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| Paddler Thai Boat Noodles |
I have fond memories of getting Pad Thai from street carts
in Bangkok. It is still my favourite noodles of all time. In Bangkok, I also
had the hottest curry in some hole in the wall joint, where every bite required
a sip of Pepsi. And while I have visited the floating market, I have not tried
boat noodles before. In fact, I have not heard of boat noodles until I was
looking for a place to eat in the Parkdale area where we were going to find
ourselves during dinner time on a weekday. While I wanted to try some Tibetan
cuisine in Little Tibet, I couldn’t resist not trying the boat noodles at
Paddler. Kuaytiaw – Rua or boat noodles are sold by vendors in the floating markets. Vendors
would cook noodles on board small boats and sell them to people on shore or on
other boats. How could I not try that?
Hubby started with Crisp Fried Quail Egg Wonton. Nicely deep
fried and served with house plum sauce. It was a nice appetizer and tastes
exactly as the name of the dish—it was quail egg wrapped in wonton wrapper and crisp
fried. There was simply no other way to describe it.
Of course, we got their Signature Boat Noodles. We first chose
the type of noodles (small rice, medium rice, flat rice or egg noodles). Then, we
chose our protein (beef or pork). I got medium rice noodles with beef (braised,
sliced, and beef balls) which arrived in this beautiful broth (made by using
pig or cow blood and dark soy sauce, well balanced with some coconut milk and
chili oil). Thai herbs, sprouts, cilantro, fried garlic and dried chili peppers
bring it all together. It was served with pork rind which provided a nice
crunch. The broth was just absolutely delicious. It was tangy, spicy and full
of flavour. It definitely hits the spot. DD#1, a soup lover, has declared it to
now be her favourite soup. Ramen and Pho have now been dethroned.
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| Boat Noodles at Paddler |
Grandma, who was not in the mood for soup, got the dry boat
noodles, which is also very traditional. The noodles also come with protein and
is brought together by chili oil and dried chilies, cilantro and also some
dried coconut.
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| Dry Boat noodles at Paddler |
Service was good, though there was a bit of a wait (20-30
min). Overall, super worth it. And while we talked of coming back to the area
to have a Tibetan meal, I wager we will end up here in Paddler again.
