When I first visited Thailand in the late 80s, it was as what those charming Visit Thailand ads portrayed –smiles all around, things were very affordable (bordering on cheap), attendant service, cabbies actually knew where you were going and took you there (instead of asking halfway into the ride “tong pai thi nai” or “which route do you want to take.”), their clasp hand greeting with a bow has that “wow” sincere feeling about it and the food – humble yet sophisticated, and so comfortably priced.

I miss those old traditional local style eateries which seem to be located, literally, on the huge front yard of someone’s home. It’s akin to our street cze cha culture, they sold what the masses loved and kept the decor frills to at best, cursory. All the tell tale signs- the rickety floor board with uneven wood panels, the traditional high angled attap roofs which cools and disperse hot air and the ubiquitous trays, holding ice bins with grooves to stand a few bottles of local whiskey and Singha soda. The furnishings were like the favourite karang guni collection of a souvenir hunter, with wooden log benches, cowboy style saloon chairs and even eclectic plastic armchairs, sitting below picnic umbrellas in the alfresco area not shaded by overgrown trees. The service was sincere and over the top as manpower cost was a pittance, although half the time they just smiled and half guessed what I wanted.

But the food was unforgivingly authentic. It came humbly served to you in proud celadon porcelains and it was presented with pride, like they were making it fit for the king of their restaurant-you. Even a simple Nam Prik salad dip was elegantly laid out on a little platter to provoke the visual senses. They served with pride, their country’s culinary pride.

The arresting fragrance of the skinned char-grilled eggplant in a spicy lemongrass salad was too attractive for me

Ahh…all nostalgia and retro brouhaha from someone like me caught in the crossroads of Siam Paragon and the old Thai Chinese quarters of Burapa Road. I thought I should commit it to the hard disk space in my head for storage and future reference, until I was taken to Ngaw Mai Restaurant.

It was at the behest of my Thai contemporary Ning and her mother Khun Mae Naipinij, who both lectures at the culinary division of the highly regarded Rajapahit Suan Dusit University in Bangkok. There, Ms Dares Thitiwate “better to call me Doris”, a very driven and simple English speaking boss of the Ngaw Mai (Below the Trees) Restaurant, greeted me. Her eatery, just a S$5 (110baht) twenty minute taxi ride from town, is shaded by overgrown trees and reeks of what I mentioned earlier, complete with living quarters for her staff beside the kitchen. It’s like a budget country club setting maintained by experienced amateurs. But when the food came, it did not matter.

National Family Dish: Ms Dares Thitiwate dishes up Nam Prok Platoo, a freshly fried and juicy mackerel with eggplant with tempura, boiled vegetables and fried egg.

She bought over the eatery without any background in the F&B industry and “sold what my mother taught me to cook”. Response was gentle, till she decided to attend Khun Mae Naipinij’s summer class. Khun Mae is a rare breed of old culinary school matrons that went strictly by the book, the same book that her Royal chef trainers once taught her with. Doris returned with a head full of recipes complete with knowledge of the heritage behind it, something Khun Mae always taught, as part of the whole training program. When she brought out the Thai national family dish of Nam Prik Platoo, a freshly fried and juicy mackerel surrounded by eggplant tempura, boiled vegetables, fried egg and fern cakes with long beans dampened with coconut milk, it was makan poetry- beautifully presented with a bowl of Nam Prik dip made with gula melaka, belachan, fish sauce, chillies and baby eggplants. I devoured it with a bowl of steamed rice. Then she offered Pla Chon Song-krueng (S$9), deep fried snake head fish slices (whole fish) in a salad of spicy greens and fresh Thai herbs. I thought it was my favourite- cracker crispy fish slices in a damp and spicy Thai salad with hae bi (dried shrimps). Very refreshing. Then she placed the Yam Makru-yao(S$4) before me- the arresting fragrance of the skinned char-grilled eggplant in a spicy lemongrass salad was too attractive for me. This one, I surrendered to, it was so soulful and agreeable. All the other supremely near royal renditions of Lon- a crab meat chilli and coconut vegetable dip, the Khao Soi- Chiangmai style laksa and the Roti(prata) with green curry, had to be relegated as comfortable side dishes compared with the earlier ones.

Snake head fish salad

“I have many, many other dishes I learnt from Khun Mae, just call me and I’ll direct you to the dishes” and Doris clasps her hand for a smiley goodbye greeting.

Ngaw Mai Restaurant

Address 55/114 Ngamwongwan Road Tungsonghong, Laksi, Bangkok

Opening Hours Lunch and Dinner daily

Telephone & Email 029533819/ 0814149938 (Doris’s mobile)