Samsen is a buzzy and much-talked-about hipster noodle joint, housed in a (pretty good) approximation of a Thai shophouse, relocated from the banks of the Chao Phraya to the backstreets of Wanchai. Although noodles are the specialty, it was the desserts that proved the real standout – coconut ice cream with sweet corn and pandanus glutinous rice balls in salted warm coconut milk. Yum!
I popped into Samsen this week, the buzzy new Thai noodle shop opened by a former chef of Chachawan. Located on one of Wanchai’s most atmospheric backstreets, Stone Nullah Lane in the shadow of the Blue House, it is an appealingly laid out little place designed to look like an old Thai shophouse (a look it pulls off pretty well) and named after the riverside district famous for its ferry stop with catfish milling around the pier and flower markets, home to a Catholic cathedral and the little-visited Thai National Library. The Hong Kong version however is packed with throngs of urbane professionals getting down to bowls of Thai street-style noodles. Fun. I’d go back.
ilbonito blog 2007 