Being a freelancer often means not getting paid on time (still waiting, Dotdash Meredith). But there are good things about it, too. Sometimes, you end up discovering a place much sooner than you would normally. This is what happened to me when an editor assigned me a story on coriander, and I made my way out of my comfort zone (that would be my house) onto the MRT to Santiphap Road to meet Chef Gabriela of Delia.
Delia is one of those rare restaurants in Bangkok where you feel like you’re in someone’s home, sort of like the vibe that Soul Food Mahanakorn used to have (RIP, Soul Food). You want to be well-mannered, because you’re a guest at someone’s house, but you also feel comfortable, because the house belongs to a friend. In fact, Delia is so successful at this that it is genuinely jarring to get a bill at the end of the evening. That said, it’s well worth it — especially for the selection of mezcal and the tetela, a tortilla wrapped around mushrooms and sauced with green mole (which utilizes all parts of the coriander plant!)
But I’m not here to talk about Delia. I’m here to talk about Homdee Mee Giew (“Fragrant Noodles and Dumplings”), an “aharn tham sung” (cooked to order) vendor just around the corner from Delia that’s open for lunch. That’s where Chef Gabi took me after our interview. Although the noodles and dumplings would be the thing to order here — it’s in the name after all — the item that seems most popular is their “moo grob” (crispy pork), which is frankly out of this world. Moo grob is a thing that is hard to be outstanding at, since it’s always delicious, but if one were to be especially persnickety, Homdee’s rendition is superior.
This moo grob features largely in many an ordered bowl of bamee, egg noodles freshly made with pork lard in a shophouse kitchen in the alleyway behind the shop. It’s even better with the addition of the shrimp-filled dumplings, encased in wafer-thin dough. Both the dumplings and noodles are seriously good, reminiscent of the glory days of Bamee Sawang when it was close to Hua Lumphong and the father of the family was a constant presence, making sure that no one was drinking beer with his food. If I was still writing about “Thailand’s Best Street Food” (I’m not), this vendor would definitely be included for the noodles and dumplings alone.
But if you’re not a noodle person, no problem. Homdee also serves excellent fried rice, the Platonic ideal as demonstrated by Chef Aoy in the Thai film “Hunger” (if you haven’t seen it, you should, just to see how hard the ideal plate of fried rice is to find in this city). You can even just have a simple plate of steamed rice crowned with the requisite crispy pork and gravy. In other words, Homdee has got you covered for lunch. I am counting the days until I get back.
Address: 460 Mittraphan Rd, Pom Prap, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Bangkok 10100
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