[Hong Kong] Samsen 泰麵 - Thai Noodles & Street Food

Rating: ❤❤❤❤

I've been wanting to try Samsen for a while since it opened in September as I've heard so many great things about its Wagyu Beef Boat Noodles! Started by Adam Cliff (ex-chef of the highly popular Chachawan), the restaurant focuses on bringing the authentic flavors of street food and noodles from Thailand. With a no reservations policy, Samsen has had long queues every time I tried to go so when they finally opened for lunch, I decided to visit later around 2PM and was able to get a seat without waiting. The decor was ghetto-chic for a lack of a better term and seemed to mimic the street stalls in Thailand (which in a way reminded me of Chachawan as well). The set lunch menu has 5 options to choose from and comes with your choice of Thai iced lime tea, Thai iced milk tea and Thai iced coffee. 

I tried the highly acclaimed Wagyu Beef Boat Noodle ($128) with thin rice noodles, pork rinds and Siamese watercress, and it was every bit as delicious as I'd imagined it to be! The broth was dark, rich and flavorful while the noodles were perfectly chewy - I just didn't care for the beef brisket which was a bit tough (not sure if that was supposed to be the wagyu beef?). 

J got the Stir-fried Fat Noodles ($108) with sliced chicken, sweet oyster sauce, egg and Chinese kale which had been stir-fried nicely with a bit of wok hei (roughly translated as wok thermal radiation or breath of a wok). It came with a red spicy sauce on the side while you can also add other types of hot sauce provided at the table.  

Both jars of hot sauce were equally spicy so pick your poison wisely!

We both got the Thai iced milk tea with our lunch set and it was a bit sweet here but refreshing nonetheless and went well with the noodles.

For dessert, there were two options with one being hot and the other being cold so I tried the cold one which was the "Red Rubies" ($48) served on shaved coconut ice with young coconut meat and pomegranate. It was refreshing with the shaved ice but at the same time too watery for me as a dessert. The coconut ice cream dessert served at dinner looked a lot more appealing so I'd like to try that next time.

Samsen
68 Stone Nullah Lane, Wan Chai
Tel: +852 2234 0001
https://www.facebook.com/SamsenHK/




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