Now this is a special one. After the usual norm and food reviews that you have seen in the famed and widely spread food reviews and blogs in Singapore and abroad, this is one of the stalls that lack coverage and the kind of recognition that it deserves. Bangkok is also the one place that no ones knows to link it to Oyster Omelette! Whenever people think about “Orh Luak” or Oyster Omelette, the natural places that people will associated it with are Singapore or Taiwan, but actually Bangkok in my opinion is the place where you can find the best among the chinese community over there. It is way too underrated! This also relates to the main topic of today post, NAI MONG HOY TOD, supposedly in Thai, it practically means the best place and the most famous Oyster Omelette in Bangkok. Located in Yaowarat, Bangkok Chinatown it is a small stall in a side aisle. Even without advertising and being in a prominent location you should be able to find it easily, it isn’t too far away from the main street and the crowd should be able to show you where it is.
For the benefit of everyone, this is the full address of the store! Good things are meant to be shared right?
Nai Mong Hoy Tod
539 Phlap Phla Chai Rd, Khwaeng Pom Prap, Khet Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10100, Thailand
Per the information on google, it is open from 11am to 9.30pm and it is closed on Tuesday. While Yaowarat is pretty not accessible with public transport a cab ride will be affordable and fuss-less from central Bangkok. A ride here with the traffic isn’t gonna cost more than 120 – 130 Baht. If you are an egg lover you will definitely find the time and money well spent. The oyster omelette here are mainly hokkien style, pass on from the immigrants whom have come to Thailand in the past. The store then to be a family runned, with 2 to 3 ladies running around the small stall and serving customers while taking orders. They can understand hokkien, cantonese and some basic english. Thai will definitely not be an issue. I shortly arrive at 11 plus, way prior to the lunch time and you can see the pans getting hot and eggs flying off under a chinese guy wearing a white loose t shirt and the hair tied up with a bandana. Some strong arms were definitely working, with the pan working non stop and the clicking sound of the pans and the metal spatula. The shallow pan itself seems to be the key part of the cooking process too! Adding plenty of the “Wok Hei” !
The stall itself is small, with only a handful of tables stretching out to outside of the stall and the sides. The stall front is the place where the food is being cook and the foggy glass allows you to see how your eggs are being prepared. Here there are two main kinds of Omelette, the crispy fried kind or the gluey mushy scrambled eggs kind of oyster omelettes. Actually the key difference and the highlight of the eggs they do here in Bangkok and what we have in Singapore is the flour mixture that they use. Somehow the cooked flour is super chewy, soft and flavourful, compare to the hard and separated flour and eggs you have here in Singapore. There the combination of the flour and eggs is so perfect and they are just that well blended. If oyster is not your thing, you can opt to have mussels to go with the eggs. But, oysters makes the egg much more flavourful and delicious.
First I had the Scrambled eggs kind of Oyster Omelettes. A portion of this cost 70 Baht, it may look like a mess but it is cooked perfectly. The eggs are tender, soft well seasoned but not over runny. The eggs combine so well together with the flour mixture and even without biting into the oyster itself. The eggs seems to be marinated with oyster. While you may see the chef adding lots and lots of oil to the pan while cooking, he actually drain them before serving up. The dish may look greasy, but it is definitely not so! Lastly to finish, scallions were added to the eggs. The portion easily came with 15 or more oysters and they were really plump and fresh, unlike the miserable ones that they always give in Singapore and in Singapore it almost cost double the price.
The other version that Nai Mong Hoy Tod serves would be the crispy one. This one taste more like the deep fried oyster biscuit from Hong Kong. The eggs and flour were mixed together and fried with in the shallow pans with even more oil. However it isn’t greasy at all. It is crispy and it goes really well with the chilli and sauce. Yes, there is a sauce. In fact the oyster for this dish is cooked separately, which you might feel that the eggs might be lacking a little in the oyster infusion. The plump oyster are fried separately with some garlic and oyster sauce to create a thick oyster connection to top on the fried eggs. As the sauce slowly soften the crispy eggs, you get the soft-crispy kind of feeling that is so delish. This version cost 80 Baht. Perhaps due to the extra cooking process.
Depending on your preference you will have a tendency on either the crispy one or the soft one. Personally I like the soft silky texture of the scrambled kind and the super flavourful eggs with the oyster. While on the other hand, the crispy version had really good oyster. The oyster there with the sauce on the side were really divine. It felt like that had intensify the oyster taste with an addition of oyster sauce in the cooking process of the oyster and then drizzle on the crispy eggs. A soft and semi crispy bite, oh crap, I am drooling right at the moment of typing this. Don’t scrimp while you are here, go for it. It is worthy to order at least one portion each and savour them.
Hope you guys like this sharing! Do share with me some unique and special places that you guys have been to overseas!
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