As the title says, we were in Hua Hin for the long Holiday.  Songkarn is the Thai new year and also the hottest time of the year.  The family decided to escape the heat by heading for the oh-no-it’s-turning-into-Pattaya beachtown Hua Hin.  We were happy to see the kids splashing happily in the water, catching all kinds of shellfish on the beach, getting tanned or sunburned, feasting on fresh seafood……………….it all seems so far away from the sad chaos in Bangkok.

Even after we received news about the “calm” in Bangkok, we didn’t feel like leaving.  But all good things must come to an end as they say.  Well, not before we make the stop at Daeng Seafood in Mahachai. Daeng has another branch but I’ve been told the original shop in Mahachai is “the one to go.”

The place was jam-packed when we arrived at 6:30 PM.  Luckily we only waited half an hour for a table of 13.  We ordered all of the special (listed in Thai above) except for one.  Unfortunately, because of Songkarn and the large crowd, Daeng ran out of many things.  Including my favorite mackerel in a sweet and salty sauce and steamed whole crabs with roe.  But we were glad they still got those jumbo shrimps baked lightly with just salt to bring out the natural sweetness.

Another thing not to be missed is the shrimp fried rice.  It’s the only place I know that uses those jumbo shrimps to fry with the rice.  Plus, I suspect, shrimp tomalley has been added.  The texture of the rice was just right – not soggy, not tough – and has absorbed the delicate flavor and smell of those creamy tomalley.  I ate two HUGE plates.

Next up was my new favorite that Daeng calls garlic squid but there is nothing garlic-y about the taste in a bad way.  The sauce was a beautiful blend of fish sauce and palm sugar with just a pleasant hint of garlic.  Yup, no bad breath afterward.

The only dish I didn’t like was the crab meat curry.  It was a little too light for me but the crabs were like everything else super fresh.

There was a huge fried sea bass, stir-fried kale and other dishes that I didn’t take pictures of.  Too busy feasting!