Bangkok • Pad Thai Hunt
Though I know people who would simple hop over for the weekend for that I’ve lived most my life in the country just next to Thailand, I’d never had the urge to order this dish in the many Thai restaurants back home. Not sure why; it just seemed Pad Thai looked nothing more than simple fried noodles. But stepping into Bangkok I quickly started to understand the difference, and the fascination.
“If you didn’t have Pad Thai, were you even in Bangkok?”
From research I had read that the Pad Thai tasted so good as it embodied the perfect balance of sweet and savoury. There are different options of chicken, beef, pork, and the most popular shrimp. Some people even have it plain without any meat.
We were recommended by a local friend to visit the locally famous Thipsamai Pad Thai on Maha Chai Road - a local favourite opened in 1966. The restaurant typically opens later in the evening around 5pm and runs until quite late into the night. There was a massive queue when we got there at around 10pm, and this is usually the case every night so be prepared to stand in a line for 10-30mins. Most of the cooking and preparation is done front of the house on the sidewalk.. talk about teasing! To be honest I was a little skeptical at first since many tourist-popular food spots sometimes could get overrated and end up not being as good as it was hyped to be. But the growing queue quickly dissolved my doubts.
When it was finally our turn to be seated, we learned the seating areas ran to the faaaaaar back of the shop. The restaurant was filled with a good balance of tourists and locals, which helped in reassuring the authenticity of the place. The menu was pretty straightforward, offering mainly pad thai cooked in different ways. The original house specialty were offered in two sizes. I got the shrimp ♥
I went for the regular sized Pad Thai with shrimp. If you’re here you’ll see that there’s a option between normal shrimp and larger sized shrimp (”special”). The difference in price isn’t significant but there isn’t a big difference in the size/amount of noodle or shrimp either. The noodles were cooked the same too so if you’re on a budget, I’d stick to the regular sized plate. Pad Thai comes with a couple of lime wedges, bean sprouts, and garlic chives which you mix into the noodles. And if you’re into spice, add on some chilli flakes and crushed peanuts into the mix to get all the really amazing textures going ~
I personally thought the Pad Thai was yummy enough for me to come back for a second round or recommend it to a friend, but I barely had anything to compare it with at this point. The noodles were served hot and not too soft, the shrimps were juicy, and the sides were fresh - not much to complain about but I’d probably give other stalls/restaurants a go before I could say this was the best Pad Thai I ever had. My friend however was used to eating Pad Thai and was raving about how amazing it was here compared to the restaurants back home in Kuala Lumpur.
Eating areas were clean, service was okay, and the food was delicious. Authenticity? To be confirmed.
Overall, 7/10.
