Heuan Phen -- Thailand VII

It took me a trip to Thailand to find something that I wouldn’t eat. Karen and I went to dinner at Heuan Phen on Thanon Ratchamankha. It’s a beautifully charming restaurant—the only eating establishment Id’ see in all of Thailand so far that actually looked like a restaurant complete with real walls and not just bamboo screening.

The menu looked possibly intimidating, with more than the usual curry and fried noodle fare, and the waiters looked hipster cool, with their enviable Converse sneakers. We ordered the bamboo shoots and spareribs soup, the stir-fry greens with Chiang Mai sausage, and the minced local crab meat.

The flavors of the soup were delicately subtle. Though the broth was clear, each spoonful contained rich flavors of pork balanced with the clean freshness of the bamboo shoot. The pork spareribs found at the bottom of the bowl tenderly fell apart with the touch of the spoon, and held all the gentle flavors of a slow-cooked soup.

The green were tasty as well although I couldn’t quite figure out what made the Chiang Mai sausage especially Chiang Mai. It had the color, taste, and texture of the fish paste patties my sister’s godparents give me that I leaved stored in my freeze until I’m pathetically tired and hungry that I finally give in to eating them, but that’s to say that the sausage bits weren’t welcome in my mouth.

It was the minced crab dish that I couldn’t eat. I had been the one who wanted that too. It came out in a tiny bowl accompanied with slices of cucumber and stalks of what looked like Chinese broccoli. Inside the bowl with a black mush. It looked unlike any crab dish that I had ever seen. I approached it tentatively with my fork, picked up a small amount, and brought it to my tongue. It tasted foul, like one of those Harry Potter Jelly Bellies with names like Booger, Dirt, or Black Pepper. But, if I concentrated hard enough, I could discern the faint taste of crab, or at least the reminiscent flavors of the sea. The Thai men next to us ordered what looked to be the same dish, and they were eating with the cucumber and vegetable. I tried the black mush that way too, anticipating that would make it more palatable, but no. It just tasted like cucumber and foulness. I tried three times to acquire a taste for it then gave up. It wasn’t a taste to be acquired but one to be forgotten.

I wish we would have ordered more food though since there were so many dishes that looked appealing and the two that I could stomach were fantastic. Maybe the next I’m back around these parts.