Thailand is known for its great food and noodles are included. With such little time, how could I sample more without having indigestion from overeating? Good thing there's Boat Noodle House.
At A Glance
What is Boat Noodle House?
Boat Noodle Houses are restaurants often located near the river that sell small servings of noodles. A regular bowl of noodles is usually more than enough for an average person, but you can order more with these mini bowls of noodles.
But why are they called boat noodles?
Long ago, the people of Ayutthaya, Thailand, would serve noodles in their floating markets. Small servings were sold to avoid spillage since boats are rather unsteady. Though they are no longer being served on boats, boat noodles stayed true to their small size. Locals would often stack their finished mini bowls of noodles and have a photo op with their bowl tower.
My Boat Noodle House Experience
Boat Noodle House should definitely be on anyone's list when visiting Thailand. There are a lot of Boat Noodle Houses in Bangkok but we figured to take a GrabCar towards the Victory Monument. The driver drove us there via freeway since the usual route is normally clogged. Just a few minutes walk from the Victory Monument, the Boat Noodle Alley awaited us.
There were so many Boat Noodle Houses in this alley! But we had our eyes set on Baan Kway Tiew Ruathong.
Baan Kway Tiew Ruathong
Baan Kway Tiew Ruathong is a relatively old Boat Noodle House featured by some known YouTube vloggers.
With its popularity, this long queue is not surprising. Besides, we arrived around lunchtime. So yeah, it's quite expected.
We bought some banana fritters on our way here. There were two options available and we chose the non-sweet one (unripe banana) over the sweet one (ripe banana). We were famished because we intentionally skipped breakfast to be able to eat more bowls of noodles. But we ended up snacking on those crunchy savory delights. Let's just say, they were our appetizers.
After 30 minutes of queueing, we were finally seated. The place was packed with tourists and locals alike. They handed us the menu and we were surprised. These noodles were dirt cheap! The serving was also small after all.
A normal serving costs 60 Baht (less than 2 USD) but a mini bowl of noodles is at 18 Baht or 50 Cents. That's insane! I ordered the following.
The service was superb! Our orders were served before we knew it. They also have a promotion...
"1 Free Big Cola if you finish 20 Bowls of Noodles"
I was with a lady colleague and we were not trying to prove our eating prowess here. There's no way we'd be able to finish that much! So we just ordered the soda.
True enough, after finishing those 3 bowls, I was so stuffed. They were all tasty but my favorite was the Spicy Thai Noodles with Pork. I wanted to try some more, so we ordered some for takeaways. While waiting, we were fortunate enough to get a peek at the kitchen. I enjoyed this food adventure and I highly recommend it to all foodies!
How to Get There
Here are ways to get to Baan Kway Tiew Ruathong.
Baan Kway Tiew Ruathong
1/7 Ratchawithi Rd, Samsen Nai, Phaya Thai, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
By BTS Skytrain
Take the Sukhumvit Line and get off at Victory Monument Station.
By Uber
We got to the Victory Monument via Grabcar and took the freeway to avoid traffic.
Please note that traffic in this area is usually congested since it is a major bus transportation hub.
Summary
Serving food in smaller sizes is a legit idea especially if you are in a country with food as flavorful as Thailand. Imagine having been able to taste a number of dishes in a single sitting. Not to mention, it's so cheap! I hope the idea can be adopted by other countries as well. Now that's a foodie's wish!
I also spent a night recently at ICONSIAM and sampled food at the SookSiam Floating Market. Check this page for more info and tips for your next Bangkok Adventure.
See you on my next trip!
Comments