05 September, 2008

Bangkok III - Thaksin's Beef Noodles

Resided at Hotel Ibis Siam Bangkok along Rajaprarop Road, HFB needed to travel 10 minutes via Soi Rang Nam everyday to get to Victory Monument BTS Skytrain station for transportation. And it was along that stretch of road, opposite King Power Complex, Thailand’s largest duty free shop, that he spotted a dingy coffee shop that was packed full with people.

Since curiosity always gets the better of HFB, especially when it comes to food, he proceeded forward and was elated to discover a Beef Noodle Stall. And standing right in front of me was the boss, and none other than Mr Thaksin himself, chopping up the meat and cooking the noodles (Ok, and so I lied, but at first glance, I swore he did resembled the ex-prime minister)!!!

And that was when the fun began – all the sign language and hand signals indicated I wanted two big bowls of Beef Kway Teow Soup consisting of whatever ingredients that were available for consumption – Raw Meat, Cooked Meat, Meatball, Liver, Stomach, Tendon, etc. Ingredients were bountiful and HFB was bowled over by the tenderness of the cooked meat.

It was so malleable that it disintegrated the moment one chews on it. What was also fantastic was the soup base – it was intense with flavours, yet very light on the aftertaste, such that one can down a whole bowl of it easily without feeling woozy. The beef balls though were disappointing. The “beefy” taste was lost and the texture revealed the balls were most likely machine-made rather than hand-made.

I had problems ordering my favourite Cha Yen, or Thai Iced Milk Tea, and made do with old school bottled of Marinda Orange and & 7-Up instead - RETRO!

Total bill for 2 pax, a ridiculous THB110~SGD$4.50!!!

Rating

Food:4/5 (A robust bowl of beef noodles)
Service: 4/5 (Mr Thaksin and workers were very friendly and helpful despite the language barrier)
Ambience: 4/5 (Old-school Kopitiam - LOVE IT!)
Price: 5/5 (Laughably cheap - it's a steal)
Total: 17/20
Soi Rang Nam,
directly opposite King Power Complex

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6 comments:

Bentoist said...

Entertaining read, and I must say, your camera really respect the food. Great pictures!

Steve said...

That post made me laugh. I totally love thai noodle stalls - and as you said "a steal". But it's the friendliness of the owners of these that makes the experience. Gotta love the Thai sense of hospitality.

HairyBerry said...

oh, and free flow of beansprouts and basil leaves as well? excellent!

His Food Blog said...

bentoist: Welcome and thank you!

steve: Yes. I gotta admit that the Thais made it easy for the tourists to get around w their ever friendliness and heart-warming gestures.

nic: Heh. Basically I gestured to Mr Thaksin I wanted a HUGE serving of everything.

Anonymous said...

Oh yes, I miss this cheap & good beef noodles.

Just that, communication problem. Quite hard to communicate with them.
All I did was "point".

His Food Blog said...

Hi winnilicious,

Thanks for dropping by. I am surprised someone actually knows this particular stall. Glad to know you love the noodles too!

Like you mentioned, communication was hard but with a little actions and sign languages here and there, getting a order isn't really too difficult.

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