When you walk down Soi 19 directly opposite Platinum Fashion Mall in Bangkok, you cannot miss the big loud yellow banner stretching high across the road shouting "NO BRANCH IN SINGAPORE".
We can be forgiven for thinking that the name of this shop is "No Branch in Singapore" wanton noodle.
It's actually SabX2, the "original Soi 19 wanton noodle and pork rice" - the two favourite Thai dishes of tourists from Singapore and I think China, Hong Kong and Taiwan as well, perhaps because these dishes are similar to Chinese comfort food.
SabX2 is located at the heart of Bangkok's throbbing shopping belt. The dining area is air conditioned behind sliding glass panels. The crowd inside have a magnetic draw on tired and hungry tourists looking for a place to rest their feet and hide from the blistering Bangkok heat and dusty road grime.
It also looks like a place to get some authentic Thai food to tell our friends about when we get home. (Shall try their braised pork rice next time, now it's wanton noodle.)
From the languages spoken, I think there are few if any Thai customers inside here at all this morning. Actually, it was the same tourist type crowd during my previous visit last year.
This is the 100 Baht standard serving. Outside of the Bangkok tourist belt, a standard serving of wanton noodle is 30 Baht - ok, there is no crab, but more about that later.
SabX2 does not serve soup with their "dry" wanton noodle but you can buy a bowl of soup separately. I didn't this time (I didn't recall that it was very good the last time).
I held up the whole ball of egg noodles in a soup spoon, so that you can see how much noodles we are getting. It's 3 mouthfuls for me.
The egg noodles were generic and done half a notch above soft al dente which is exactly how I like my noodles. There was no egg flavour at all, which is typical of generic egg noodles. Furthermore, any flavour was masked by the tossing sauce. The greasy sauce is a blend of quite intense saltiness from seasoning and lard - at least, the taste is not completely flat.
If you eat this little bits of crab neat, you might get a bit of crab flavour. If you toss this with the sauce and noodles, the flavour disappears underneath the heavy salty seasoning and porky taste.
The char siew was wholly lean meat. It was dry and fibrous, so it was rather chewy like pork jerky. The main flavour was flat saltiness from seasoning.
There were 2 large wantons in the bowl. The skin was thick and doughy. The minced pork filling was mushy and it tasted mainly salty from seasoning.
^ Click on photo to read about the "Soi 19 wanton mee" in Singapore
Apparently, the dozen "No Branch in Singapore" notices refer to the "Soi 19 Thai Wanton Mee" shop in Ang Mo Kio, Singapore. SabX2 is making it clear that it is unrelated to the Singapore shop named after Soi 19.
☞I have tried some other random "no name" street side Thai wanton noodle stalls in Bangkok and they compare very favourably with SabX2 in terms of price, serving portion and taste. Next time I am in Bangkok I will try out more Thai wanton noodle stalls and share them with you.
Restaurant name: SabX2 Wantan Noodles
Address: 4/32-33 Petchburi Soi 19, Pratunam, Bangkok, Thailand
GPS: 13.751581, 100.538612 / 13°45'05.7"N 100°32'19.0"E
Hours: 9:00 am to 3:00 pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 24 Aug 2016
^ click for details
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Frankly, this noodle is very normal and not worth the Q at all. There are much beeter ones in Malaysia and Singapore
ReplyDeleteI agree with you.
DeleteI have not tired this stall but did for a few others in Bangkok as well as Phuket which serve very nice and value for money noodles both dry and soup. Had also tired the so called "Sol 19" at AMK. Am a sucker for value for money offerings, and at THB 100 per bowl, the focus is on tourist dollars and not the mass market.
ReplyDeleteYes, I love to track down a good Thai style wtm which is not targeting tourists. I want an authentic experience like a local.
DeleteSorry, this stall in bkk very lousy, attitude probelm and the food also very very salty.
ReplyDeleteI would not even want to go in when I see the sign saying 'No Branch In Singapore'. A problem chef will not cook up good food!
ReplyDeleteFor 100 B a bowl, I hv to agree it is over priced in Bangkok for that amount of food. My 2 sons had tasted it and both recommended highly to me.I went reluctantly anyway especially reading -ve reviews previously. I have to say the taste really earned a big thumb up from me. It reminded me of the taste of an old man store back in the 60s in malaysia. Sorry if one oestrogen not like lard but it is the lard that makes it soooooooo tasty. The char siew did not look appetising but I found it to be much much better than many stores in spore. However, the wanton did not have any flavor. Yes, it is expensive, it is a tourist spot, I will still go back and order 2 bowls...any stores in Malaysia and spore can match its taste? Sorry, have not found one yet.
ReplyDelete