For delightful fish and chips, head to this shop at Freighthouse Square in Tacoma

A cup of clam chowder, teeming with chunks of meat and minimal potato interference, and freshly fried cod, breaded in house with panko and a proprietary spice blend, await travelers deboarding the Sounder train or hopping on the Amtrak to Portland or Bellingham.

These seafood treasures are not overlooked by locals, either, who since 1992 have learned to appreciate owners Chayan and Teresa Samalee’s convivial service in the unexpected environs of Freighthouse Square near downtown Tacoma.

Paya Thai Fish & Chips, born in 1996, perhaps seems an odd title for a food-court stand that serves none of the Southeastern Asian cuisine, though on either side you will find Wendy’s Vietnamese and Little India Express.

“We kept the name because we put thousands into the neon sign,” laughed Chayan Samalee. He first opened a Thai restaurant here in 1992, but moved it to a larger, full-service space on the eastern side of the building. It closed a few years later. The fish and chips concept took over the food court location in 1996.

The bright red cursive of “Paya Thai” is just one element beckoning visitors. Hanging from the ceiling — visible as you enter the dining area from either the west entrance that doubles as the train station or the eastern hallway of eclectic boutiques — is a neon blue fish, pointing you like an arrow to the fried platters from the other side of the counter.

There, the affable businessman arrives most mornings by 5:30 a.m. to begin filleting, resting, dipping and breading Alaskan cod, up to 60 pounds a day. One of his signature techniques he would not divulge, but he insisted upon two important details of Paya’s fish: first, an hour of drying atop paper towels and second, fresh oil.

Samalee refreshes his oil every 18 hours; in other words, daily.

The crackly panko crust flakes along with the cod, filleted thin enough that you can pick up a piece of Paya as easily as a fry without fear of falling fish.

For a creamier version, try the halibut, fried with care but — as is the case for the oysters, scallops and panko shrimp — not prepared in-house. That fact renders the portions no less generous. The three-piece cod or halibut meal with fries, slaw and chowder ($20.25 or $23.25, respectively) will feed at least two people, if not four.

“Even cold the next day,” said Salamee, “they make a great sandwich!”

The former immigration attorney also conjures daily vats of his locally famous chowder, starting with bacon for a hushed smoky backbone and plenty of appropriately sized chunks of the bivalve, white pepper, parsley and red bell pepper. It’s also now dairy-free.

Neither he nor his wife is not lactose intolerant, but they said using dairy-free cream allows everyone to enjoy a cup — or, for under a dollar more, a bowl.

INSIDE FREIGHTHOUSE SQUARE

Shops have come and gone through the halls of Freighthouse Square’s retail corridor since its introduction in the 1980s, but Paya Thai has — for nearly 30 years with hot oil and plates delivered to your table if you choose to dine-in — withstood the test of multiple owners, varying degrees of passenger traffic and now a global pandemic.

Freighthouse Square changed hands in the late ‘90s and again in the early 2010s. Sound Transit routed through the station starting in 2003, and in 2017 Amtrak joined.

Wandering through the interior today feels a bit like walking searching the halls for your high school locker, only here there is a knife and tool sharpener downstairs, an escape room, and of course the food court, where the Salamees have fried fish for almost as long as I’ve been alive.

“It’s a landmark of Tacoma,” Chayan Salamee told The News Tribune in March. Business boomed then slumped as the transit center grew. Given the pandemic, he said, “It’s a totally different story. We’re still catching up.”

Both nearing 70 and proudly vaccinated from COVID-19, the Salamees met through his job with an import-export company, through which he has a steady pension that could have probably eased them into retirement years ago.

“It’s not for his own self-esteem,” said Teresa. “It’s for his customers.”

Chayan said he simply loves meeting people: “I’m gonna work until I fall over.”

PAYA THAI FISH & CHIPS

▪ 430 E. 25th St., inside Freighthouse Square, Tacoma, 253-627-8432, payathaifishandchips.com

▪ Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday noon to 5 p.m.

▪ How to order: by phone or in-person

▪ Best for: housemade clam chowder ($5.25-$5.95) and fried cod ($11.95-16.25)

This story was originally published March 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM.