Soi Langsuan has changed so much I hardly recognized it on this trip to Bangkok. The street is much more upscale, lined with smart residences, spas and restaurants. LeNotre is there, and so is Starbucks.
Instead of the restaurants I remember, among them Pan Pan, which was always crowded; the Hot Shoppe, Old World and the Bee Z Pub, I saw the Yaki Ten Japanese Bar and Restaurant, Le Pre Grill, Air Plane Restaurant and Cafe, Forlente Italian restaurant and The Ninth Cafe, which puts out Thai, Italian and fusion dishes.
Order The Ninth's stir-fried spicy spaghetti with basil leaves and you can finish with a slice of double chocolate cake, tiramisu or pannacotta with raspberry sauce.
But the soi still has street food and sidewalk tables where office workers eat lunch. And Ngwanlee is still there, at the far end where Langsuan deadends at Lumpini Park.
Unlike its upscale surroundings, this Chinese/Thai restaurant is as plain as ever. But you go there to eat, not to look at a fancy dining room.
The best time to go is night. If it's not raining, the restaurant will be open to the stars. But this trip I went for lunch, which is served in a barracks like air-conditioned room with tinny tables, a linoleum floor and a gruff waitress.
The food, as always, was wonderful. Three dishes and a rich tasting nam manao (limeade) with a touch of salt came to $10, plus a tip for the gruff but efficient server.
The plates were Chinese style, meaning my lunch would have served two or three. But I wanted all of the fried shrimp with garlic and pepper for myself. The tender, very fresh shrimp were butterflied and fried, then sprinkled with pepper and topped with golden flakes of fried garlic.
Fried fish noodle would be noodles with fish, right? Well, not exactly. In Ngwanlee's version, the noodles are the fish, cut into pale, thin strips and mixed with bean sprouts and yellow chives in a light, broth-based sauce. This delicately seasoned dish is the opposite of the fiery food one expects in Thailand.
For old times sake, I had to have a favorite from the past, pak boong fai dang, which means morning glory vegetable stir-fried in a red hot wok (fai is Thai for fire and dang is red). The greens come in a Chinese style brown sauce with good-sized chunks of garlic and a scattering of fermented soy beans.
The menu is long, and Ngwanlee has a thrifty way to adjust for rising costs without reprinting it. A disclaimer reads, "The price may be changed. Must be sorry here." But whatever the price, you will not be sorry that you ate there.
Ngwanlee Langsuan Restaurant, 101/25-26 Soi Langsuan, Patumwan, Bangkok, Thailand. Tel: (02) 251-8366
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