Wattana Panich – An Udder-ly Delicious Beef Noodles in Bangkok

Finding food in a foreign country can be daunting but, luckily for us, we had a very knowledgeable food guide who brought us around Bangkok. Mr. Bow, who speaks very fluent English, is a local that knows where all the good food in Bangkok is. In fact, this very post is based on a recommendation from Mr. Bow!

If you’re reading this, then you probably have a deep love for beef noodles like me. Beef noodles are my comfort food so I was extra excited to visit this popular beef noodle place. Wattana Panich Beef Noodles (วัฒนาพานิช เนื้อตุ๋น) has been around since 1970 (longer than I have been around) and for good reason. The boss and lady boss there don’t really speak good English so it was kind of difficult to convey what we wanted but just point at what you want, and you should be fine. They serve a variety of soups, fried noodles, glass noodles, and stews. Of course, their signature is the beef noodles so that’s a must order.

They use a very large cauldron to boil the stew over an open fire. If you stay long enough, you might be able to catch them topping up the cauldron with more stew. We went in the afternoon so it wasn’t really crowded but Mr. Bow told us that this is a very popular place so it could get crowded around lunch and dinner time.

We ordered the Goat stewed in selected Chinese herbs, Bovine’s tendon stewed in selected Chinese herbs and the fine noodles (面线) served with sliced beef, stewed beef and beef balls (soup).

It was drizzling when we got there so we decided to get more soup dishes. The serving is pretty small so I wouldn’t recommend sharing one bowl. You can order rice separately, if you like, to make this a full meal. The tendon broth boasts a distinct full-bodied herbal flavor and a thick consistency. I love soups so this was pretty heartwarming, especially on a rainy day. The chunky tendons were really soft and melted easily in my mouth, but I felt that they could have been more generous with the tendons.

For those who don’t quite like tendons, you can opt for the Goat Stew which features chunks of goat meat stewed in a dark broth. The broth is more intense, more peppery and carried stronger herbal notes. The meat was tender and full of flavor from soaking up the broth. A definite must-try for me. 

The highlight of the meal was definitely the beef noodles. This place is known for its beef noodles and it certainly didn’t disappoint. There was another beef noodle place which we visited earlier in the day but I thought that this was significantly better. You can opt for thick or thin noodles in soup or dry versions. We got the thin noodles with soup which was assembled with beef slices and a couple of handmade beef balls. This unassuming-looking dish is perhaps my favorite dish of the trip, or at least one of the more memorable ones. The broth is slightly oily, with an appetizing meaty flavor. Compared to the other soups, this broth has less herbal notes, but was more flavorful. I liked that the noodles were done al dente with a slight bite, making it very slurp-worthy. The broth and the noodles were simply an excellent combination. While the beef slices, stewed beef and beef balls were really mouthwatering, I liked the beef balls a little more because they were extra big with a springy texture. My only gripe would be the small serving size.

If you’re looking for a great bowl of beef noodles, this is one place that you have to visit if you haven’t already checked them out.

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