai illustrations layered on vintage Hong Kong posters to reflect Isaan coming into Hong Kong.”

The trendy new Thai restaurant is located at 206 Hollywood Road in Sheung Wan on Hong Kong Island.