Tiew Mai Thai Boat Noodle – Mini Bowls for Big Eaters!

Although Thailand is one of the largest suppliers of rice to our country, don’t expect to find any rice dishes at Tiew Mai Thai Boat Noodle restaurant.

This hole-in-a-wall restaurant is located in The Midtown, a new residential cum commercial space in the Hougang estate. Tiew Mai Thai Boat Noodle is run by the team that ran, the now-defunct, Nung Len Thai restaurant along Mackenzie Road. The team shared that they ceased operations there because of poor human traffic.

There are three different soups (tom yum, pork, or beef soup) that you can match with 5 different noodle variations (egg noodles, glass noodles, Thai noodles, thick noodles, or rice vermicelli).

The noodles come in two sizes – the regular goes for $6, and the mini $1.90.

We managed to try all the soup bases with a variety of noodles, and we ordered both sizes to do a comparison.

The regular-sized tom yum soup with glass noodles came with pieces of squid and prawn, and is topped with minced meat, crackers and a larger and crispier version of hei-bi. The broth was more sweet than spicy – great for the chilli-fearing counterparts.

We got the mini bowls for the pork and beef versions with flat noodles and Thai noodles respectively.

The beef broth was hearty and sweet, whereas the pork broth had a strong clove taste, which we felt was rather unique. The mini bowls are tiny – five gulps and we were at the bottom of the bowl. Both soups came with half a meatball, a slice of meat and liver (for the pork version).

Tiew Mai also sells a wide variety of sides such as Pork Skin ($1.50), Pork Lard ($2) and Fish Sauce Winglet ($4).

Try their Thai Green Milk Tea ($2.80), which has a nice jasmine aroma that complements the fragrance of mellow Thai tea leaves. However, the Thai Milk Tea ($2.80) was too milky for our liking.

The bigger may not always be the better here. Yes, the regular-sized bowl is great for a quick lunchtime meal. However, as with all things fun, there is novelty in having food served in tiny portions. As you stack the empty bowls up, the sense of satisfaction grows as well. Why not make it a competition between your friends to see who’s the bigger eater? The winner can buy the other a cup of milk tea.

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.