Thai congees have been popping up around Melbourne, but they’re not all the same. Jok is a thick congee that comes with toppings like pork balls and boiled eggs. There’s also a simpler, soupier variation called khao gtom that’s typically served with saucy side dishes.

Influential Thai chef Palisa Anderson describes khao gtom as “tapas, but with congee”, and it’s what you’ll get at new Thai Chinese restaurant Yaowarat, named for bustling Yaowarat Road, which stretches through Chinatown in Bangkok. It’s owned by Surachai Kunchairattana, the restaurateur behind Aunglo, Pick Prik and Lang Baan.

In Bangkok, plain khao gtom often replaces rice as the main carb in a meal, and makes for a warming supper during the colder months. Open until midnight, Yaowarat fills a similar hole, with khao gtom made from fragrant jasmine rice or riceberry, a purple wholegrain rice developed in Thailand. A small bowl goes for a dollar, and you can dress it up with four complimentary sauces, including a nutty plum chilli sauce and a seafood sauce made with fermented garlic, fish sauce, palm sugar and chillies.

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A section of the menu is dedicated to omelettes, salads and smaller plates that are traditionally paired with khao gtom, like spicy fish sausage salad and caramelised pork belly. But there’s also an extensive selection of mains that’s heavy on Chinese-style seafood, stir-fries and soups. Woks, which impart a distinctive smoky flavour (wok hei) if handled skilfully, are the tool of choice in the kitchen. “The way that we cook [Thai Chinese food] is mostly with the wok,” manager Pimnada Lertpratinwong tells Broadsheet. “No pots at all, even for soups we prefer to use the wok.”

A dish of stir-fried pippies with sweet Thai basil, found at any restaurant in Bangkok’s Chinatown, is an early best-seller. For entrees, you’ll find street food typically sold along Yaowarat Road, such as deep-fried corn and hae kuen, a tofu skin roll stuffed with prawn and fish paste, steamed and fried before serving.

While most of the dinner offerings are served family-style, the lunch menu is friendlier to solo diners. From 12pm to 5pm, the kitchen puts out kra paos (basil stir-fries), curries, Hainanese chicken rice and barbeque pork rice. Everything is under $16 – a keen selling point in 2025.

Yaowarat
7–9 Waratah Place, Melbourne
0466 634 888

Hours
Daily midday–midnight

instagram.com/yaowarat.melbourne