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Regional Thai food is gaining traction in Melbourne with Pa Tong adding the bold spices and pungent flavours of southern cooking in a casual, easygoing setting.

The restaurant was opened in May by a bunch of southern Thai friends who couldn’t find the food they were pining for anywhere else in the city. Let’s just cook it ourselves, decided Boonruxsa Sangmanee, Farn, Noppanat Pornsombun and Masarat Bumrungpongsinchai.

You could come for ubiquitous dishes such as pad Thai and stir-fried chicken with cashew – they’re done well – but it’s the southern Thai specialities that keep drawing me back.

Hanging lanterns, jaunty blue walls and framed photo galleries in the split-level space do part of the job of spiriting diners to Patong, a beach resort in Phuket, but it’s the food that’s truly transporting.

Key dishes include grilled chicken thigh bathed in a red curry sauce studded with toasted coriander seeds, and thick yellow curries redolent of turmeric, coconut and fenugreek, swimming with betel leaves and either black freshwater snails (chewy and nuggety) or sweet picked crab meat.

Seafood is central to this coastal cuisine: mackerel appears in many dishes, including a beguiling and mild coconut curry with “stinky vegetables” (acacia stems – a little bitter but pleasant, if you ask me) and green almonds.

Haw mok (curried fish mousse cakes) are served in a two-part terracotta vessel that’s heated from underneath. Dainty little lids keep each morsel hot: they’re springy and spicy, bright with chilli and lifted by lemongrass.

The Hokkien trader food that’s found in Malaysia, Singapore and parts of China is also popular in southern Thailand. That explains the thick egg noodles, stir-fried with prawns, mussels and sliced pork, and topped with chewy dried fish and runny fried egg. This is a mild dish that’s a meal in itself: break the yolk, make a nice mess and you’ll mostly taste sweet, dark soy.

The walk-in restaurant is just near Degraves Street, so it’s an easy stop for commuters and shoppers. The food is built for sharing, but this is also a handy spot for solo diners with keen lunch deals.

Not everyone is going to eat a coconut soup with fermented fish entrails then head back to the office; if you’re looking for something safer, consider the rice topped with “Melbourne fried chicken”.

Pa Tong’s food is legitimately thrilling, but this is a busy spot with a focus on lovely cooking and efficient dispensation rather than customer amenity. Finding the toilet is a bit of a mission, ordering is by QR code and if you’re not familiar with southern Thai food, it can be challenging to know what to order.

It’s a pleasant place to be though: across three visits, everything I’ve eaten has been unapologetically Thai and absorbingly delicious. A liquor licence is pending.