Che Pui Noodles is a great spot for fish ball noodles. The fish balls and wontons are home made and absolutely out of this world delicious. Even the biggest fish hater will love eating at Che Pui Noodles. But of course there’s some pork involved. It just don’t get better than this.

A bowl of fish ball noodles at Che Pui Noodles

The term best has to be used with some carefulness. Many bloggers uses it far to often and mislead their readers, not on purpose, but because they don’t really have the full picture. I have been a sinner in that respect before, as I didn’t had a sufficient overview of Bangkok and the food in question at the time of writing. This time I take my chance to use the term “best” a go again. I have been eating in this city for more than 15 years and I’m a regular buyer of fish ball noodles. Anyway, if you have a better venue for fish ball noodles, please alert me and I will test it and confess my sins if agree. That said, I would be rather surprised if anybody comes up with a better bowl than what is served at Che Pui Noodles.

The star of the show is the fish balls with good bite and moderate pepperiness. And the wontons, well they are just delicious as well. They certainly use fish of top quality. In general terms, the best fish ball soups are normally heavy on the pork-bones, some of them being cooked for days. The soup at Che Pui is no exceptions, a light lovely broth that is superior to any other fish ball bowls I have tasted in Bangkok. In my entire life to be honest. It is just damn perfect. So for me, this is certainly the best bowl of fish ball soup in Bangkok. It is one of those vendors I actually travel a couple of times a year just to eat there, even if it takes me a half an hour.

The noodle stall at Che Pui Noodles

The owner of Che Pui Noodles

Personally I prefer Sen Lek noodles with this kind of food, but that is more about what you prefer than anything else. They know what they are doing at Che Pui, and it is for example not uncommon to eat it with egg noodles. At Che Pui Noodles the fish ball noodles comes with a duck egg instead of a chicken egg, meaning the egg yolk is a bit creamier and also richer. The duck egg is bigger in size than the chicken eggs, and the same goes for the egg yolk that also have a deeper orange color. Nutrition wise it has more of the good fat and is higher in protein.

Che Pui Noodles have the Shell Shaun Shim award, which is Thailand’s older version of the “Michelin Guide”: As the Michelin Guide has become a hit and miss guide without consistency in Bangkok, the Shell Shuan Shim sign is a much better guidance for good food. Just look for the green bowl, the red letters and the with background as in the upper left corner in the photo below. It is also an award that Thai’s actually pays attention to.

Che Pui Noodles seen from the Maitri Chit road

Name: Che Pui Noodles

Food: Noodles with a focus on fish ball noodles

Price: from 45 bath to 75 bath

Open: 8 am to 3 pm. Closed Thursdays.

Phone: +66 2 224 4351

Address: Maitri Chit road

How to get there: Take the MRT to Wat Mangkon station and walk from there. It takes about 6-8 minutes.

Cultural Corner

Che Pui is just opposite Wat Phlap Phla Chai (Phlapphla Chai), and it refers to a road in Bangkok, that is separates from the left side of Charoen Krung aat Plaeng nam intersection. Historically, the name comes from Wat Phlapphla Chai, a Thai temple next to Phlapphla Chai Road. It is a rather old temple, and it was built during the Ayutthaya period, and it was used as grounds for executions during the Thonburi period. The name of the temple in that era was “Wat Khok. King Vajiravudh, or Rama IV used it as a practicing field for the wild Tiger Corps, a national paramilitary corps founded in 1911, inspired by the British Volunteer Force. The purpose of the corps was to maintain civil order. When Rama IV founded the corps he also renamed the temple to Wat Phlapphla Chai which translates to “Victory Pavilion”, a reference to the pavilion built for the king inside the temple.

Phlapphla Chai was also the site of the “Chinatown Riots” that took place n the evening on 3 July 1974 where 26 died and more than 120 were injured. The riots started when two police officers arrested a taxi driver for illegal parking but he resisted and yelled that they were beating him. His yelling caused the crowds to gather at the facade of Phlapphla Chai Police Station, eventually escalating into a riot and spread to nearby areas such as Hua Lamphong, July 22nd Circle, Rama IV road and a few more areas. Protesters burned public places, threw bombs, and fired at police officers, who were unable to control the situation. The riots continued for four days when soldiers and police started to use force to quell the rioters. Today, the area is mostly populated by Thai-Chinese descent.