Tucked inside the Food Street at Central Mall is the Thong Smith Boat Noodles. So called because I guess in the old days, the vendors made the noodles at home, and put it in a pot with a charcoal portable stove underneath and paddled to the 'tongkangs' or boats which plied the Chao Phrya River. It was a means to feed all the workers and steveadores who had to take the sacks of rice from the godowns to the ships moored outside Bangkok port and transport the foreign supplies from the ships moored out at sea and into the godowns.
This is my educated guess as to why it is called Boat Noodles. Now, it has gone all fancy and is located in many places including high end shopping complexes such as Central Mall. The branch on the 3rd floor is ALWAYS crowded so when we went on a Friday afternoon at 3pm, there were like 5 to 6 people in front of us. This place is a magnet for tourists so there will be many Chinese and S.E. Asians their to fill their hungry tummies.
The beef noodles I had was tender, but the flavourings were sweet and spicy and the taste was overpowering. The noodles were chewy enough and there were some small chopped spring onions and the lemongrass flavour was also in the dish.
Good but not great.
Must Try when in Bangkok
1. Thai Durians - since the Chinese demand this year is tepid, there are plentiful Thai durians without much pungent aroma, it tastes (to the Westerners) like textured ice cream and very flavourful. It is called the King of Fruits.
2. Crab Fried Rice
They are practically everywhere - the Thai simple restaurants which serve up this dish are omnipresent in every shopping centre. The crab meat (mud) and taste is tremendous. Squeeze a bit of lemon and you got one top tasting fried rice. Better than all the Chinese seafood fried which is far too oily for me.
3. Deep Fried Sea Bass
Chaloern Restaurant - this chain is everywhere in Bangkok. Again, one of the signature Thai dishes when you are in Thailand. Must Try.
4. Tom Yam Kung (soup)
Any basic restaurant worth its name must do a great Tom Yam Soup. They have 2 versions, the clear (very misleading but very spicy) or the chilli infused one. Try it at your peril. I love it when I am sweating profusely and eating the seafood with small button mushrooms with gusto.
If you are not familiar with Bangkok, there are numerous hotels from 1 star to 5 star and the prices are very decent. I stayed for work recently at a 2 star hotel near Phya Thai BTS station and it cost me all of THB 1100 or USD 30. It was clean, within walking distance from the BTS Phya Thai station and came with free wi fi. The price ranges for hotels in Bangkok start from THB 900 (1 to 2 star) to more than THB 10,000 (5 star by the river).
This bowl costs approximately THB 300 or USD 10.
For my family trip, we booked the Novotel Siam Square, which is right in the middle of all the shopping, massage and eating scenes. Novotel is located within walking distance from the Siam BTS station and Siam Square is right next to it. Siam Square is reminiscent of a small suburb of Tokyo with many small clothing outlet stores selling plentiful cheap T shirts, sneakers, bags, bracelets and all manner of trinkets for young people.
The Thai food is generally sweet, and there is a heavy dose of fish sauce thrown into all salads (mango or otherwise). The mango sticky rice is also very sweet, comprising of liquid sugar infused mango with sticky glutinous rice. You can buy this in many shopping centre food courts and is a signature dessert for Thailand.
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