This restaurant replaces old standby Rabeing for Northern Thai Food. Same location, right next to that market which is now called Thai Value. Used to have a relationship with Duangrat’s. Now I am not sure.
If you look at the regular menu, it’s pretty much the same as most Thai places. But the good news is that they have an extensive ‘monthly specials menu’. This menu did not look like it is changed all that often.
From the regular menu we ordered floating market noodle soup. From the specials menu we got pork with sour bamboo shoots, stewed duck over rice, and spicy sausage salad with fermented fish sauce.
The order was a very satisfying mix of different tastes, so on that level, it was a smash success.
Stewed duck:
This is sliced duck with a mild, rather elegant gravy. The little bowl is a wonderful, liquidy mix of pickled chilis. Not all that spicy unless you were to use a lot of this.
The pork with bamboo:
Bamboo shoots are cut in a thick, noodle shape and the pork is served on the bone.
I tried to ask about the heat level for the boat noodles as well as if they use blood. Yes for the blood, but she waved me off on the spice level. It is automatically served mild, and they give you a four-condiment tray for adding your own spices. We also had a choice of beef or pork (yes to beef) and a variety of noodles. We chose thin rice noodles.
I tasted the soup before adding anyhting. It’s a quality bowl of soup, though… thin on the blood and there was a slightly sweet component. So I went all in for the chili condiment. I didn’t get a photo here, but it is a dead ringer for many Mark Wiens videos from Thailand:
This was my first time seeing this here, and I added enough to make my little bowl light up on fire, just like I’ve had at my favorite boat noodle place.
The spicy sausage salad was nice and refreshing, though nothing out of the ordinary. It is not sai oua, more like a rubbery paté spiked with chili peppers.
I can’t say any one dish was wonderful, but exciting enough to make me want to explore further.
