Serious about noodles
Outstanding 'ba-mee' venue is sure to please late-night connoisseurs
The sensibilities of the committed noodle connoisseur are very finely calibrated.
The simple Ba-mee Baan Pong shop on Lat Phrao Road near Soi 24.With kui tio, the difference of a micron or two in thickness, an infinitesimal extra degree of chewiness, can determine whether or not a given shop finds a place on a personal list of five-star places.
Bangkok foodies with long culinary memories may recall a time when it was considered quite normal to drive all the way to Rayong and back on a day off just to enjoy a bowl of high-art duck noodles at a legendary joint that operated out of a private home.
Koy see mee offers crisp-fried noodles topped with chicken, bamboo shoot, shitake mushroom, and spring onions in seasoned gravy.The duck and broth there were delectable, secret-recipe productions, but it was the texture of the noodles that anchored the experience in Ung-aang Talay's memory (today's patrons of the Jay Fai restaurant will understand this.).
Perfect ba-mee (wheat noodles) are just as elusive as memorable kui tio, so when a friend showed up at the house with a packet of ba-mee muu daeng that more than justified his extravagant claims, U-a T proposed a visit to the source, which turned out to be a shop called Ba-mee Baan Pong, located on Lat Phrao Road near Soi 24. Although U-a T and friend arrived fairly late in the evening, the place was packed.
The setup was traditional: a couple of open cooking areas facing the street set in front of the large dining room, with the usual glass cases containing ingredients. The walls displayed photos of a range of dishes that extended far beyond the noodle specialities that had drawn U-a T through the Saturday night traffic, but for this visit U-a T decided to concentrate on the ba-mee.
After taking a seat at the sole available table, U-a T and friend dispatched the waitress for orders of ba-mee kio muu krawp (wheat noodles with crispy pork and pork-stuffed noodle dumplings) served "dry", koy see mee (crisp-fried noodles topped with chicken, bamboo shoot, shitake mushroom, and spring onions in seasoned gravy), and tom yam ruam mit nam khon (sour-hot soup with seafood and, ideally, coconut cream).
First to arrive was the ba-mee kio muu krawp. Here, as in the take-out serving sampled at home, the noodles were of finer gauge than usual, extremely fresh and chewy, and had a nutty flavour completely free of any ammoniac stench.
U-a T asked the waitress who supplied them and she explained that they were made fresh daily on-premise from wheat flour and eggs, without any additives.
The ‘‘dry’’ ba-mee kio muu krawp , or wheat noodles with crispy pork and pork-stuffed noodle dumplings.The same noodle dough was used to make the wrapping for the kio, although here, at least in U-a T's serving, there was so much noodle and so little seasoned pork filling that the result was a little bland. No complaints about the crisp pork, however, whose skin preserved it crunch until the end and had excellent flavour, justifying its prominence on the sign in front of the restaurant.
The broth, too, was seasoned just right, not too salty for once and rich with the taste of the pork bones used to make it. The photo of this dish posted on the wall featured some bright-green phak khanaa (Chinese broccoli) leaves, and U-a T was apprehensive when they seemed to be missing from the version as served. Turned out, they were hidden under the noodles, and had been cooked just long enough to retain their texture.
The tom yam was not up to the expectations aroused by the photo. The squid, shrimp, and fish (the head of a plaa kao), were all fresh and plentiful and the seasoning of the broth, with its bracing whiff of kaffir lime, nicely balanced. But why betray a wonderful dish like this by making it with milk instead of coconut cream?
This lazy shortcut robs traditional dishes of one of their key flavours and aromas. A hanging offense.
The meal got back on track with the arrival of the koy see mee.
Here the noodles, fried crisp, had soaked up aromatic gravy that had a properly thick consistency without the gumminess that sometimes sabotages this dish.
Chicken meat had been cut into thin slices that were also richly flavoured by the sauce, and shiitake, straw and oyster mushrooms were included in quantity. The tender bamboo had been finely julienned and did not overwhelm the flavour of the chicken.
Service was very efficient and polite, despite that fact that the place was very busy and the staff must have been working hard for hours.
Since Baan Pong stays open until 2am, it is a good place to keep in mind for people like U-a T who are sometimes galvanised into action by their late-night noodle cravings.
All in all, a very good meal that would have been an excellent one without the perversion of the tom yam. On the basis of the ba-mee specialities, it goes on any shortlist of outstanding Bangkok noodle venues.
