Raan Jay Fai – 1 Michelin Star Bangkok Street Hawker, Also Featured In Netflix’s “Street Food”

[Bangkok] In Bangkok where cheap, affordable, tasty street foods are a dime in a dozen, finding Fried Drunken Noodle (Phad Kee Mao) in a run-down no-frills eatery that is sold at 400 Baht (SGD16.50, USD12.00) came as a shocker.

Nevermind that, as Raan Jay Fai is the only street hawker awarded the Michelin Star in the inaugural Bangkok Michelin Guide.

Most recently, the stall is featured in Netflix’s new series “Street Food” – produced from the creators of Chef’s Table.

In her now-famous quote, she commented, ”I’m old but I always tell them… you may be younger but I’m stronger.”

The wait has become incredibly long.

Most diners would say about 2 to 3 hours, but I had a friend who went about 2pm and got the food at 7pm plus. It does sound a little crazy.

In Singaporean-language, we call this type of coffeeshop “lok”.

The eatery is Raan Jay Fai, run by a 70-plus year old lady also called “Sister Mole”, known for her iconic over-sized goggles.

“Jay” represents “sister” while “Fai” means “mole”. Thus, the name in its entirety would mean “Sister Mole Restaurant”.

Chef Sister Mole stays mainly at the side where there is an outdoor kitchen, frying over blazing fires when she adds oil to twos wok on flaming charcoal.

Her other assistants handle the less important work – assembling of the ingredients, as one looked thoroughly bored picking up kway teow from a container.

She wore safely goggles, and just went on and on stir-frying for several minutes in rhythmic fashion, seemingly one plate at the time.

Main dishes sold included Tom Yum Goong (600 – 1000 Baht), Poo Phad Yellow Curry (800 – 1000 Baht), Homemade Prawn Cake (500 Baht), and Yum Woon-Sen (700 – 1000 Baht) – Thai spicy salad with glass noodles and mixed seafood.

A thousand baht is about SGD42 or USD31.70.

“Wait, isn’t that one additional zero for its usual price?” I checked, and there was no misprint in the menu.

My friend Gavin Chan (who eats mainly atas food) said, “You MUST try the Drunken Noodles”. He was not drunk when he told me that.

The 400 Baht (SGD16.80, USD12.70) Drunken Noodles plate consists of flat rice noodles fried in hot & spicy sauce, and jumbo prawns marinated in wine.

Frying it over coal fire meant that the noodles had more wok hei.

(Drunken noodles is a Chinese-influenced dish that was made popular by the Chinese people living in Thailandand Laos, generally fried with broad rice noodles, soy sauce, fish sauce, garlic, meat, seafood, vegetables, and various seasonings.)

The portion was small, but the mixture of taste was alluring. The rice noodles slippery smooth with a thin coat of char. Good stuff, but I still wonder if it is 400-Baht-good.

I was less impressed by the Raad Nar Goong (400 Baht) – stir-fried rice noodles topped with mixed vegetables and giant prawns in savoury gravy.

Don’t be mistaken. It was a very decent plate of rice noodles, and if this were to be sold in Singapore, there will be a long queue.

I just thought it lacked of a life-changing X-factor. And so for its price… people may say “over-rated”.

Thai Crab Omelette Kai-Jeaw Poo at Raan Jay Fai is a massive roll of egg and lump crab meat that is also fried over hot coal fire.

The price tag? 800 or 1000 Baht (SGD32.90 or SGD41.20). *faints*

But, but, but… take a look at the amount of lump crab meat, which is probably few crabs in one omelette. That also meant eating all that sweet-fleshy goodness without a mess of picking the crab out of its shells.

While I wished the crab chunks were juicier, I was impressed with the fact that the egg roll didn’t taste that oily at all.

In fact, the fillings inside stayed relatively grease free, despite that fact it was just deep fried in a big wok of oil.

The easiest way to get here is via Uber or cab for tourists.

Telling the driver to get to the famous Thip Samai Pad Thai is a safer bet, and Raan Jay Fai is just a few shops down.

The wait for your food can be very long (as in a couple of hours), so a better way could be to call or email to reserve first.

Also spot Martha Stewart’s photo on the wall, who named Jay Fai “The Best Cook In Thailand.”

Raan Jay Fai
327 Mahachai Road (at intersection with Samranrat Road) Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 223 9384
Opening Hours: 9am – 8:30pm (Wed – Sun), Closed Mon, Tues
Google Maps – Raan Jay Fai

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* Follow @DanielFoodDiary on Facebook and Instagram for more food news, food videos and travel highlights. Daniel’s Food Diary paid for food reviewed unless otherwise stated. Photos partly provided by Gavin Chan @gavinchan

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