Dim Sum, in Thailand? On a recent trip to Nakhon Si Thammarat in the south of Thailand, we found a restaurant that serves delicious dim sum (though by a different name — see below). Like many southern Thai cities, Nakhon si Thammarat has a large Chinese (Chinese-Thai, more accurately) population. Dim Sum is widely available in another southern city, Trang. This was the first time we’ve found it in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
One of the ‘dim sum’
The name of the restaurant is ตังเกี๋ย เเต่่เตี้ยม – Tang Gia Taa Tiam. The last two words, เเต่่เตี้ยม – Taa Tiam (phonetically, it is closer to Dtaa Dtiam) – are what the Hokien Chinese call these types of little dishes, rather than dim sum. The Hokien Chinese are from southern China; in Thai they are called Fujian. I will continue to use “dim sum” since that is what most westerners will relate to.
(Click images to see larger version.)
Here's the restaurant
Look for this sign
Menu, with Pictures
It was our Thai driver, Sun, who told us about the restaurant. He is from Nakhon Si Thammarat and hears about new things. My Thai is not good enough to tell you exactly where the restaurant is. I do know that it’s in a newer district of town called Meuang Tawng – meuang meaning city and tawng meaning gold. I’ve included on our website proper a jpeg file (offsite, opens in a new window) that includes the restaurant sign and name, also suitable for printing.
The menu is pretty extensive here: there are nearly 100 items. They are particularly known for their pork soup, so we recommend you definitely try that one. Otherwise, just look at the pictures, see what looks good and give it a try.
I’ve included a slide show of many of the items we’ve eaten there over our visits.
Taa Tiam (Dim Sum) Slideshow
Click on “Play” below to begin a slideshow.
Clicking on a slide will take you to the next image.
You can eat inside . . .
. . . or outside.
Written by Michael Babcock, March 2012
Tags: dim sum, Hokien Chinese, nakhon si thammarat, restauarnt, taa tiam
