You've just got to keep your eyes open. Khao soi, the northern Thai curry noodle dish that every foreigner seems to love, is in fact available in Bangkok. My most recent discovery was on Thanon Sukhumvit, an unlikely place to find good, let alone, regional Thai food. A small family-run shophouse outfit, Yuy Lee has been serving khao soi for a couple decades. Despite this, the product of their labour:
is, in my opinion, decent, but not exceptional. The broth could have used a bit more oomph, and the noodles were regular round bamee noodles, not the flattish noodles typically used in khao soi. The deep-fried crispy noodles were also of the cheap, packaged variety.
Much stronger was the khanom jeen naam ngiao (pictured above). The broth was fragrant and deliciously sour (from the addition of tomatoes), and loaded with deep-fried crispy garlic. If I went to Yuy Lee again, I would probably go straight for this rather than waste time with the khao soi.
For a cutting edge dispatch from the heart of khao soi country, check out The Last Appetite's recent post, which in a bizarre circle, also links back here.
Yuy Lee (Google Maps link)
25 Sukhumvit Soi 31
02 258 4600
10am-8pm, closed Sun