Bangkok a tasty treat
Hungry tourists are winners when restaurants compete
Hungry tourists are the winners as restaurants compete for customers.
McDonald’s didn’t invent the hamburger. Domino’s didn’t invent pizza. And it’s unlikely that Bangkok’s Thip Samai Restaurant invented the beloved national dish called pad Thai. But you’d never know it to visit the place. The busy little shop on Mahachai Road is festooned with claims to be the original source of the fried noodle dish that has come to define Thai cuisine for many locals and tourists alike.
Pad Thai, served up on street corners all over Thailand, is also found on every Thai menu in North America. For whatever reason, the Western version seems to have developed its own style, usually with a ketchup-orange appearance you rarely see in Thailand. But the basics include pho rice noodles (rather like fettuccine noodles) with shrimp or chicken, eggs, bean sprouts, tofu, often crushed peanuts, and a host of typical Thai condiments like coriander, lime, chili powder, fish sauce, garlic, sugar and more. Like most Thai dishes it can be served up spicy hot. But it’s often presented without much spice, the customers being invited to add in as much chili oil or powder as they wish.
Thip Samai has long trumpeted itself as the true home of pad Thai in Bangkok.
To be fair, it seems that Thip Samai is really laying claim to its own particular variation of the dish — something called Superb pad Thai, and a lovely thing to see. This variant comes enveloped in a sort of fried egg shroud and boasts a bright orange colour lent by oil derived from shrimp heads.
“We are very proud of our most famous shrimp pad Thai of this kind,” the menu proclaims. “It is with special and delicious ingredients (e.g. big shrimps, Chantaburi noodles, and other spices). This makes other restaurantry [sic] to imitate accordingly.”
Ah yes, there’s the local controversy. Thip Samai’s claim to be first may actually be directed mostly at its neighbours — in particular Lueng Pha, located just two doors down. Lueng Pha is a much more modest operation than its more famous rival.
Thip Samai is a well-lit, bustling enterprise with a large staff and a number of busy woks in front, shovelling out fried noodles full bore. They have a website and staff uniforms. Lueng Pa, on the other hand, is a typical Bangkok holein-the-wall with no English signage, plastic stools, dingy interior, and a resident mangy cat. But the lone woman who stands firing up her wok behind two big fans can whip up a dish that’s a dead ringer for Thip Samai’s house specialty, described at Lueng Pha as, “pad thai with shrimp’s fat” and optional “egg cover.”
It so happens that I tried Lueng Pha’s version first. One afternoon I took a Chao Praya River ferry boat to Tha Chang pier and meandered east, past the glittering complex of pavilions and temples known as the Grand Palace, eventually down a little canal lined with ramshackle homes. Emerging onto a busy street, and having no idea where I was, I caught sight of those egg-covered orange noodles coming out of the sizzling wok and promptly sat myself down. Only when I left did I realize that the little restaurant was located beside the famous Thip Samai. Lueng Pha benefits from the fact that it is open all day, whereas Thip Samai opens at 5 p.m.
Lueng Pha’s shrimp-fat pad Thai had been pretty great, offering a rich shrimp flavour and firm noodles.
I headed back next day to make the comparison. At 70 baht (approximately $2.40), Thip Samai’s version is, surprisingly, 10 baht cheaper (roughly 35 cents). Either dish qualifies as pricey by Bangkok noodle standards —40 baht is a typical price for a plate of pad Thai on the street.
The Thip Samai and Leung Pha plates are visually identical and similar in every respect. But — influenced perhaps by a tendency to root for the little guy — I preferred Lueng Pha’s version for its intensely savoury shrimp essence. Also, I liked the cat.
What the experience proved to me — and not for the first time — is the incredible wealth of Bangkok’s culinary environment.
The day I stumbled upon Lueng Pha I had actually been searching for another favourite spot that serves up a different style of noodle.
Opting for another choice on the spur of the moment seemed like a perfectly safe bet.
I’d had a similar experience just a few nights earlier, across town at Sukhumvit Soi 38.
I had been disappointed to find one of my beloved regular noodle stands had closed for a holiday.
So I wandered about 50 metres down the road to an open-front food court — only to discover another noodle joint that instantly became a new favourite. That’s Bangkok. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, walk a block.
Guide book stars like Thip Samai are a good start, but just the beginning.
No other city in the world rewards serendipity so often and so well. Dining here is not always pretty. But if you love great food, Bangkok is a gambler’s paradise.