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The exclusive restaurant inside of PaaDee, Langbaan is so popular it could have its own reservation scalping ring (seriously, the restaurant is so hyped and delicious to book out many months in advance). Fortunately, reservation scalping likely won't be necessary, now that owner Earl Ninsom and St. Jack bartender Alan Akwai have announced a new restaurant, Hat Yai, which will focus on Southern Thai dishes from the city of Hat Yai.
Ninsom estimates opening in the next month or so at 1605 N.E. Killingsworth St. (beside Podnah's Pit). "Construction is slowly underway," he tells Eater. "We're hoping for the end of the month or within the first two weeks of February." Here's a preview of Hat Yai's dinner menu (below), which Ninsom says will change only slightly between now and opening.
The food at Hat Yai will be prepared by chefs with some serious cooking experience. In addition to Ninsom's culinary skills, you'll find those of Taweesak Teesompong, Amporn Khayanha, and Duangduean Tattaruji. In his early 30s, Teesompong spent the last three years cooking at Nahm, the prestigious Bangkok restaurant specializing in prix-fixe meals of little-known Thai dishes. (For those counting, Nahm was named the number-one restaurant in Asia on Restaurant Magazine's The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2014). Teesompong just arrived in Portland this week. Khayanha previously cooked at Downtown's now closed Typhooon! and is currently working at PaaDee, and Tattaruji hails from Hat Yai, with experience cooking at the five-star Sukhothai Hotel Bangkok.
