YummY! Jotaro's Food Review
Thai Boat Noodles @ Ah Keat's (บริษัท อิงลิช โพรเกรซ จำกัด)
Hat Yai, South Thailand - April 2016
Boat noodles (kuai tiao ruea) are sort of a trending speciality food in Thailand. These are small bowls of flat noodles serve from the boats plying the river markets (like those at the Chao Phraya near Bangkok).
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| With a tall stack of boat noodles bowls at Wheel Noodles. |
The bowls are indeed very small and could be finished between two to three mouths; quite often patrons have to take a few bowls to fill up their tummies. I had the opportunity to try some at the Wheel Noodles shop in Ipoh; see I did finish quite a stack of bowls!
What if you were not on a boat in the river, and wanted to savour some of these delicious boat noodles. Yes, this can be done as there are land-based shops that serve them. While on a cycling tour of South Thailand, we had our lunch at one of these shops in Hat Yai - Keat's Thai Boat Noodle Shop. Yes! This is the real deal, one served in Thailand; so let's see how much better they are than the ones from Wheels.
Missing those small bowls; no worries Keat's do serve those small ones for small eaters or ladies, or just for those who want the boat noodles experience (although without the boat rocking motion).
The one above shows a medium-sized bowl. The bonus of eating at a shop is the extra bowls of "salad" that comes with raw bean sprouts and Kesom leaves (Vietnamese Coriander).
This medium-size bowl came with Thai flat noodles, slices of pork and beef, and a fish ball together with some cooked bean sprouts. Add additional raw bean sprouts and "Kesom" leaves from the salad bowl to one's liking. The Kesom add that minty after-taste flavours.
We guys, being hungry after a good bike ride, went for the Big Bowl. Similarly it came with a bowl of Thai salad.
The ingredients are similar to the small bowl except it had slices of pig liver too. We had also asked for a more spicy gravy (specify this when you order). Added on were also some deep fried pork skin (pork cracklings).
Keat's gravy was very good, with an underlying meaty flavour.
We liked the bowls used here, authentic porcelain ones with simple flower motifs at the sides.
The noodles were prepared at a small stall at the front of the shop; uniquely it sat on a mock-up wooden boat; there was no mistaking that this is a boat noodles shop. Today, the Thai flags were flying high - it was the Songkran festival.
See those packets of yellow stuff hanging on the left .....
These were packets of pork cracklings sold separately for those who like them, to be added to the noodles or just to be eaten as tit-bits.
Ah Keat's place is a simple wooden, single-storey shop with square tables and plastic chairs. It's next to the Red Planet Hotel which looms over the small, zinc-roofed shop.
Here's Ah Keat, who looks more like a cool, hippy-ish guy with a pony tail. He was very friendly and helpful to us in making our orders.
KEAT'S THAI BOAT NOODLE
5 Preedarom Rd, Tambon Hat Yai, Amphoe Hat Yai, Chang Wat Songkhla 90110, Thailand.
Phone: +66 74 355 755
GPS: 7.00203, 100.47082.
(Click here for Google Street View)
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