VT Naem Nueang

We read about a very popular Vietnamese restaurant on Thanon Pradist Manudharm. VT Naem Nueang is very famous for their branches in the North East of Thailand and has a huge following. I have no idea how long VT NemNeung has been in open in Bangkok. But, we needed to try it.

Here is the review from the BangkokPost that tempted us to try VT Naem Nueang...
'Local naem nueang aficionados know that Daeng Naem Nueang in Nong Khai (opened in 1968) and VT Naem Nueang in Udon Thani (opened in 1986) are two of the most respected naem nueang masters in the country. Whenever people go to the two northeastern provinces, they always bring back home from one of these shops many sticks of the yummy grilled pork roll, packets of very thin and rubbery rice paper, bags of gooey brown sauce and a bountiful portion of fresh vegetables. Together they form a very healthy yet scrumptious treat commonly called naem nueang, which is undeniably the most popular Vietnamese fare among Thais.'


We were impressed with the size of the restaurant and the amount of people in the restaurant. We were lucky, when we arrived there were few tables being cleaned up. However; all the tables filled up fast and then there was a queue of people waiting for a table. The amount of people coming in and out of this place was amazing.


The decor is a mix of classical country with a bit renaissance era. It does sound strange but it some how works in a strange way. The restaurant is very bright with sun light streaming in from the large glass windows. The furniture was white country styled chairs and white tables with flowery motif table clothes.


The first dish was Kra Yor Sod (fresh spring rolls). The rice paper was stuffed with egg, preserved pork, shrimp & vegetables. Eaten with a bean sauce topped with crushed peanuts. The kra yor sod were smaller than what I am used to but non the less they were very fresh and tasted very good.


The next dish was Kha Kriab Pakmor Yuan (steamed raviolis). Steamed flour sheets stuffed with minced pork, minced shrimp and Jew's ear mushroom topped with deep fried onions. Eaten with a carrotand sauce. This dish has lots of textures and flavours. A really nice dish.


The next dish was Nemnueng small set (preserved pork set). Two small pork sticks accompanied with cucumber, green beans, green mango, green banana, garlic, chillies and rice paper to wrap everything together. Eaten with a nuoc-mam sauce. The combination of flavours was great.


The next dish was Khanon Bueng Yuan (stuffed crispy crepe). Crispy safron & coconut milk crepe stuffed with minced pork, minced shrimp, bean sprouts and Jew's ear mushroom. Eaten with a coconut milk & cucumber sauce. I am bit biased because I still consider my aunt's khanon bueng yuan the best. However; this was pretty good. The crepe was thin, light and crispy. The stuffing of plentiful, juicy and tasty. The only thing we did not like was the coconut milk & cucumber sauce. I never had such a sauce, I actually do not even think its Vietnamese and it was waaaaay too sweet. We decided to use the nuoc-mam instead and it was much better.


The next dish was Kouy Jub Yuan (pork soup with noodles). Tough & tender rice noodles with pork ribs bones with preserved pork and topped with roasted onions. The soup was very flavourful and the soup had tons of goodies such as the different type of noodles and different types of pork. A nice way to end the meal.


Overall; VT Naem Nueang was very good. Apparently, I was not the only person who thought so that day because tons of people were enjoying the food there as well. The staff is young and not really switched on but they are efficient once you ask them for anything. The restaurant is huge with three two huge dinning areas. There is also a small kiosk outside where they sell the naem neuang sets to go. Loads of parking. On top of all this; the prices for the food were so affordable.

Pradit Manutham Rd.
Behind Palm Street shopping row near Golden Place Supermarket
Bangkok
02-935-6524-5

After lunch, we decided to go visit the Ratchaprasong area. This was the day where thousands of volunteers came out in solidarity to clean up the area after the Red Shirt chaos. I have heard horror stories of how the area was so dirty and smelled so bad. This was a great idea to go clean up the area.


Thousands of volunteers with their soaps, scrubs, brooms, gloves and masks to make this area a better place. It was an amazing scene to see.


The burnt Central World. Firemen still hosing down the destroyed building. Very sad to see.


Foreign journalist on top of the water trucks...hopefully, they will show a cleaner side of Bangkok.


Even after the mess of the Red Shirts...we can really say, Amazing Thailand because of the good hearted people who came out and spent their time trying to make Bangkok a better place.