Category Archives: Type – Traditional Thai Food

Thip Samai (Phra Nakhon – Bangkok) : “Best Pad Thai in Bangkok”

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Thip Samai

Address: Thip Samai, Phra Nakhon, จังหวัด กรุงเทพมหานคร Thailand

Operating hours: Daily 6:00pm to 12:00am

Introduction

A quick Google of ‘Bangkok best Pad Thai’ will return quite some results for ‘Thip Samai’. The location of Thip Samai is rather off from the main shopping district but is it worth the travel for the ‘best Pad Thai in bangkok’ ? This is my second visit to Thip Samai. From the Grand Palace area (specifically from The Deck@ Arun Residence), i took a tuk tuk that took me less than five minutes to reach.

Same as my previous visit, comparing to Sabx2 Wanton Noodle which is mostly filled with tourist, Thip Samai is mostly filled with locals.

Thip Samai basically offers many variations of Pad Thai (glass noodle version, with extra prawn, wrapped in omelet or even a version without the rice noodle). Yes, and one more thing that I like about Thip Samai is for it’s cleanliness of the shop. Eating in a dirty eatery is the last thing to worry about at Thip Samai.

Click here to see my list of consolidated Bangkok Food Itinerary

Pad Thai

I ordered the omelet version and the prawn version. I remembered the prawn version was a little sweet for Singaporean taste the previous time but this time it’s perfect.

At Thip Samai, every plate of Pad Thai is freshly prepared and served piping hot to your table, and it comes comes with a portion of bean sprouts, fresh lime and chives.

Adding the lime, chilli flakes and crushed peanut is a must to bring out the flavour of the noodle. I tend not to judge a food’s taste by Singapore standard, and as we know, Bangkok food tends to be sweeter. So for those who don’t appreciate sweet savory food, you may find this Pad Thai, or any other Thai food in Bangkok, not as appealing to you.

Their Pad Thai is more to a dryer version but the noodle is well-coated with the tamarind & fish sauce and i can taste the sweetness and the fragrance of the Pad Thai with every mouthful. This dish is especially enjoyable with added dried chilli flakes.

I requested for no bean sprout but they totally excluded everything except the noodle, egg and prawn. LOL.

Orange Juice

If it is your first time visiting Thip Samai, you can try their freshly squeezed Orange Juice. What’s so special about this orange juice? They don’t just add pulp into the juice, but chunks of Orange fruit. That is why they specifically instruct that the juice must be finished within the same day.

Braised Pork Bee Hoon

Facing the road, on the left side of Thip Samai lies a roadside stall call “Tee Yen-Ta-4”. This little stall was crowded and filled with patrons which made me really curious about the food that they are selling. On every table, the people are either eating a bowl of Yong Tau Fu Soup or something that looks like Stew Pork Bee Hoon. So i took the plunge and ordered a portion for myself too!

This Bee Hoon tasted really homely, like the kind of Bee Hoon that i had at my Primary School Canteen. The soup is surprisingly good, but some may say probably it’s because of the MSG. The soft-stew pork and the turnip goes pretty well with the soup and bee hoon.

Conclusion

I think it’s not hard to guess my verdict for Thip Samai since this is my return visit to this place. Thip Samai may not easily be the best of the best Pad Thai in Bangkok, since there should be ten over thousands of stalls selling Pad Thai in Bangkok. But when a place sells Pad Thai and just Pad Thai alone, and manage to prosper with almost full house during my both visits even at such an inconvenient location, this says something about the quality.

Moreover, what is a Bangkok trip without trying out their “Bangkok Best Pad Thai”? If i’m coming back to Bangkok in future, i will try to visit this place again.

Directions and Map

I don’t see any MRT or BTS station nearby. For both times, i took a cab down and the cab driver managed to locate this eatery. From google map, apparently it appears that it is within walking distance from The Grand Palace (about 15 minutes) but i never took the walk so if anyone tried walking from The Palace to Thip Samai, feel free to share with me.

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Bangkok Street Food – Chatuchak Market (Street Food – Pork Chop and Coconut Ice Cream)

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Chatuchak Weekend Market (Street Food – Pork Chop and Coconut Ice Cream)

Before starting my post, here is a photo of the coolest biker dog that i saw in Chatuchak Market’s Pet Section:

Chatuchak is the ultimate destination for street food lover. I took a train and alight at Mo Chit BTS station and it’s walking distance to Chatuchak Market (or JJ Market). You can also alight at Kamphaenpetch MRT station.

I am more than happy to start my eating spree in Chatuchak, but, i have a specific objective this time. I need to fill my tummy with two specific food – pork chop bun and the famous coconut ice cream. Pork chop bun? Yes. Super tender Pork chop bun in Chatuchak. So the next question is where?

Click to see my list of consolidated Bangkok Food Itinerary

*I had marked the location of the two stalls in Chatuchak’s map and you can see the map at the end of this post

Coconut ice cream

Coconut ice-cream is very commonly found in Chatuchak market but where exactly is the authentic coconut ice-cream? Accordingly to reliable source, i must look for the stall that is in between section 1 and section 2 that is near Kamphaenpetch MRT. You know that you are at the right stall when the crowd at this particular stall is more than usual.

I had my first serving with corn and nata de coco and shortly after,I found myself having the second serving with atap chee and roasted peanut! I thought the coconut fragrance of the ice-cream goes very well with the slightly char-roasted peanut and adds on a crunchy texture to it.

Previously the flag toothpick is a symbol of authenticity but apparently i was told that many stalls also ‘enhanced’ their ice-cream with flag toothpicks. This coconut ice-cream cost 35 baht (less than S$1.45) with two selected toppings.

You can imagine what i can buy with S$1.45 in Singapore. Some stalls in Singapore is selling S$2.50 or more for fresh coconut juice. And now on top of the free coconut juice ( I got four cups of juice from the auntie), I got to eat the coconut meat, get a scoop of coconut ice-cream, and two more toppings of my choices. Plus the hot weather in Bangkok, I welcome a ice cold scoop of coconut ice-cream anytime!

There is a stall selling Iced Thai Milk Tea near the Ice Cream stall. It’s really thirst quenching but it’s REALLY sweet.

Pork chop bun

The pork chop bun stall is situated at  Area 22 Soi 4. This stall is not easily noticeable but not tough to find. I just need to slow down my pace while in Soi 4 of Area 22 and peek into smaller lanes at the side. Just keep in mind to look out for this signage:

I stood in front of the stall for a while, staring at the pork chops and i think i was salivating. The pork chops were freshly grilled in the stall.

They sell their pork chop by weight, therefore to order, you just tell them the weight you desire, and purchase the bun separately and they will wrap it for you.  I was so happy that i didn’t take note of the price of the pork chop. I only remember i bought three buns with total of 200g of pork chops.  The bun itself cost 10 baht.

The photo of my pork chop’s surface looks a little dry, as you can see that the bun had absorbed all the oil into it which makes the bun really tasty. This portion should be about 70g then. Some locals bought 200g of pork chop to go with one bun.

As for the pork chop, i can simply describe it in one word – tender. Actually i am still not able to understand how they make it so soft and tender.  I believe they should have used lean meat for pork chop which is tougher in nature. It felt a little like i am almost eating Kong Ba Bao (braised pork belly bun), just a little tougher, and that the pork is grilled.

I had also tried another interesting item from their stall. They call it the “Chilli Ginger Salted Egg”. It’s sold in individual cup with a piece of salted egg on it at 30 baht. This chilli minced meat is quite spicy with a lot of lemon grass. Skip this if you hate lemon grass or very spicy food. I would say this is interesting, but not a must-try.

Directions and Maps

I had marked the location of the coconut ice-cream and pork chop bun in red. Feel free to save the large version of Chatuchak Map into your phone.

Click to enlarge

Other Stuff from Chatuchak

Section 47/2 – Freshly Toasted Bread Cracker

I also came by this stall that sells Toasted Bread Cracker. There are a few flavours like Black Sasame, Garlic and Butter Sugar and only cost 35 baht for a small packet. I find it especially enjoyable to get a pack that is freshly toasted from the oven. I had the Garlic flavor and it taste almost like our Garlic bread, but much more crisper.

Chatuchak Toasted Bread Cracker

The boss is a little shy as i took a photo of him

Pet Section

You got to punch a wall to feel manly again after visiting Chatuchak’s Pet section. All these furry friends are too cute and are running around freely in a open-top cage and feel free to play with them. However you got to be more tactical if you wish to take photos as momento as many stalls do not allow photography.

 Some Other Street Food

Grilled Chicken Skewer that looks fantastic

Frozen Banana dipped in molten chocolate with toppings. This thing is rather hard. Try it only if you have good set of teeth.

Toasted garlic bread on stick near the coconut ice cream stall

 

Soi Polo Fried Chicken (Bangkok – Lumpini)

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Soi Polo Fried Chicken

Address: 137/1-2 Soi Polo, Th Withayu | Lumphini, Bangkok

If you type this in google map, this address won’t point you to the exact location of Soi Polo Fried Chicken. I will elaborate on the exact location and directions at the end of the post.

Operating hours: 7.00am to 10.00pm

Introduction

Some of the online reviews say that Soi Polo Fried Chicken offers the “best fried chicken in bangkok”. The funny thing is I will be writing another post on this fried chicken from Siam Square and that too is “the best fried chicken in Bangkok”. So which exactly is the best fried chicken in Bangkok? I would say these two versions of fried chicken is entirely different and i will explain why in my later post.

Unlike the SabX2 Wanton Noodle, this place is not much mentioned in Singapore’s blog or site. I gave this place a miss for my last two Bangkok visits so i made it a point to try it out when i can afford the time, and i am glad that i did!

The air-conditioned dining area is behind the Pepsi banner so don’t miss it. The Kitchen area is slightly further up. You can see the shop with a red signage at the most right hand of this photo and that is the Kitchen area.

Click here to see my list of consolidated Bangkok Food Itinerary

Fried Chicken

Soi Polo Fried Chicken comes in two portion sizes, half chicken for 100 baht or whole chicken for 200 baht. Their version is not the flour breaded deep-fried style but more of a hotel banquet kind of roasted chicken. The chicken itself is rather decent. It’s tender and not too dry. The one thing that makes this chicken really unique is their fried condiment that was scattered generously over the chicken.

For sure I can taste salt, pepper, fried garlic and onion and i have never tasted such fried chicken like Soi Polo’s. Scoop a spoonful of the condiment and eat it with the chicken for maximum Soi Polo Fried Chicken effect! For those who love garlic and onion, you will be a fan of Soi Polo Chicken. I just can’t get enough of the fried condiments. Probably i will return to this place for their Fried Chicken when i visit Bangkok again!

Moo Larb

Instead of only ordering the chicken, we also tried two other dishes. Their Moo Larb tasted quite OK but i feel that there’s nothing special about this dish. If you only have stomach for one, then make it the Soi Polo Fried Chicken. Note that this Moo Larb only cost me 80 baht, which is about S$3.20.

Spicy Pork Soup

I am still seeking for the “Best Tom Yum Soup” in Bangkok, so i tried out luck to see if Soi Polo Fried Chicken’s can fit into my criteria.  But apparently, the Spicy Pork Soup does not taste exactly like Tom Yum Soup. It’s just a spicy soup (not sour) with pork. Verdict? Can give this soup a miss although it only costs me S$2.50.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a convenient eat, then I think you can skip this place. But if you are someone like me who goes overseas in search for hidden gem and good food, plot your map well and make a trip down!

May i suggest to visit Banyan Tree’s sky bar – Vertigo & Moon Bar after Soi Polo Fried Chicken. Take a 15 minutes walk from Lumpini MRT station and i was there for my last trip. The bar itself is awesome and the night view is spectacular. One of the most romantic dining places for Lovey Dovey Couple. But do note the attire to enter the bar is smart casual.

Directions to Soi Polo Fried Chicken

From the map provided, zoom in to the red circle “A”, you will see a street call “Sanam Khli”. The is a small lane just above Sanam Khli without any road name and that is where Soi Polo Fried Chicken is situated.

I took a cab down to Soi Polo Fried Chicken although it is possible to walk from Lumpini MRT but i think it will take a 15 minutes walk from there.

You will see Soi Polo Fried Chicken once you turn into the small road.