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Bangkok Chef, a closer look
Aloha!
11/30/09 - Hidden in plain view along a single-story, non-descript building on Nuuanu Ave., right above the shopping center that once housed Hungry Lion, sits a hole-in-the-wall spot that's seemed to have gained an almost cult-like status. With no fanfare and little advertising, Bangkok Chef Thai restaurant has somehow managed to steal the hearts of a surprisingly large number of folks here in Hawaii, folks not only of Thai descent, but of Haole, Filipino, Japanese, Samoan, Korean - just about every culture under the Hawaiian sun! The buzz surrounding this place has long been established; the crowds, undeniable. In fact, the original location was so popular, they burst their britches and opened another shop in Manoa, closer to the college crowds that absolutely love this place.
I've heard people raving about Bangkok Chef since long before I even started this site, all confidently assuring me that for top-knotch Thai cuisine, at unbeatable prices, this was the place to be! Of course, after hearing all the hubbub, you know I had to check it out for myself. And that I did, having visited at least five times over the last couple of years.
The Manoa location only recently opening up, my first few experiences here were at the Nuuanu store:
Not the fanciest of places, lemme tell ya. Yeah, there's a sign right outside the door, so you know you're in the right place, but the surroundings are just so homely and inconspicuous, you'd think it was a run-down, no-name plate lunch joint or something. Drive too quickly up busy Nuuanu Ave., and you'll miss the place altogether! The facility, being quite aged, looks like it had been constructed out of a one-car garage, and the single row of parking spaces directly lining the building are about as cramped as a Chinatown parking lot - enough so that signs fronting each stall, placed on flexible, weeble-wobble poles, explicitly instruct visitors to drive all the way up, otherwise, your tail-end will take-up the better part of the sidewalk! Get any more ghetto than this, and you'd think you were on River Street!
There's no waitstaff here, so you'll have to do everything yourself - there's placing and picking-up your orders at the counter, grabbing your own hot sauce and condiments from a self-serve station, and throwing away your styrofoam containers after eating. But no worries - I gladly do it all at these prices, as full-sized meals run mostly between $4 and $7 (some a little more)! We're talking the same cost as a plate lunch! Not only that, but like some plate lunches, which are literally bulging on all sides and need to be carried with both hands, plates here are often stuffed to the breaking point. And there's much to say about a little more veggies, a little more noodles, a little more exotic flair than your other comparatively-priced plate lunch meals full of bbq meats and starch, yes? Plus, without a doubt, it's a great alternative to most other Thai eateries, as well, which are full-blown restaurants that will cost you almost double the price!
One option curiously inconspicuous here are combination plates. I mean, I was getting used to fast-food Thai eateries, where you get your choice of two or three different entrees plus rice, but here, it's one choice with rice, and one choice only. And speaking of fast-food, Bangkok Chef is only fast-food in the sense of no restaurant service and lots of take-out, but not fast in the vein of food sitting under hot lights and on display! Unless calling-in, you will have to wait, as meals here are made per order. A good thing, yes?
This order of long rice w/pork was as piping-hot and freshly-made as could be, coming stuffed with tomatoes, onion, cabbage, baby corn, and black fungus. A loaded plate like this, all for $5.70? Can't beat it! Even besides, I loved the taste of these noodles, which carried a slight but exotic taste that probably mixed soy with fish sauce, among other things, along with the great taste of a good grilling over a super-hot wok. The thin, glass-type noodles were springy and firm, just the way you wanted them.
I was specifically looking for noodles other than the ever-familiar pad thai noodles, a staple in Thai cuisine but not something I particularly enjoy here at Bangkok Chef. I dunno, to me, the pad thai here is just a bit too tasteless and bland, with a little too much beansprouts and other veggies, rather than more of the noodles, themselves. Oh, well.
How 'bout yet another type of noodle?:
If it looks a little plain to you, well, that's for good reason. This dish is so large, it's literally only half of your order! The bottom half of this rad nah (above) consists of a bed of wide funn noodles, tossed in a slightly beefy dripping, while the top half, just as in a take-out order of cake noodles from a Chinese restaurant, comes separately in a dark, brown, Oriental-style gravy. The entirety of this two-plate order came in at $7.25, or $9.95 when opting for an infusion of shrimp on-top of everything else.
Here's a shot with half of the gravy mix poured over the noodles. Had I poured the whole thing over, it would have over-flowed onto the table!
Included in the gravy were ample amounts of broccoli, carrots, and strips of clean, white chicken. A fabulous-looking dish, but unfortunately, the taste was a bit weak, and really lacking in the exotic-ness usually coming from Thai dishes. Yeah, I know, not all Thai offerings come with galanga, lemongrass, fresh basil, coconut milk, or fish sauce, but if there's one thing I don't like when going Thai, it has to be when the dishes end-up tasting more like Chinese stir-fry than anything else, no offense to Chinese stir-fry! Oh, and by the way - don't ever get the chicken larb here. It is utterly horrible.
Hmmm.... Is this place really living up to all the hype???
One thing both Kumi and I did enjoy very much, however, was the tom yum soup ($7.95), a spicy, sour staple and probably the most popular soup in Thai eateries, at least on the island. This bowl came with several large shrimp and a broth rich in complexity, a volatile mix of super-hot chilis, kaffir lime leaf, lemongrass, and a whole lotta moxy:
But after several visits to the original Nuuanu location, it was finally time to try their much-anticipated new spot, a much newer, yet still very casual store deep in Manoa Valley. Deeper even, than the Manoa Shopping Center (Long's Drugs, Safeway, McDonald's, etc.), although not by much. Just continue about a block past the center on the main East Manoa Road, and you'll see it on the right side, where it shares a facility with another popular, inexpensive eatery, Ducky's Korean BBQ restaurant.
And they have the same set-up here, as well, where you order from the counter and provide your own waitservice:
I know you can find them at Sam's Club and other stores these days, but if you haven't tried some of those exotic fruit drinks from Yeo's before, do yourself a favor. With flavors like lychee, young coconut, and sugar cane, you'll transport yourself to a hot, humid day relaxing on the shores of Boracay, Cua Lo, or Pattaya beach. Most are only about 20 percent real fruit juice, but all are surprisingly natural-tasting, earthy, and most of all, strangely different from most tastes and preferences found in America. For one thing, large bits of pulp and debris can be found inside, which may come as a shock to our sterilized taste buds and penchant for laboratory-clean soft drinks. Just like soups that are strained and re-strained, I'd much rather prefer all the debris left intact, or the luuuv, as I like to call it, instead of the almost pure-liquid textures found in higher-end bowls of soup. Just feels more hearty, more natural, more real, ya know?
Not that I'll drink these things very often, though. I mean, whether base-less or justified, you never know what could end-up in drinks produced overseas. But then again, I suppose if they were as strict there as they were here, the exotic nature of the drinks may be lost! May as well get a strawberry soda!
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One of the all-time greatest salads in Thai, Vietnamese, or other Southeast Asian dishes, to me, is a papaya salad. Made here from extremely green, un-ripe, crunchy papaya, long bean, garlic, Chinese parsley, red onions, slivered carrots, ginger, peanuts, and a super-tangy, slightly-sweet dressing, this entire plate costed only $6.75, and was a great way to start our meal. It was also consistent with the huge servings given here, as this was about as large a portion of papaya salad as I'd ever seen, anywhere:
My choice of entree on this particularly wonderful day was a pad ki mao, which, actually, over-all, was a bit similiar to my experience with the rad nah above, except with less gravy. I mean, outside of the fresh basil, and perhaps a touch of fish sauce, there was very little to remind me of a genuine Thai meal. Kinda disappointing, not because it was a terrible dish, but I dunno, just because it was kinda lacking the punch and oomph you'd expect when going Thai.
And you know what? Even the Panang curry (also shown in the first pic of this page), normally rich with an earthy, peanut taste and one of my favorite curries ever, appeared this time, to me, as very light, the peanut aspect barely even noticeable and a bit on the sweet side. Yes, there were generous cuts of lean pork, thick cuts of potato, carrots, basil, and gigantic portions; plus, the price of $5.70 was just absolutely ridiculous - but taste-wise, I couldn't help but be a bit unenthusiastic:
If memory serves me correctly, the red chicken curry, coming with lots of red peppers and eggplant, was much more enjoyable, with that characteristically creamy, coconut milk-infused taste typical of Thai curries. I did enjoy that particular curry, as well as the tom yum soup and papaya salad, but everything else? Well...
In actuality, and after many visits, I think I either have to come to a conclusion or forever be stuck in a perpetual state of debate, like most City Council members who are still calling for more talks, studies, and deliberations surrounding the Rail system. I mean, yea or nay - if they don't know what to do yet, please, get out of the way and let someone take-over who can make a decision, yes? Any waffling council member who doesn't know what to do yet should be deemed unfit to serve!
And as for my decision regarding Bangkok Chef? Well, I don't think it'll compare at all to the better Thai restaurants on the island, but as stated throughout this page, the obvious draws here are the huge portions and unbeatable prices! If you wanna fill-up with something other than a greasy burger and fries or a plate lunch full of meat and starch that sinks to the bottom of your stomach like a lead weight, then yeah, I'd say Bangkok Chef is worth your money. I don't have any problems coming here again - with expectations tempered, of course. There's still lots of other dishes to try - spring rolls, summer rolls, ginger chicken, basil shrimp, eggplant chicken, other curries - sounds pretty good to me, actually!
Hey, hope you're having a good one. I'm still only about 80 percent right now, and looking forward to a full recovery. It's been slow, but I'm better and better every day! I'm off to pick-up Kumi from work, and then yet another glorious dining adventure! You'll hear all about it soon!
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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