🔄 Updated 13 Jun 2026
Hat Yai's seafood scene splits into three lanes, depending on the occasion. The first is the sit-down restaurant, where you order prawns, oysters, crab and fish plate by plate to share around the table — great when you come with a group. The second is the halal spots in town where Muslims and everyone else eat together; they have a prayer room and use no pork. The third is the grilled-seafood buffet, where you pay a few hundred baht a head and grill prawns, shellfish and fish to your heart's content. We've ordered them by how popular they are with locals plus how consistent each one is on freshness and flavour — not just by how many views they pull on social media.
How to read this ranking
This order doesn't mean the spots near the bottom aren't good. Seafood comes down to day-to-day freshness and what each kitchen does best. Some places shine with grilled river prawns, some with steamed crab and shellfish, some with sheer value at the buffet. So we spell out each one's strong suit, to make it easier to pick the place that matches the dishes and budget you're after.
The 10 best Hat Yai seafood restaurants
Hia Kai Seafood
A spot Hat Yai locals have rated near the top for years, over in the Saengsri area off Supasarnrangsan Road. What people talk about is the fresh seafood and the bold, fully seasoned cooking. The dishes folks order again and again are butter-baked or fresh-milk-steamed river prawns, grouper seared sashimi-style, and stir-fried scallops with chilli and basil. When the supply's in, there are spiny lobster and lobster to order raw or butter-baked. It's a sit-down restaurant for a family meal — easy to order a spread and share. Prices depend on the ingredients you pick.
Jeh Hoi Seafood (J'hoi Seafood)
A seafood spot in the heart of town on Lamai Songkhro Road, praised for being fresh, clean and reasonably priced for the quality. Open from about 3.30pm to 10pm, so it works for dinner and a late-night seafood run. The standout dishes match the name ("hoi" means shellfish): steamed crab, fresh oysters, blanched babylon snails, grilled cockles and grilled river prawns. There's a street-food-style roadside section and an indoor section, and it runs about 100–250 THB a head. You can book a table or pre-order dishes ahead.
Chongkhao Seafood
An old-school seafood institution in Hat Yai, on Supasarnrangsan Road. The place is big and airy, split into a garden section, an indoor section and VIP rooms, with easy parking. Its strength is the range of sizes on offer — sea crab, blue crab, mud crab, river prawns, oysters, babylon snails, cobia, mackerel. The dishes people order are big grilled prawns, grilled squid with roe, grilled cockles and prawn cakes, and the seafood dipping sauce is sharp and satisfying. Roughly 250–500 THB a head.
Talay Poep Seafood (Hat Yai branch)
A spot people praise for live seafood straight from the sea, good for both the cooked-food crowd and the raw crowd. There's sashimi, plump oysters at around 120 THB each, and fresh cockles at around 150 THB a set that you can blanch, grill or steam. There are spicy som tam–style dishes and pickled bits to order alongside. The restaurant is out near Ban Phru — turn at the Ban Phru market traffic light, cross the railway and go a little further. Open daily 11am–10pm, closed Mondays, with a feel like sitting and eating by the shore.
Kung Sa Seafood Halal
A halal seafood spot in the heart of town on Thamnoonvithi Road, next to Norah Plaza. Open from 11.30am to 10pm, with a prayer room and free WiFi — good for Muslim diners and mixed groups eating together. The dishes people order are spicy prawn yum, barbecue-sauce seafood, cheese balls and tom yum instant noodles. There are prawns, shellfish, crab and fish done several ways, running about 250–500 THB a head. They also do catering and boxed meals.
Tai Nam Seafood Halal
Another halal seafood spot in the centre that people talk about for live, just-caught ingredients. There's everything from prawns and crab to fresh sea fish, cooked plenty of ways. It's open long hours, from 11am to midnight, so it works for both dinner and a late seafood run. The vibe is relaxed for chilling with friends or family. The original branch is on Duangchan Road; the new branch has moved next to Central Hat Yai, which is easier to reach — check which branch's location before you head over.
Khlong Hae Grilled Seafood Buffet
If you want value seafood and unlimited grilling, this one delivers. It's a halal grilled-seafood buffet from around 299 THB a head, with river prawns, cockles, scallops, mussels, fish fillet, sliced meat, pickled prawns, plus sides and desserts to scoop up. It's on Lopburi Ramet Road heading into Hat Yai, before the traffic-light intersection into Big C. Open from 3pm to 10.30pm — good for groups who want to eat a lot while keeping the budget in check.
Hat Yai Grilled Seafood Buffet
A grilled-seafood buffet in town that reviewers say has decent, fresh seafood for the price. Pay one price and grill prawns, shellfish and fish as you go — good for groups of friends or family who want a lot of seafood without counting plate by plate. When a line runs out, staff top it up. Worth checking before you go: the time-limit rules and what's available on the day, since buffets like this rotate their stock — turn up near opening and the spread is fuller.
Musa Pan-Beef & Grilled Seafood Buffet
A buffet that lays out a big seafood line — river prawns, blue crab, sea bass, red tilapia, squid, mussels, cockles, oysters, babylon snails, scallops — plus a pan-beef side with marinated beef and chicken, and over fifty ready-to-eat items in total. Good for a group whose table has both seafood people and grill people; you get both in one place. Check the price and time slots with the restaurant first, since the promos shift by season.
Ban Le Seafood
A seafood spot Hat Yai locals review as fresh and tasty in the southern style, true to its name, focused on cooking seafood with the bold flavours locals love. There are prawns, shellfish, crab and fish to have grilled, steamed, stir-fried or in a yum. Good for a long, relaxed dinner ordering a spread to share. The plus is the southern-style flavours, sharper than your average seafood spot — if you like it bold with a punchy dipping sauce, give this one a go. They'll tone it down for milder palates. Check the location and hours before you head over.
Want to taste deeper? Try a Hat Yai food tour or cooking class
Half a day with a local who knows the lanes — or cooking a dish yourself — teaches you more than just eating. Book ahead on Klook or GetYourGuide.
The seafood dishes to order and the cooking that suits them
Each kind of seafood suits a different cooking method, and ordering the right pairing gets you the best flavour without burying the freshness of the ingredient. Here are the pairings Hat Yai locals order often and rarely get wrong.
- Grilled river prawn / baked with glass noodles — big, fat prawns, charcoal-grilled for that smoky aroma, dipped in sharp seafood sauce; or baked over glass noodles so the noodles soak up the prawn fat. It's the table-opener that's the best-seller at a lot of places.
- Fresh oysters / blanched cockles — plump oysters eaten raw with fried garlic and seafood sauce, while cockles blanched just right keep the meat juicy. Southerners eat them with a punchy dipping sauce.
- Steamed crab / blue crab stir-fried with curry powder — fresh crab steamed for that sweet meat, dipped in seafood sauce; or take crab or blue crab and stir-fry it with egg and curry powder until it turns fragrant and golden — a dish that goes down easy with steamed rice.
- Rich seafood tom yum — prawns, shellfish and squid in one pot, sour and hot, the kind of broth that wakes up your taste buds and pairs perfectly with the grilled and stir-fried plates.
- Sea bass / grouper deep-fried or steamed with soy — fresh whole fish fried until the skin is crispy and topped with fish sauce, or steamed with soy and sliced ginger — a dish that cuts through the richness nicely for those who can't handle much heat.
Want it fresh? Order smart
The freshest seafood is the stuff cooked simply — grilled, steamed or blanched — because it doesn't need seasoning to cover anything up. If you want to gauge a place's freshness, try ordering fresh oysters or steamed crab first. The spicy stir-fries and tom yum suit ingredients you want a bold flavour to lift. Order both kinds and you get freshness and a flavour kick in the same meal.
How to pick a place for the occasion and budget
- Want a proper good-seafood meal for a special night — Hia Kai Seafood or Chongkhao Seafood: fresh, with big river prawns and crab in several sizes, order a spread to share.
- Want to eat in the centre without breaking the bank — Jeh Hoi Seafood, around 100–250 THB a head, strong on steamed crab and shellfish, open till 10pm, good for dinner and a late seafood run.
- Need a halal spot — Kung Sa Seafood Halal (has a prayer room) or Tai Nam Seafood Halal, open late with live, fresh ingredients.
- Coming as a group and want to eat a lot on a budget — Khlong Hae Grilled Seafood Buffet from around 299 THB, unlimited grilling, or Musa if your table has both seafood and grill people.
- Want to eat by the shore with pickled bits and sashimi — Talay Poep near Ban Phru, with plump oysters and pickled dishes, good if you like it fresh.
Prices, hours and things to know before you go
- Prices — à la carte spots charge by ingredient, and river prawns and crab push the bill up fast. With a group, figure two or three hundred up to five hundred a head. Grilled-seafood buffets start around 299 THB a head and are easier on the budget if you plan to eat a lot.
- Hours — most seafood spots open late afternoon and run late. Jeh Hoi opens at 3.30pm, Tai Nam runs till midnight, the Khlong Hae buffet opens at 3pm. For the fullest, freshest spread, go early in the session.
- Freshness — seafood depends on the day's delivery; on days the sea's rough the supply can be thin. The big-name spots get busy on weekends, so calling to book a table or pre-order dishes is safer — especially Jeh Hoi, where you can pre-order.
- Halal — for halal, go with Kung Sa or Tai Nam, both clearly halal and pork-free. Some regular seafood spots have pork on the menu in the kitchen, so check first if you're concerned.
- Cash & PromptPay — most sit-down spots take both cash and PromptPay; buffets usually have you pay upfront or on the way out. Keep small notes handy for splitting the bill.
Stuffed with seafood? Round out your Hat Yai eating-and-sightseeing trip
See the Hat Yai travel guide →