Over the weekend we joined our parents for a little getaway from Bangkok. We headed down to Hua Hin, a beautiful and charming coastal city about 200 km away. It’s known for a lot of things but what we were interested most on this trip was the food in Hua Hin.

While the parents decided to stay in the newly renovated Regent Cha am resort, we opted to go into town and make a foodie exploration day out of it. There is not a lot to do in Hua Hin so finding cafes and restaurants was the best we could think of, especially after reading an awesome article by BK Magazine on why Hua Hin is hot right now.

Cafe Hopping

First we made our way to Seen Space as we had been to the one in Bangkok and were quite curious how its Hua Hin iteration would be. In case you don’t know what is Seen Space – it’s a community, open-air mall and market filled with local clothing vendors, food stalls and bars.

When we got there, we were a bit disappointed to learn that it was only half open. The full launch is set to happen late December 2016. And as it was only midday, even the stalls that had made their setup there were not yet open.

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So we decided we would come back in the evening. It was a beautiful and scenic place though. Everything was in white or industrial concrete decor with grassy knolls all around. The mall also overlooked the beach, which made for an amazing setting for enjoying delicious drinks and food.

Not far away from Seen Space, we heard about a cafe called The Treehouse. After 5 minutes of driving, we found it, literally tucked away deep inside Hua Hin soi 29. The cafe is actually the home of a sweet family of 4 where the husband and wife turned the garden and kitchen into a homely cafe.

They didn’t have a lot on their menu, which was understandable since it had only been open for 7 months. Coffee, teas, Italian sodas and an array of spaghetti and sandwiches were listed. We ordered a set of Spaghetti each followed by a nice conversation with the owner. It was a very pleasant experience since we got to eat delicious food in a homely environment while interacting with the locals.

Just across from Hua Hin soi 29 (corner of soi 82), we hit the third spot of the day – Bliss Cafe, a very regal place with beautiful white decor and vintage furniture.

Here we ordered a set of flavored tea each and a mouth-watering chocolate cake. They had a lot more on the menu though – from full fledged meals to snacks, desserts and coffees.

At the end of it we were bursting through our stomachs – a food coma as you will. We went back to our resort for a bit of swimming and lounging about before heading back to town again.

Dinner and Drinks

We were now starving for a really good seafood dinner. We didn’t exactly where to go so we drove around for a bit looking through our Foursquare and some food blog recommendations. Hua Hin is well known for its seafood restaurants.

After a few fail attempts, we came across a restaurant called Baan Itsara, which seemed to be getting busy by the minute and since it was right by the beach we quickly parked and went in. Overall the food here was decent but a bit pricey. We were so hungry, we didn’t even think of taking any photos but we ordered:

• Prawn cakes
• Whole fried fish with spicy sauce
• Tom Yum Goong
• Fried Rice
• Omelette with minced prawns

Again, we were stuffed! But Shayan was insisting we check out Seen Space again. I don’t know how he could even think of eating or drinking more after all this…but we went anyways.

Back at Seen Space, the place was a lot more lively. There were about a 100 or more people, eating, drinking and shopping. We grabbed a beer from House of Beers and sat by the balcony, listening to ambient sounds of the waves crashing in.

Oh what a food-fun-filled day it was. I loved it!

Pro Tips

If you’re heading to Hua Hin or any other place looking for restaurants or things to do, you’ll obviously turn to TripAdvisor first. While that is a good resource, we recommend going beyond that. Here are some tips:

• Check food blogs for that destination i.e. we searched best seafood restaurants in Hua Hin and the top hit was a post by Tieland to Thailand but we couldn’t find these restaurants on the map (hint: that might mean they were good, not well-known restaurants)
• Stop and ask the locals, they will sometimes point you to places that are never on guides or blogs
• Drive around and see what fancies you – be spontaneous!
• Check out our post on 5 apps to discover new places