Pita Express’ premises is freshly painted, with calming blue walls featuring food murals painted by an artist from Baan Sillapin. The tables and chairs are varnished timber and some strategically placed fans control the airflow, keeping the inside pleasantly cool. A selection of soft rock tunes playing in the background completed the tranquil atmosphere, so unlike the loud, noisy kebab shops of my home country. The smells wafting from the kitchen were very promising indeed.
Dawan’s business, Pita Express, is located off the end of Soi 94, to the right. Although Dawan has been running a thriving takeaway and delivery business for some time now, the dine-in restaurant is only newly opened and certainly worth a visit. I know we all want to support local businesses, and the very best way is by eating in and saving the exorbitant delivery fee that local businesses have to absorb.
The pride of the menu are Dawan’s lamb kebabs, served UK Doner style. These are the top sellers from a menu that comprises pitas, kebabs and wraps. (Hint: order the pitas early. A local baker makes 50 fresh pitas each day for Pita Express, and when they are gone, you have to choose an alternative. It is a rare day indeed that the children score a left-over pita bread.) Besides the tender lamb, you can also choose chicken, pork, beef or meatballs made with a combination of chicken and pork as your filling. Your vegetarian friend is catered for as well, with a crisp cheese and salad wrap.
You can have your pita or wrap prefilled for you, or you can choose to fill it your way, with the meat and salad items (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion and red cabbage) served on the side. One of the best benefits of eating in is that all the different sauces are brought in a caddy to your table in squeeze bottles, so you can try before making your final selection – or selections!
Dawan has learnt that the way to her husband Graham’s heart is through his stomach. Originally from Liverpool in England, he spent many years in Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, then back and forth to India, before settling in Thailand over a decade ago now. Graham certainly knows his way around a good kebab, and loves the thick, creamy garlic sauce and the cooling mint yogurt that Dawan has perfected, though her Thai customers rave about her homemade extra spicy chili sauce as well. The sauce caddy truly has something for everyone.
The salad provided was plentiful, and with you in total control of the sauce, the meal was surprising healthy as well as filling. If you are feeling a bit naughty, you can order a side of hot chips dowsed in a liberal amount of shredded cheese, to share, of course. Pita Express has made a strategic choice to serve only water or soft drinks to break the stereotype of a kebab as a late-night meal after a long evening at the pub. If you need a beer, there are plenty of local places to grab one after first having your meal, much more sensible anyway, if you don’t want that grungy feeling in the morning.
Dawan and Graham chose Hua Hin over their initial home in Buriram to raise their children as Hua Hin has the capacity to provide a much better education for them. We should all be truly grateful for that.
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Author: Felicitee Lawrie
Felicitee Lawrie spends as much of her life as she can in Hua Hin, Thailand. She is passionate about exploring the local culture, keen to make contacts among the Thai and expat residents of Hua Hin and in particular wants to learn more about the food culture of this area of Thailand. If she is able to promote local businesses and producers along the way, this is indeed a bonus. Felicitee has also been enjoying her writing in the People of Hua Hin series of feature articles, finding so many local people have fascinating stories to share with her.
