“We’re not that crazy,” insists Soi 38 co-owner Chavalit “Top” Piyaphanee. Yet the facts may suggest otherwise.

Not only are Piyaphanee and his wife Phawinee “Tang” Suwankamnerd preparing to relocate their beloved Thai restaurant after 11 years in a Wilson car park next year – they also opened a completely new restaurant, R Harn, just in time for lunch service yesterday.

“It’s purely by accident,” Piyaphanee says. “We had the [R Harn] space for two years already, and we just managed to finish building it at the same time, and all the licences came at the same time.”

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Piyaphanee says he and Suwankamnerd don’t believe in soft opens or the friends-and-family nights that many restaurants hold before they open to the public. The council sent the R Harn food registration certificate last Friday afternoon, the kitchen team moved in over the weekend and started trialling recipes in the space, and it was all stoves firing by 11am on Monday.

While Soi 38 is known for its boat noodles and Thai barbeque, the new restaurant on La Trobe Street opposite Melbourne Central heroes southern Thai dishes, which are less commonly found in Melbourne.

Piyaphanee says R Harn’s dishes have a lot of influence from Malaysia, which borders southern Thailand, and adds that there’ll be a focus on dry curries, seafood and shrimp paste.

Menu highlights include a morning glory stir-fry with shredded water spinach, chilli, and crispy pork belly. There are also stir-fried king prawns, served with pentai beans – nicknamed “stink beans” for their strong flavour – mixed in a house-made shrimp paste.

Commonly found noodle dishes are slightly tweaked here. The pad thai is made southern Thai style with coconut milk, while the pad see ew swaps the usual flat rice noodles for round Hokkien egg noodles.

For a fresh salad, the colourful kao yum (rainbow salad) sees vegetables including cabbage, carrot, bean sprouts, spring onion and more plated artfully around rice, with crunchy toppings and a house-made fish sauce dressing. Once the liquor licence is approved (which the team expects to be later this month), there’ll also be a selection of beers and Thai cocktails.

The couple want the space to feel easygoing and inviting. White marble tables are paired with mismatched, retro chairs, while olive-green panelling and an orange feature wall – adorned with the restaurant’s name in gold – add pops of colour.

“We tried to create the space [that] feels like you went to your friend’s place and had dinner with their family,” says Piyaphanee.

R Harn
260 La Trobe Street, Melbourne
No phone

Hours:
Daily 11am–3pm; 5pm–9.30pm

@r.harn