I'm so crazy about boat noodles (kuay tieu ru-er). The first time I had it was about 9 years back. I love the uniqueness in the taste though I know it is actually pig's blood in the soup base and it's probably because of this elixir that makes it tastes so good. The thought of it sounds irky but nevertheless, the sight of it makes you want to eat more so I tell myself not to think about the "blood" too much. From what I know from my thai friends, boat noodles used to be sold on boats in the past. So i guess, that's how it got the name. It's basically flat white noodles, mostly thin, with pork balls, pork slices, pork skin and of course the infamous soup. There's also lots of basil leaves, vegetables and the spicy and sour chilli. The combination of all these makes it tastes soooo good. I never once fail to eat it when I visit bangkok and wish I could bring this in to Singapore.
In our latest visit to bangkok, we decided to try a range of them to determine the best in its league. We had only time for 4 places.
1. Chatuchak, roadside stall
I can't deny that the heat was a killer. But nothing could stop me from trying the boat noodles and I'm glad that D shared the love of the noodles with me. There were so many locals having it and we were sure nothing could go wrong with it. It was only when i ate here that i had the noodles with the crispy pig's skin (it's in a packet). Everything tasted soooo goood....a bowl cost THB25 (S$1.70). Many locals took more than 1 bowl since the portion isn't huge. What i liked about it is that it's very local, no tourists(except me and D) and eventhough it's doesn't look very clean and there's no air-con but eating there seems so much more fun.
2. Tha Siam, Siam Discovery Center 4th Floor
Upon arrival, our first instinct says we should visit Tha Siam, Siam Square. We usually have our boat noodles here but we never knew the name, just recognise the pig's logo. To our dismay, we could not find it at Siam Square. Just when i was feeling a little lost (i mean c'mon, we were SUPPOSE to eat it for lunch!!), we went to Siam Discovery Center to find something else for lunch and was told by the info counter that there was one boat noodle place located on the 4th floor. Initially, we were not sure that it was the same one..till we saw the logo!! Hurray...my face lited up immediately...and felt fulfilled with our first meal in bangkok. The priced doubled from our last visit..and now it cost THB45 (SGD2.00) per bowl. As D said, there seems to be a burnt earthy taste in the soup and it is not as rich as before. There seems to be something lacking. This is the only boat noodles that i see added alot of chucks of pork fats though. Though it doesn't taste as good as before, but I still enjoyed it as much.
3. Provence, Gaysorn 2nd Floor
I happen to search for places to eat while preparing for this trip. And because Gaysorn is just located next to our hotel, Arnoma, i saw in the Gaysorn website that this place is popular for its different type of noodles. You can choose between a small (THB70/SGD3.00) or a large (THB120/SGD5.20) portion. We took the large. Soup was rich enough, they serve beehoon instead of thin flat white noodles and somehow, it taste better. Having our first try on high-end boat noodles, I must say that Provence deserves a thumbs up. Not bad for its portion, quality and it's air-conditioned!! Value for money in my opinion. Woah!
4. Tea Room, Grand Hyatt 4th Floor
This is revisit to Tea Room when we went there for D's birthday lunch. We saw in the menu that there's a thick pork soup based noodle. Immediately we jump into it to try it on our last day in bangkok. But it was quite a disappointment. The noodles was not very cook and was the broadest among all the boat noodles we tried. Without adding the chilli, it tasted like a different kind of noodles. Not so good. It cost THB170 (SGD7.40)and i guess we are paying for the ambience and the experience. Afterall, Tea Room is good for it's other food, so we'll not write it off just for the boat noodles.
Overall, we love the boat noodles from chatuchak best. Not the best place to eat especially under the tent of heat, but we enjoyed every strand of noodles and each mouthful of the soup. The pork balls and pork slicess were cooked nicely and the soup was tasty which makes you want to eat it more. If we can find the stall next time, we will definitely visit again. Hopefully, the weather will be cooler then.
