Chumphon, located near where the Malay Peninsula reaches its narrowest point, is also approximately where central Thailand starts to become southern Thailand. This can be heard in the local dialect, seen in the coastal, palm-studded landscape, and tasted in the local cuisine. And one of the most delicious places to witness this cultural shift is at Yay Puat.
This second-generation, home-based restaurant serves a repertoire of dishes that blend the ingredients, dishes and flavors of Thailand’s central and southern regions. This means curries with fresh turmeric but with slightly fewer chilies and a bit less salt than those further south, lots of fish and seafood but also lots of protein from the land, and dishes that feature both coconut milk and a bit of palm sugar.
A great example of this is the dish that revolves around what is perhaps Chumphon’s most famous ingredient: kluay lep mue naang, “ladyfinger” bananas. At Yay Puad, they make their way into a southern Thai-style peppery, slightly spicy coconut milk curry based around pork ribs, the bananas providing a central Thai-leaning, almost sweet potato-like contrast.
