AUTHENTIC Thai NOODLE Tour in Bangkok with Mark Wiens!

What up guys, it's Mikey. What's up, it's Mark Wiens. You know, a lot of you guys have been asking on the comments, messaging me, since years ago. They're like, oh, you gotta do a collab with Mark. Well, finally, it's happening. I am in Bangkok, Thailand and I'm with Mark and we are gonna go on some crazy food adventures in this city. I know nothing about the food here. I mean, I love Thai food. And you are like the expert. You are like the Thai food guru. So, I'm gonna rely on you to kinda show me what's good in this city. But, this video is gonna be really special because I love noodles, you love noodles. I love spice, you love spice. I love spicy food. We're like soulmates right here. But, today, we are gonna go on a noodle tour adventure around Bangkok and you're gonna show me some of the best noodle dishes in this city. And I can't wait. I don't know if you guys can see back there, but there's like a witch cauldron brew of bones and meat. Tell me about this. What are we seeing here? This is a giant pan of eternal braising beef. You can just see how thick that broth is. And that's just, like, probably just pure, like, beef fat and oil just bubbling in there. That's what you eat here. I think we're off to a good start. Let's get started, guys. Alright, Mark, you took me to this place. First of all, what's it called? This place is called Watana Panit. I'm really bad with languages. I'm not even gonna try it. And then we saw the cauldron of meat in the front. And you were telling me it's the eternal brew, basically. I mean, that sounds a little witchcraft-y. Eternal brew. But here, obviously, we don't have eye of newt. Well, maybe we do have eye of newt in there because there's tons of stuff in there. And a secret blend of spices and herbs and beef parts mashing together. This is the most amazing thing I've seen in Bangkok so far. It really is. What are we ordering today? We're just gonna get the classic bowl of beef noodles. It includes a mix. You grab some of the parts of beef from the eternal pot, mixes it with noodles, and then pours on some soup. Well, let me ask you something, Mark. How come I'm not getting a full bowl of noodles here? What is going on? Where is the rest of my noodles? One of the reasons why Thai dishes are so small, actually, is not because they eat less, but because they eat more of a variety. Let me get you a spoon. Oh, thank you very much, man. I'll get you a pink one. Oh, thank you. Oh, man, you can see how thick and rich that is. Oh, that is fatty. Cheers, man. Oh, my God. That is... Whoa. Oh, it's good. That thing, that broth can afford to fly first class. That's how rich it is. It's like you can actually taste the fatty collagen thickness of that, man. I almost had to chew that broth. I almost had to chew that broth. It gets thick. Along with the beefy flavor, you can really taste the blend of spices and herbs in there. There's tons of stuff going on in there. The Chinese medicinal herbs in there. Do they have hot oil here? They don't have hot oil. Usually, the Thai seasonings is chili vinegar, chili flakes, and fish sauce. How do you typically season your noodle? If you like it sour, can I hook you up? Load it in, absolutely. Usually, this is not really spicy, but it's just fragrant. Then the spice comes from the ground red chili. This is more for sourness. Then we got the heat coming up. Then we got the chili flakes. Alright, Mark, how much do you typically add? You go for it, man. I'm crazy. I know you're crazy. I just shovel it in. A lot of Thai people will add a bit of fish sauce, but normally, I don't really think it needs it. It's pretty flavorful in its own way. I think that might be a little salty. Now comes the mixing part. This is where things get beautiful. Look at that. You can see the color of that broth just goes from that dark brown color to maroon almost. I want to try this broth again because now that it's transformed. Dude, that just made it magical. That is a flavor of Thailand right there. Because the broth is so thick and rich, it needed a little acid to cut into that. That did the trick. That's ridiculous. It has all the elements I like. Flavorful, it's vinegary. I love Chinese vinegar typically on my noodles, but I feel like with these type of noodles, the rice noodles, clear vinegar works a lot better. Definitely, those things just heat it up by 20 degrees. Oh yeah. Did you try the braised beef? Oh yeah. The braised beef is so tender. Is this beef too? That's the fresh beef. That was like butter. Man, that broth. Yeah, you just gotta drink it. I'm not used to it. It's so good. Let's move on to our second item here. What do we got here? We got two different soups here. One of them is a goat soup. And then this one is bull penis. Soup number five. Oh, so that's the mysterious soup. I knew the way you said that. Soup number five. Here it is, the soup number five. I don't know what that means, but I'm a little scared. I see Chinese herbs in there already. I'll show you guys what it looked like before it turned into this. It's being chopped up right behind us. Do you want to get started with the soup number five? Well, let me just stir this up a little bit and show you guys what's underneath. It actually has formed like a film on top from all of that fat. And this is... Oh my god. I don't know about this, Mark. Alright, I mean... Are we going straight in here or should we taste the soup first? Let's taste the soup. Ease our way in. It is very thick. Okay, the soup is good. Oh, it's good. It's amazing. It's so herbal and so beefy. That's the cilantro roots I think in there. And you can really taste that herbal, that rooty flavor. I think we should go in for bigger and better things now. Okay. Cheers, man. It's actually incredible. Isn't it, man? I don't know if I would use the word incredible. It's different. Oh, I love it, actually. It's like... It's really soft, but not too slimy. A little bit slimy. It's a little slimy. It's got a little aftertaste to it. Is there a little bitterness to it? Could that be coming from the pieces or from the broth? From the herbs in there? God, I'm hoping it's from the herbs. I love how they're almost like intestines. Less chewy. They're softer. They're like more tender intestines. We gotta have one more big chunk. You gotta do it, man. Oh, look at this one. There's like valves. There's some valves coming out of it. Because you know different parts. Different textures. Thanks for that. We might get a different texture on this bite. This is definitely a different part than the last part. Oh, that one was more meaty for me. Oh, yeah. That one was not bad. If I didn't think about what that was, that one just tasted like a piece of meat. So you got all these different varieties of different textures depending on what section you get. So the second piece was much better. Alright, should we try... Should we move into the other one? I see a lot of different parts of the goat here. What is this? Is this stomach lining? And pieces of ribs. That's always nice. Oh, wow. I think this is skin. Yeah, straight up chunk of... That's your fatty skin right there. Let's do a piece of lean meat here. Alright, cool. Oh, that's nice. So ridiculously tender. And it's not gamey at all. Should we get a piece of skin? Oh, wow. That tastes like pork feet a little bit. Very gelatinous. I can taste like goat collagen in my mouth right now. I love the gelatinous quality to it. And that thing just had all that. That was really good. What was your favorite dish of the three? I think the noodles was amazing. Out of the chart. Especially after the vinegar and the hot and the spice. I mean, I was hoping you'd like vinegar too. Because I love vinegar in my noodle soup. That's one of my favorite things. We just keep finding more and more things that we get along so well together for. We need to have a show together. This has been a great first stop. So on to stop number two. Whatever you have stored for us. Let's go. Alright, we're at location number two. And Mark, go ahead. Let's just say the name. Not that I can't, but you know. You're cool, man. This one is Patsiyu Senyai. Wide rice noodles, stir fried with soy sauce. This one is Ratna Senyai. It is a gravy noodle dish. And then finally, we also got another Patsiyu. But this one is with Senmi. Which are the thin, angel hair like noodles. And you're saying this place specializes in these two particular noodles. And you were also telling me that Patsiyu, is that how you say it? It's not the noodles themselves. It's actually the method. It's the method of stir fry. So actually, to technically order this dish, if you want to technically order this dish in Thailand, you have to say Patsiyu Senyai. Because that's the type of noodle. So if you only say Patsiyu, they won't know which noodle you want. Well, I'm excited to get started. Cheers, my friend. Alright, cheers, man. Oh, the smokiness of those noodles. That is really good. You can see how he's cooking. You can just see a cloud of smoke that's rising from the wok as he's cooking it. So you know it's going to have that deep, smoky flavor. That is something you never have in the U.S. Never. You won't get that level of flavor. That's insane. It is on the sweet side, but that's actually what you, you can contrast it with vinegar and chilies to contrast that sweetness. But the flavor is absolutely sensational. It's like in martial arts, right? Like, you meet a Shaolin master. You think you've been doing like Taekwondo all your life. You meet a Shaolin master who's been practicing for 200 years. And you think you know what you're doing. That's why I feel like eating this. Because I've been eating, obviously I've been eating like Thai noodles at Thai restaurants in the U.S. So I think I have an idea of what Thai noodles taste like. But then you eat this here, you're just like, I have no clue. The most skill about this is that it's cooked on such a high fire, but it's not clumpy and it's not burnt. But all that smoke is just retained within, it's absorbed into those noodles and that egg. You're absolutely right. It's charred but not burnt. Another version of pad see ew. Yeah, let's do it. Just with different noodles and with an extra omelet on top. Can I say that? That was all about the egg. I mean the noodles are great, but that egg was the star. I mean the egg was Beyonce and everything else was just back up dancing. That's the best egg I had at least on this trip, for sure. Third bowl of noodles, this one is the rat na which is the gravy sauce with noodles. So this is like a different composition of a noodle dish here. Just admire the stickiness of that sauce. I have a bad... I do feel like this needs some acid. Yeah. Vinegar. Vinegar and chili. It has to be done. I love it with the vinegar though. It really changes the dimension with that vinegar. 100%. This is like almost a completely different dish. Let's bring out the thin one here. Oh, that's good. One thing I'll say about Thai food so far that I kind of realized, this might not be true, this is kind of my impression of it, is that they look very simple. The dishes look very simple. It looks like you kind of can't predict the flavor. But that's not true. I mean, that's what these dishes are doing. I'm like, okay, they look good. It's just an egg. Just an egg, Mark. I mean, I know you love the egg, but it's just an egg. But, oh my god, the egg. Alright, the last one. Weather forecast predicts a slight chance of pepper. The smoke explodes in your mouth. Any other food I eat, don't let that make you jealous because you always have a place in my heart. This is beautiful. Alright, Mark, what's your favorite? Gotta give it up for this one, the pad see ew with the thin noodles. I don't know, man. These two. You know what I need, though? I need the omelette here. And then I think I just kind of combine them. I feel like then they kind of morph together into a perfect dish for me. Man, again, don't judge a book by its cover. I thought I knew Thai noodles, and just looking at this today, I didn't think. I was like, eh, whatever. So good. So good. Alright, on to location number three. Guys, we're at location number three, and we're not on a boat, but we are eating boat noodles. And they're made with pig's blood. Yep, so you can even see them as they make it. They have a bucket of blood. It's literally blood. And what they do is they scoop some of it out to the spoon, and then they stick it into the hot, boiling broth. So that immediately cooks it and curdles it. So it is cooked. It is cooked, but then that curdles it, and that's what gives the broth its thickness, its richness, and that just multiplies the flavor. And so then after that, they pour it into the soup, and that's the basis of what this boat noodle is all about. Again, we got a smaller bowl, but then they managed to shrink the portion of the noodles even more to where I'm getting half a bowl of noodles in my bowl small. Yep. And so the reason for that is because traditionally, these noodles were served from a boat, where you're rocking in the water. And so in order to not lose any soup as you're rocking in the boat, they would only half fill the bowls. And so that's a tradition that's just stuck, and it's just now kind of fun to eat a lot of bowls and stack them on top of each other. Well, I'm really excited to get started because this does look like a one-biter, so I can see why you order like eight bowls of noodles for us. Cheers. Wow. I'll admit, this kind of scares me because I had this in New York where the soup, it was more soup than like saucy noodles. This to me is more like saucy noodles. And they're eating the soup, and it has a little bit of the metallic taste, bloody taste to it. I wasn't really a fan of that. But this, I can't really tell there's blood in here. Yep, it doesn't have a gamey taste to it. No, not at all. And I got a big piece of liver in that bite. And if you can see the liver, the liver is half-raw as well. I see that. And it's awesome. And there's already spice in here, but I do feel like this with a bit more vinegar. Oh yeah, but then another thing that compliments, that I feel compliments the boat noodles so well, is sweet basil. You can either just chase it, or you can toss some leaves in there. And that goes so well together with the broth. Oh, you know what, this is the first time I've seen like chili, this is like hot oil almost. Yep, so these are deep-fried, they're dried chilies which are then deep-fried, and then they crush them. Yeah, that's like my, when I cook my hot oil, fry it really quick, flash fry it, it brings out all that great aroma. You're right about that basil. I also really like it with that chili. That's a good choice. It's fragrant. You can taste those, it's like a burnt, roasted chili flavor. Alright, next bowl. I think what's really cool is that the racial noodles to the broth, there's a lot of seasoning. Look how seasoned these noodles are. So you're not getting a bite where you're like, okay, those are kind of bland. Look at the amount of flavor that gets like stuck within those noodles. Exactly. Whoa, is this pork loin? Yes sir. This is what, you crunch it up inside your boat noodles, and that gives it the extra crunchy dimension. Alright, I'm gonna try one of these as is for now. You can just take a piece of the pork rind, and then just stick it on your noodles. Just brush it up, and that is what takes your boat noodles to the final level of excellence. This is Thai eating at its best. Yeah. It's like a deep-fried sponge. That was a great call on us. Call number four. Mark, I'm telling you right now, it's a great feeling to be sitting here sweating because you're eating spice. You're sitting in like 100 degree heat, and just chomping on these noodles. And just hanging out with someone who loves to eat, and loves spicy as much as I do. Have you guys never done this before, where you're just like, I'm gonna go out today and eat a bunch of noodles, or a bunch of whatever food you want to name. If you guys never thought that was fun to do, do it! Food day is the best day. It's one of the most fun things you can do. That's just as good as the first bowl. Alright. That was fantastic. That changed my whole perspective on boat noodles, actually. Cool. I mean, this is my new standard of boat noodles. I will tell you that this is a very good bowl of boat noodles for Bangkok as well. This is where we're getting egg noodles. Magical egg noodles. Handmade egg noodles. Hey guys, we're at our next location, and this is something familiar. These are egg noodles. That reminds me of Cantonese. Yep. This is even actually the name of the restaurant. It has Guangdong within the name. But this is a very popular Thai street food dish, especially. And I can tell you right now what the difference is. So in Hong Kong when I usually have this, it's usually inside a bowl of wonton noodle soup. So here it does have the wonton element, and the noodle element, but that's where the similarity ends, because then I see roast pork here, and some fish cake, and then crackling pork skin. It's very Chinese, but at the same time, it has Thai influence. And rarely do you see this. Yeah, so actually, you can either order it hang, or with the soup inside, and hang is the dry version. Which I really like the dry version, because you can kind of mix and match as you like, and your noodles don't get soggy. Yeah, I agree with you. Yeah, I mean, usually you don't get a rib bone. Look at that chunk of meat, man. Yeah, soup. Let's just taste those noodles while they're hot and fresh right now. Oh, I love it. Beautiful, crispy pork skin with meat, and that provided such a contrasting texture. The noodles are so light and fluffy, because they're so, so thin. It's like, when you're chewing them, it's like, there's a mini chip fling in my mouth. Oh. Their teeth just kind of bounce off each other. Yeah, exactly. And I don't know about you, but whenever I see meat on a bone, my Chinese instinct is just telling me to gnaw on it. Oh. You don't get a release of flavor in the first bite, but as you chew it, you're like, wow. The depth of the flavor, it's inside. That's been boiled for a very long time, you know that. I feel like I need to upgrade this thing. And this can definitely be upgraded. Again, the noodles are so good on their own, but they would definitely be better with some chili and vinegar. Yes, please. Thank you. And I'm gonna go ahead and add this in my broth as well. Oh, yeah. What I like to do also is just go in with one scoop of soup. It just kind of rehydrates some of the noodles a little bit. I'm gonna do a little Olympics action here. I'm gonna have my noodles take a dive. Right there, that's a 10-pointer. Oh. How's that move, man? Oh. That deserves a gold medal. Look at that. The beauty of these noodles. What I love is that these noodles, they just remain individual. They all have their own personality, every noodle. It's cascading spice right there. Don't underestimate the power of this little fried wonton here. That crunch, it gives it more depth flavor. I'm gonna take a gulp of this. Mmm. Whoa. This soup has become significantly better after the vinegar and spice. Like, significantly better. First bite, I was like... The soup is very light. I told you, right? It wasn't that flavorful. This is redonkulous now. This is a solidly good bowl of noodles. It's like... It's beautiful. You know what? Mark, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. It's gonna go in. That way, we've got the best of both worlds, you know? I think it needs each other. This is a bowl of noodles I never want to end. This is amazing. Alright, guys. Last location of the day and we're eating Pad Thai. We just picked this one, just really random, hole-in-the-wall place. I've never eaten here. This is just a random spot that we just came across. Let's talk about the Pad Thai for a second. First of all, that. That's a banana blossom. Banana flower. Actually, this is the... This will turn into banana if it sprouts. Really? That turns into a banana? That's a pre-born baby banana. It is. And it's very, very typical to be served with Pad Thai. And this is not a typical Pad Thai. This is like a Pad Thai omelette. It's a very common... Every Pad Thai place that you go in Thailand has this. You'll be able to order this as well. I'm gonna cut this in half just so we can kinda see the anatomy of this Pad Thai omelette. There's tofu in there. There's also dried shrimp as well as big shrimp. Lime in there. And then nuts. And how are we supposed to eat this flower thing? So that you can garnish as well. Not really sprinkle on top but you take a bite of Pad Thai and then you can eat a bite of that. Alright, I'm game. Let's try this one. To somebody who just had Pad Thai in Thailand for the first time, that's really good. To me that's really good. I don't know, what do you think? It's okay. But like I said, I'm not huge on the dish. I know you don't love this dish but as a dish itself compared to the other ones you've had in this country, it's just okay, right? Still? I think it's okay, yeah. So I'm gonna take a bite of this banana leaf thing. Oh my god. Apparently. That's good. It's chalky. Why is it doing weird things to my tongue? A little bit of a bitterness. It's weirding out my tongue right now. I love it. You know what it tastes like? It tastes like I'm biting into a banana peel. Those are chalky. I find this Pad Thai like not too dissimilar to what I had in the US. It doesn't taste too different. It's a pretty average plate of Pad Thai for Thailand. I can see that. Alright, well, we had a bunch of noodles today. What was your favorite today? I can't even remember what we ate. I like the beef noodle broth and the beef noodle chunks. But I like the egg noodles. I think for me, I love the first place we went to. I loved not the gooeyness, but the other two. I feel like that was the highlight of my noodle experience today. I think that the chefs were able to take some of the common ingredients and make something that doesn't look like it's gonna blow you away but it's really, really transformed what you think of noodles after that. I do feel like I was able to, after today, get a better grasp of the noodle scene in Bangkok. There's still so many other noodle dishes. There's at least 20 30 noodle dishes that you can try. So many different ones. Definitely a great time trying all the noodle dishes with you today. Thanks so much for taking me around. That was so much fun. And if you guys wanna check out Mark's channel, definitely check it out. I'll have a link for you in the description box below. He does a lot of great travel and food stuff. Thank you guys so much for watching. So until we eat again, I'll see you later.