Kim Leng Cafe in Bangkok

Backpackers hanging out around Khao San Road might try this cafe on Tanao Road as reviewed recently in The Bangkok Post. I mean, just look at those dishes, mostly priced around 80 baht.

We've been hearing a lot about some good, authentic Thai eateries in the Old Bangkok district, especially on Tanao Road, Phrang junction and Sao Chingcha area. But because this is Thailand, where the word "authentic" is a marketing stratagem to attract those who crave age-old charm rather than a genuine attempt to preserve tradition, even dining in an Old City restaurant cannot guarantee satisfactory authenticity. So the only reason that would draw me to such "authentic" places is a strong recommendation from a reliable informant. And for Kim Leng, the news came from three good sources.

Avoid lunch hours if you don’t want to play a game of musical chairs at this tiny eatery. Kim Leng is the kind of restaurant that serves modestly presented but delicious Thai food that doesn't comes with an expensive price tag. The menu is very simple, as is the setting.

For first-time visitors, the easiest way to ensure that you'll be gastronomically satisfied is to stick to the restaurant's most popular dishes, of which there are as many as 15.

First of all, you can't miss mee krob chao wang (80 baht), or Thai-style sweet and crispy noodles. However, when the dish arrived I said to my dining companion, "I don't think this is gonna work. This mee krob doesn't look like it's been made by someone who's really keen on preparing it."

First of all, the size and the texture didn't seem right. And the colour was different. But when I took a first bite on what I'd called deep-fried thin noodles glazed with sweet brown sauce, I was astounded. The crispy noodles, simply tossed with prawn, chicken, bean sprouts and kaffir lime skin, offered a pungent flavour and was one of the tastiest mee krob I've ever had.

The spicy winged bean salad with coconut milk dressing akayum thua phlu.
Equally pleasurable and going great with the mee krob was tom yum pla chon, or snakehead fish fillet in sour and spicy soup (80 baht). The piquant lime and chilli infused broth in which the fish were bathing captured my heart from the first sip. The fish, if you can disregard its fine bones, had soft and naturally sweet meat of a satisfactory fresh quality.

Another dish on the recommended menu is pla duk foo phad phrik khing, or flaky deep-fried minced catfish tossed with sweet red curry paste (80 baht). This was truly tasty even though I found that the flavour of the fish and the curry were overpowered by the crispy texture. Yet, my dining companion finished the dish in the blink if an eye.

We sampled yum thua phu, or Thai-style winged bean salad in spicy coconut milk dressing (80 baht) and were moderately satisfied. The dish, though delectable, could have been improved with a less watery dressing and more greens.

The only thing that disappointed us was the restaurant's famous hor mok pla chon, or fish curry souffle in banana leaf basket (30 baht per basket), which was brought to our table cold and yielded an unimpressive taste. However, over our 45-minute lunch, we had seen order after order of hor mok which, to our amazement, sold so well that it ran out even before the clock struck one.

For an after-meal treat, we decided to the skip the in-house dessert (which was little more than those colourful delicacies in sweet coconut milk with crushed ice) and headed out to the street for a more exciting variety of authentic sweets. It's not often that we're in this part of town so we couldn't take it for granted, but in fact, Tanao Road turned out to be an ideal place for a gastronomic excursion.

A few minutes walk down the street toward Chao Phor Sua shrine, you'll find one of Bangkok's most tasty and perhaps most expensive khanom bueng sold at Mae Lamiad shop. The smallest piece of this Thai-style crispy crepe with a choice of sweet or savory filling is priced 10 baht (compared to two baht a piece from a street cart) while the biggest portion is priced 25 baht.

Further down the road, there's a vendor selling puak hima, or sugar-glazed taro sticks, which are also regarded among the best in town. Other than the fact that the chewy treat is pleasantly addictive, another of its charms is that this dessert is only found at Chinese restaurants - and even then not every Chinese eatery has it on offer.