Krung Brings Four Regional Pad Thais And 4am Dining To Sydney’s Thaitown

Haymarket’s Thaitown has spent decades teaching Sydney that Thai food is far bigger than green curry and pad see ew.

Yet despite becoming one of Thailand’s most globally recognised exports, pad Thai remains one of the country’s most misunderstood dishes.

For many Australians, it exists as a singular thing, maybe a familiar tangle of rice noodles, tamarind, peanuts and bean sprouts. In reality, pad Thai actually shifts dramatically across Thailand, shaped by everything from local ingredients and geography to trade routes and regional cooking traditions. It’s no doubt a dish that tells a different story depending where you eat it.

This very concept is one that underpins Krung, a new 85-seat restaurant and late-night bar that’s just opened in Haymarket. The venue comes from Chayakorn Kulthanachaidech, owner of Abb Air Thai Cuisine 1982, alongside former Chat Thai chef Naruedom Nukraihong. Together, the aim is to use Thailand’s most famous noodle dish as a gateway into a much broader conversation about regional Thai cooking.

Unsurprisingly, at the centre of the menu sits a collection of four regional pad Thais.

There’s a Sukhothai heritage pad Thai drawing from the north, combining barbeque pork, pork crackling, dried shrimp and peanuts into a richer, slightly sweeter interpretation influenced by the former kingdom of Sukhothai. Head south, and the flavours transform considerably. The Chaiya Southern pad Thai leans heavily into coconut, dried shrimp and deeper savoury notes shaped by centuries of maritime trade and Malay influence along Thailand’s southern coastline. 

Meanwhile, the chanthaburi Sen Chan pad Thai pays tribute to the eastern province credited as the birthplace of Thailand’s famed Sen Chan rice noodles, pairing seafood and tamarind with flavours synonymous with the country’s coastal regions. For those seeking familiarity, there’s also a classic central pad Thai—throwing together old faithfuls like tamarind, tofu, dried shrimp, chives and bean sprouts.

Of course, no cuisine can be understood through a single dish alone.

While pad Thai provides the entry point, Krung’s broader menu explores the diversity of Thai cooking through smoky charcoal-grilled meats, herb-packed salads, rich curries and wok-fried staples. From our perspective, a big standout is the whole bang bang charcoal-grilled chicken; a free-range yellow chicken marinated overnight in Thai herbs before spending more than an hour over charcoal, resulting in deeply smoky meat beneath a crisp, golden crust.

That same approach pretty much applies to the drinks menu, where a number of staples get reinterpreted through a slew of distinct Thai ingredients and flavours. The Mieng Kham Colada riffs on the Pina Colada with betel leaf, roasted coconut and tropical fruit, while the Sa-Thu Daisy incorporates lotus, lychee and Khao Hom rice.

By this point, there’s a good chance you’ve stopped thinking about pad Thai all together.

With service also running until 4am on weekends, Krung joins a small but growing group of venues across Sydney catering to the city’s late-night crowd—Odd Culture’s newly opened daiquiri bar Razz Room inspired by New York’s Paradise club is just one that springs to mind.

Open daily from 11:30am, Krung can be found at Shop 137, 414–418 Pitt Street, Haymarket. 

Image credit: Trent Van Der Jagt