Is the joke on Sam Yan today? Just kidding as the word 'joke' means porridge in Thailand although i thought the pronunciation could have been drawn from the Cantonese dialect!
Yes, it's once again porridge day in Bangkok and this came a day after Jok Prince (a Michelin bib gourmand eatery)! I researched before my trip and identified Joke Sam Yan as a potential place for breakfast as it's pretty near our accommodation (the new Triple Y Hotel).
The place was packed when i reached at about 9am on a Saturday and many people were asking for takeaways! Mind you, it's not just a bag of one or two packs of porridge; some had ordered like 10 or 20 and it's not an uncommon phenomenon.
Ordering can be a challenge as the staff didn't seem to understand much English and the menu was in Thai and Japanese! There were pictures though and i just pointed to what i wanted; small porridge, with egg and only meat balls / patties!
Don't you just love it when eateries have tissue paper dispenser?!
Our porridge! More 'grainy' compared to Jok Prince; the portion at Joke Sam Yan was bigger but in terms of flavour, i would prefer the one from the Michelin bib gourmand eatery.
Hold your guns first; there's something better than Jok Prince. The delicious minced meat balls which were more patty than ball-like; there's a tinge of addictive pepperiness to them and the taste of the porridge with the meat patty and strips of raw ginger was unforgettably good!
See how clean my bowl was!
We returned the very next day as the porridge was just calling to us! I currently have a bet with my mom and the stake is a trip to Bangkok (ya, like again); no prize for guessing if i would be bringing my mom to Joke Sam Yan!
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Address
245 ซอย จุฬาฯ 11 Wang Mai,
Pathum Wan District, Bangkok 10330,
Thailand
Map
As above.
Pricing
Porridge (S) - 40 Baht
Egg - 5 Baht
Additional Information
Don't bother getting the youtiao from Joke Sam Yan as the version they had was the crispy type which would not be able to soak up any porridge! The one in the picture above wasn't from the eatery.
Right opposite Joke Sam Yan was a stall that sells youtian (the kind we are more accustomed to; albeit much smaller) and cost 3 baht each. There's only one problem.
They close right early; youtiao was already sold out at 9.15 am.