Bangkok’s not the only city going through a street-food crisis. Gokfayuen claims to serve the type of dai pai dong-style dishes, specifically wonton noodles, which were once ever-present on the streets of Hong Kong. And it’s a satisfying homage in terms of both authentic taste and price—especially for Thonglor.

 

Occupying a shop-house at the entrance to the relatively quiet Thonglor Soi 9, the restaurant boasts a rather retro silver-andwhite theme that’s complemented by a soundtrack of old Chinese songs. The brief menu specializes in late-night drinking food like the highlight wuntun meen (B79), which is just as aromatic as the ones in Hong Kong. The dish is delicious, with big, dense wontons and fragant and flavorful soup. Being picky, we’d say the shrimp wontons are a little salty and the thin egg noodles too dense, but they’re just minor quibbles.

 

While the menu’s heavily focused on noodles, other mains like jin cha siu (barbecue pork, B139) and tender boiled chicken with rice (B79) are just as impressive. The former is definitely among the best barbecue pork dishes we’ve tasted in town, with a sweet and salty flavor that’s so intense you’ll definitely need to order a side of rice. The chicken, meanwhile, is super-tender and juicy, even if the dipping sauce (blended ginger, spring onion with oil and salt) is a touch bland.

 

The Chinese kale topped with lard and oyster sauce (B79) is perfectly steamed—our only problem being the small portion of sauce. Some of the full-flavored dishes are a bit too much, like the jin ngou lam (braised beef, B139) with its overpowering spices that detract from the taste of the beef. Despite its tiny portion of noodles, the cha jurng lo (spicy pork sauce with noodles, B89) is another dish that’s quite hard to finish due to its extratangy, sweet sauce. On the whole, though, this late-night joint delivers a winning mixture of no-frills comfort food and reasonable prices.

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