You know, if there be one place in Bangkok that I will come specially for Pad Thai, it be this one.
Don't ever- EVER- raise an eyebrow at Thipsamai, or the area the restaurant is located in.
You'll be a fool to.
Because Thipsamai- on 313 Mahachai Road, Samranrat, Pranakorn- is not a place easily dismissed, ignored, or forgotten.
Heritage food places tend to hold a very special charm in our world of today, and a blessing it is to be able to come to one that not only strives to build a connection between you and them, but also you, and the rest of the world.
It's one thing, for instance, to come to a heritage food place and build a connection (through the food) with the ethnicity.
It's another thing, however, to come to the same heritage food place and find the same connections being built (through the food) with other people from other ethnicities, from other parts of the world.
We were surprised to find groups of individuals from places all around the world queuing up just as we were to be ushered into the restaurant.
In front of me were a couple of Koreans, a couple of Japanese ladies, several sunburned backpackers either from Europe, US, Australia or Israel, and a group of Taiwanese who stood about with their bags and electric fans in hand.
I watched with quiet delight as the ladies from Japan took wefies in front of the restaurant's doors.
And I wondered with interested curiosity when the Koreans- who had been in front of us previously- got seated at the table behind us.
It isn't just the food here at Thipsamai that you won't be able to forget.
You won't be able to forget the synthwave-looking sign that hangs above your head when you're queuing up to get into the restaurant either.
I was intrigued by the restaurant.
Not only the open view kitchen where you could watch the (young) (masked up) chefs work the woks.
And not only too the dioramas and models that seemed to be placed here, there, everywhere no matter which part of the restaurant you sat in.
Of course, the thing which intrigued me the most was this- their Pad Thai.
Or rather, specifically, their "PadThai with Shrimp Oil, fresh deep sea prawns and egg"
If you think it looked no different from any other Pad Thai you've eaten at any other Thai restaurant, oh hoh, no.
No way.
There's something else here.
I might be able to tell what it were if I were a food connoisseur, but I sadly am not, so all I can say that is that it might be the shrimp oil.
Either that, or the 'wok hei' (as we call it in Chinese) where the chefs work the ladle in the wok so good that every noodle, and every ingredient is cleanly fried.
I have a feeling it might be the shrimp oil, because on the palate this noodle was super, super clean, and I don't think I've ever had a Pad Thai as clean, smooth, and perfectly fried as this one.
Compared to some other Pad Thai that I'd eaten elsewhere, this one didn't linger the taste of oil.
Actually I couldn't even taste the oil.
If the clean taste was what I appreciated about the dish, it were the texture of the noodle that I loved even more.
See, I'm someone who loves her noodles dry, yet close.
I'm not a fan of wet noodles (if they have a dry style) and I like them clumpy.
To me they give off better chew.
The noodles here at Thipsamai were precisely this texture with precisely this chew.
No question about it.
I haven't even talked about the prawns.
To some these might not be much to talk about, but oy, they were peeled, they were fresh (you could taste it) and there was a kind of bounce to the prawn itself.
I've fallen in love with the Pad Thai here.
And so has my companion who on this particular evening ordered the Superb PadThai that's, in their words, "PadThai with shrimp oil, fresh deep sea prawns, and wrapped with egg"
I had worried at first, you know.
My friend is not a particular fan of noodles and had come here only because I was.
But, phew, you know their standards have what it takes when- coming from someone who doesn't usually even have noodles, much less fried ones- there were only praises, with a special compliment for the bean sprouts tougay that were done so gently with no taste of the raw veggie.
It's a definite thing that I'll be going back for their Pad Thai every time I'm back in Bangkok.
But not only for their Pad Thai- I'm going back for their well-stuffed, perfectly fried, perfectly crispy spring rolls as well.
