Moon Smile and Platoo- Hua Hin- A Review

This little hole in the wall eatery has a strong following as a result of many glowing reviews on several travel sites.

Moon Smile is located on Poolsuk Road, pretty much on the "tourist eatery strip"and is easy to find, just a short walk from the Hilton Hotel, heading towards the main shopping area in town.

There are three long rows of tables in the place which holds around 36 customers. Tastefully decorated with tablecloths and flowers on the table it is usually quiet at lunch time but at night time after 6pm you may have to wait for 10 minutes or more for a table. And people do wait even though there are good eateries on either side. You will be sitting very close to your eating neighbours.

Overall we loved the food, returning three times to try different dishes, generally with the same friends each visit.

Some of the dishes are okish, others brilliant. We quickly worked out that the kitchen's forte is stir fry and not curry dishes. The meals are are little more expensive than others around them- but we are only talking less than a dollar a dish more. Service is good, 8/10 and the food comes out quickly.

Here are some of the dishes we tried:

Satay chicken, entree. Five skewers of moist chicken with a peanut dipping sauce.8/10 40 bt- good value

Tom Yum Soup- a beautiful creation tonight, it had the wow factor, full of prawns, spicy, plenty of lime and chilli- a big bowl-9/10 and 150 bt

Tempura Prawns. Eight plump fresh prawns in a nice light batter with dipping sauces- no greasy batter here- very good. 9/10 and 150 bt.

Spring rolls. Four well sized rolls- too much cabbage and a bit sludgy- A passable 5/10 and 40 bt

Steamed rice- enough for two people... 20bt

Duck with vegetables- Plenty of moist duck, full of green baby peppercorns, shallots, corn, tomato, sliced mushrooms,carrot, kaffir lime leaves and sliced chilli- A brilliant dish oozing freshness and magnificent flavours. 9/10 and 150 bt.

Penang Curry.(chicken)- Reasonable serve but disappointing and the curry was out of a bottle, I think. Too much coconut cream, lacked flavour thrown together in a hurry. No substance to this dish 5/10 or 6/10. 120 bt

Fried Tofu with vegetables. Very large plate arrived with plenty of tofu but it lacked flavour, vegetables were good- around 80 bt. 6/10

Cotton Fish- stir fried with a red curry sauce- spicy and just right. A good serve of fish with green peppercorns, chilli, brocolli,snake beans and kaffir lime. Very tasty 9/10 (forget price on this).

Beer is 80bt for a large bottle and drinkable (I didn't say good) Italian wine at 100bt a glass is pretty fair and tastes beter after the second glass. Water is 15bt and soda water 15bt- good prices I thought.

You can see the tiny kitchen in operation and they really fly along and its very clean. Toilets? Ask for the key and there is a shared toilet a short walk up the road, its clean.

Now, Moonsmile and Platoo has desert on the menu but it depends on how busy they are- they might say," no can't do" - they want your table and they want you to pay your bill and go as others are waiting for a table. This can be a bit frustrating especially when you have run up a fair sized bill for four or five people with drinks and want to try the deep fried bananas with ice cream or pancakes and ice cream to finish the night off.

Worth trying? My word and if you choose well from the menu the food will be memorable. If you can't get a seat here the restaurants on either side, NA Na Place and On Corner are also very good and the food quality is not far behind Moonsmile and cheaper in price.

Thanks Wabbit. I have marked this place for visit next year. Sounds good value and importantly the menu passes muster. Have you tried any of the seafood restaurants down near the beach?

I reviewed them about 10 years ago on the old forum and wrote that the food was ordinary, the prices unfavourable and the kitchens filthy.

The responses were amazing. I was called everything nasty including a "stuck up haute cuisine chef" from respondents who were enthralled with the eateries on the waterfront.

If you do venture that way Wabbit, I would really appreciate your views. Maybe the hygiene has improved, maybe the service is now semi professional, maybe the value factor has kicked in.

Hi Emdee

Are you back in Oz now after the NZ sojourn?

I am sure you will enjoy Moonshine and Platoo if you get back to Hua Hin- the freshness, the balance of the flavours in the stir fry dishes were, in the main very good.

We went for a walk along the pier restaurants and went inside to look at some including a sneak look at the kitchens. In particular, Ketsarin, which I ate at last year and the food was pretty average. I remember you mentioned this place on the old forum.

If the kitchens were bad 10 years ago when you visited then I would have to say little or no improvement on what I saw. I also had a look at the place Rick Stein went to... Chaolay, I think- its the one down the end of the road. God only knows how people keep giving them good write ups on some of the big forums- they must eat out at their local take away shops when they have a night out. We decided to give them a miss and eat instead at the seafood places at the night market. At least here you can pick the food you wanted cooked and actually see them cook it and the hygiene factor while not a 10/10 is quite good overall. The food at the night market is also about 30%-40% cheaper than the pier restaurants.

Since your last trip to Hua Hin there have been many, many new places popping up and some quite good ones. I have a few more write ups to do which I hope you and the others will enjoy.

Yes, I'm back from the "land of the long white shroud". Winter there was very bitter this year and even returning to 15 degrees in Melbourne feels like a warm day to me.

Well, it would seem that time has stood still at the rickety restaurants on the pier. Wabbit, you have saved me a trip for a further inspection.

Looking forward to the rest of your interesting reviews.

PS: There is a very large contingent of ex-pat Thais living in Auckland and as a consequence the Thai restaurants are first class and very authentic.

After watching a rugby game in 4 degrees, the hotness of the Thai food in the Shortland Street eateries in the evening was always a welcome refrain.

Excellent review, RR. Accurate and describes it to a tee.

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"Trees have roots. Man has feet."

Hi Mark

Yes- it was good and I do miss some of the food we had there. Are you and Meg still enjoying those Changs and cocktails each afternoon? I Wish we were still there.

Yeah mate but we leave on Tuesday. Heading for Laos. You two should come on over! :)

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"Trees have roots. Man has feet."

Hi Mark

I wish I could..... but looks like Dan Murphy will have to supply me with beer Lao for a while- Have a great time.

Howdy mate. I didn't realize DM sold Beerlao! Nice one, seeing how it is nigh on impossible to buy it in Thailand. Bet it costs more than $1.20 for a longneck though. :)

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"Trees have roots. Man has feet."

Hi Mark

Emdee put me onto Beer Lao at Dan Murphy's. I think it was around $17 for a six pack (small bottles) so you are getting a bargain...........