Over the last few months, I've done several articles for CNNGo's Bangkok pages on Thai dishes that resident foreigners (and sometime even resident natives) may not familiar with, and a few recommended places to sample them. So far I've covered kaeng karii, khao khluk kapi, khanom jeen nam ngiaw, kuytiaw luy suan and kuaytiaw khua kai. At the moment I'm at work on one about kuay jap nam sai, the Chinese/Thai dish that combines pork offal and a peppery broth. Of the six or so restaurants and stalls I've investigated for the piece, my favourite was probably Mister Jo.
Kuay jap is based around pork offal (heart, tongue, intestines, liver, spleen), but the crispy pork belly is what can make or break a restaurant. Mister Jo's pork belly is so good that it's also available separately, served on plates with a soy sauce dipping sauce. The broth is peppery -- as a good kuay jap broth should be -- but not assertively so, and was probably the most balanced of the various places I visited. Unusually, it includes squares of tender pork skin. And unlike most places serving kuay jap, Mister Jo is open during the day. As a result, it's crazy popular, and you'll almost certainly have to navigate a lengthy queue of to-go orders simply to step foot inside the restaurant.
Stay tuned to CNNGo Bangkok's Eat page to see the entire list of kuay jap nam sai stalls and restaurants I found.
Mister Jo 313/7 Th Chan, Bangkok 8.30am-4pm
View Thai Eats in a larger map