Why this Sukhumvit breakfast spot is worth skipping your hotel buffet
That one place: Sukhumvit, Bangkok
Where
Rung Rueang Pork Noodles
From where
Your hotel in Bangkok probably offers a good, even great, buffet breakfast. So there’s no real reason to go out and wander around before 8am, sweat forming on your forehead, wandering the clogged streets of Sukhumvit in search of something to eat. Apart from that, there is Rung Rueang Pork Noodle and this is how you start a day in Thailand’s capital in style.
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Rung Rueang’s specialty is as the sign says: pork noodles, in this case a variety of noodles and flavors, and your choice of pork pieces and fish cakes on top. First, sit on a stool next to a metal table and choose your style: tom yum with soup, tom yum without soup, plain soup or no soup. Then choose from a variety of rice and egg noodle options and finally pork toppings. Someone will eventually toss your bowl of noodles on the table, seasoned with sugar, fish sauce, chili flakes, or vinegar chili, ready to be devoured. Just like that, your day is off to a spicy, flavorful, delicious start, and it costs about $3. Who needs a hotel buffet?
Order this
There’s no wrong order here, but our pick is the soupy tom yum, medium rice noodles, and a mix of minced pork and fish cake. Here you get a riot of flavor with plenty of sourness to balance the spice.
eat here
In Sydney, get excellent Thai pork noodles from Yok Yor in Haymarket (yokyor.com.au). In Melbourne, Khao Soi in the CBD is your destination for Thai noodles (facebook.com/khaosoi.melbourne). Try the pork tom yum at Doo Dee Boran in Brisbane (doodeeboran.com).
More
There are two Rung Rueang Pork Noodle shops in Bangkok, and they are opposite each other: endearingly known as “Left shop” and “Right shop”. Both serve the same food. Restaurants in Sukhumvit 26 Alley, off Sukhumvit Road near Phrom Phong BTS station, are open for breakfast and lunch daily. There is no website.
Ben Groundwater is a Sydney-based travel writer, columnist, broadcaster, author and occasional tour guide with over 25 years of experience in media and a lifetime of experience traveling the world. He specializes in food and wine—writing about it and consuming it—and at any given moment Ben is probably thinking of either ramen in Tokyo, pintxos in San Sebastian, or carbonara in Rome. Follow him on Instagram @bengroundwaterConnect via email.
