BAAN RABIANG NAM
I never tire of catching the Chao Phraya Express boat from Saphan Taksin Pier and travelling up the mighty river to Nonthaburi. How many times have I done that? I’ve lost count, but on every trip I spy something on the river banks that I haven’t noticed before.

I find the trip relaxing and interesting and I make sure I sit on either side of the boat for the up trip and the return as the sights on each of the river’s banks are different.

Usually when we alight at the Pier at Nonthaburi, we walk past the clock tower and walk down the main street of the town. The pavements either side are under canvas because this is Nonthaburi’s market. After a sweltering hour or so visiting the stalls we head back to the pier and have lunch at the Rim Fang restaurant which is 100 metres farther along the river bank from the pier.

However, on this latest excursion, we thought we would check out a recommendation from Curt who is a regular contributor to this forum, wherein he had good words to say about a “hidden” eatery called Baan Rabiang Nam.

Our first problem was trying to get a tuk tuk driver who understood Thai spoken with an Australian accent. On our fourth try, the driver nodded that he knew where the restaurant was, so we negotiated an 80 baht fare. After about six kilometres or thereabouts, he stopped and pointed to a laneway so we alighted.

Peering down the lane we couldn’t see anything of significance so we wandered up the road and back. It was swelteringly hot and the Shopper Girl, invoking her imitation of Oliver Hardy said “this is another fine mess you’ve got us into Stan”.

Just was we were having misgivings about looking for this hard to find restaurant, a three wheeled motorised cart arrived at the top of the laneway and the driver asked in Thai if we were looking for the Baan Rabiang. We nodded and he indicated that we should climb upon the cart.

Three hundred metres or thereabouts down the lane and the elusive restaurant came into view. We gave the cart guy a 20 baht note and we were then greeted by an attractive young woman who asked us if we would like a riverside table.

The restaurant is located in an old traditional Thai house and possibly the wood is teak. We were seated on a wooden bench seat each side of a wooden table right on the railings lining the river bank. The restaurant is on two levels and our guess was that it could seat 250 covers.

Looking at the drinks section of the menu, I saw that a large Singha was only 90 baht so one was ordered immediately along with a pineapple juice for the Shopper Girl.

Then we inspected the cuisine section of the menu. Well what a mighty menu it was. I counted the listings and it came to 338 items. This surely then was one of the largest menus I have encountered anywhere in the world. How could the kitchen handle such a massive menu I wondered, when the normal Western kitchen usually plods along on about 40-50 items.

What to order! The lists went on and on and the more one read the more confused one became. Having quenched my thirst with the large bottle of Singha I ordered another one while the Shopper Girl had a bottle of water.

The garlic mussels sounded good so that got a tick whilst the Shopper Girl put in a recommendation for the spicy shrimp salad. Not bad starters was the thought, so what for the mains? I just love fish and particularly the way an accomplished Thai kitchen does it. So steamed Sea Bass was my order with crab fried rice whilst the Shopper girl surprised with her choice of Tom Kha Pla Makham which was a soup, something that she doesn’t normally order, however, as it had been nearly 24 hours since she was last seen shopping I guess anything could have been ordered.

With our orders taken by a young man and despatched to the kitchen, we sipped on our drinks and watched life pass us by on the muddy waters of Chao Phraya. Long tails were entering and leaving the klongs, express boats moving farther up river, the water hyacinths floating past the restaurant and a family of water fowl splashing around in middle distance.

We were cooled by overhead fans which we were very grateful for as it was a particularly hot and steamy afternoon.

After about 10 minutes the garlic mussels arrived on a metal dish with four slices of lime at the same time as the Shopper Girl’s order of the spicy shrimp salad. I counted the mussels and they totalled 20. The smell of garlic permeated not only our table but also the surrounding tables. The molluscs were plump, juicy and so very garlicky and the lime juice was the perfect foil for the garlic . On the other side of the table the Shopper Girl was lamenting that the shrimp salad was “ordinary” and that she wished she could have ordered the mussels as I had done.

Having finished my superb opening dish and no doubt stinking like a pole cat of garlic I nibbled some of the spicy shrimp salad. The shrimps had obviously been frozen as they had the limp “wet cardboard” taste of frozen seafood but the spiciness of the salad was in no way ordinary. Apart from the shrimps I thought the salad which consisted of thread noodles, red onion, slivers of red chilli, lettuce leaves, shallots, coriander leaves and spring onions was very good. In trying to break down the ingredients of the dressing, I concluded that it contained fish sauce, lime juice, lime leaves and one or two other ingredients that I couldn’t identify.

With another large Singha ordered, the Shopper Girl ordered her traditional Gin and Tonic and the drinks and our next course arrived simultaneously.

Hers was quite outstanding. The soup arrived in a clay pot which in turn was sitting over a flame. On opening the lid of the clay pot, an aroma of herbs and spices assailed our nostrils. The broth was that of a spicy coconut concoction with shrimps and pieces of fish floating on top of the herbaceous mixture, with thread noodles, tomato and three small Thai aubergines.

My Sea Bass numbered two medium-sized fish, both slit diagonally at the sides and steamed to perfection. The white succulent flesh fell away from the skeleton at the first touch and the texture and heat of the dish was sublime. The accompanying crab fried rice was a first class rendition of a dish that can so easily be messed up.

With oohs and ahhs being emitted from the Shopper Girl as she slurped her Makham Nam I just had to try some.

The spicy coconut broth had tamarind leaves floating with it, along with the unmistakable tastes and smells of lemon grass and galangal. It was indeed a delectable offering and the Shopper Girl amazed your correspondent by finishing the whole lot and it was a substantial dish.

My two Sea Bass were also devoured with a little help from the Shopper Girl and we managed to finish most of the crab fried rice.

With our appetites almost fully satisfied, we ordered a plate of fruit to finish the meal and in no time at all a white dish containing star fruit, orange, pineapple, banana and halved rambutans was placed on our table.That was a great ending to a lovely meal at a truly great restaurant.

I then spent some time taking photos of the restaurant and the passing parade on the water and a while later I was presented with the bill.

COST: 3 x large Singha @ 90 baht each, 270 baht; 1 x pineapple juice 25 baht; 1 x bottle of water 25 baht; 1 x gin and tonic, 85 baht; 1 x garlic mussels 140 baht; 1 x spicy shrimp salad, 90 baht; 1 x Tom Kha pla Bai Makham (spicy coconut soup), 120 baht; 1 x Sea bass 250 baht; 1 x crab fried rice 70 baht, 1 x plate of fruit, no charge. TOTAL: 1075 baht ($AUD38.35 at the time).

SCORE: Service, 10/10; ambience 10/10; food 8/10; value for money, 9/10. TOTAL: 37/40.

VERDICT: How right was Curt of http://www.cheapeatsbangkok.com when he said some time ago that this place was a hidden gem. This is truly a superb restaurant, with a staggeringly large menu, set right on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. It the best Thai restaurant, outside of the 5* hotels, that we have dined at and as a bonus, it is so cheap.

CONCLUSION: I can recommend this restaurant highly and as a consequence I have given it my highest mark ever over the past 10 years that I’ve been writing reviews for this site. If you are going to Nonthaburi, then do yourselves a big favour and go for lunch at the Baan Rabiang Nam. There is an English menu accompanied by photographs. The restaurant manageress speaks good English as does one of the male waiters.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: To Curt of http://www.cheapeatsbangkok.com for the recommendation and boy what a recommendation it was!

PRECAUTION: The restaurant manageress asked if we had a car, but we indicated that we had travelled there by the Chao Phraya Express boat and then a tuk tuk. She said she would ring for a taxi as it would be difficult to get a tuk tuk or taxi out on the street. The fare by taxi back to the Nonthaburi Pier was 45 baht.

LOCATION: The Baan Rabiang Nam is located at 74/2 Moo 1 Soi Wat Kae Nok, otherwise known as Nonthaburi Soi 23, Bang Krasor, Muang, Nonthaburi. I would strongly suggest that if you make the trip up river to get the concierge desk at your hotel to write the name of the restaurant and the address in Thai script on a card for you. Additionally, don’t expect English to be in widespread use in the town of Nonthaburi. As we found out it is not every Nonthaburi tuk tuk operator who knows where this truly hidden restaurant is located. Also make sure that the restaurant gets a taxi for you to take you back to the Nonthaburi Pier. I suggest this place for lunch only as the CPE boat doesn’t run in the evenings and it may be problematical to get a local taxi to take you back to Bangkok.

NEXT WEEK: We are back in the Big Mango again and we try to secure a table at the Robin Hood Tavern on a Soccer World Cup semi final night.

There went a sigh of relief!



With any full menu restaurant, it's easy for different diners to have different experiences. With the range of Baan Rabieng Nam's menu, it should probably be expected. But, although some dishes may not stand out, we have never had a "bad" entree.

Are we sure. Some the wait staff is, shall we say, confused. But you are right. The staff has always been very gracious, no matter how busy it gets.

Lunch is always better, especially during the week. Some weekends, and most evenings, can get packed.


I thought I had included directions with my recommendation. In any case, here is a map to make finding it easier: Map

We put up a page on CheapEats: Baan Rabieng Nam (Note: The 5% discount for lunch, mentioned on our page, was from their website. We'll have to see it it still stands after they launch their new website. In any case, it's still great food at great prices.)

Did you happen to notice that nasty looking prison, just as you head north from the clock tower. That's Bangkwang, the famous "Bangkok Hilton. The electric razor wire is a nice touch!

There were about 50-60 people dining there at lunch Curt, and that was early in the week. By contrast, the Bangkok restaurants were doing a freeze. So I'm guessing that the good words about this place have got around the traps.

Yes, the manageress was quite a good looker, aged about 28. She told us she was studying accounting at a university in Nonthaburi, which was a revelation to me, as I didn't know that the province had its own university.

Yep, we noticed the effete mannerisms of some of the male wait staff whilst others, as you have noted Curt, were indeed confused regarding their gender.

We shared a taxi back to the Nonthaburi Pier with a Danish couple and I was able to fill them in on the infamous "Bangkok Hilton" as we passed it. A few years ago, one of my employees asked me to take some stuff to one of her ex boyfriends who was than accommodated at the "Bangkok Hilton".

I told her that I didn't waste my time visiting criminals in Australian jails and I didn't intend to waste my time visiting Australian criminals in Bangkok.

I also looked at the food being served on adjoing tables. It all looked so good and smelt devine.

I really can't wait to get back there again later this year.

We visited the restaurant back in June and rather than try and explain where it was I asked the hotel receptionist to write the details down for us to show the driver when we got off teh river boat.

Like Emdee, we were dropped off in the lane and met by a tuk tuk that took us to the door. It was quiet when we were there but noticeably the otehr diners (three tables) all seemed to be Thai's which gave us a good feeling.

Yes, the menu is huge and we were stuffed after starters and main but always space for fruit. The "manageress" when we visited was not the one Emdee saw but proobably one of the "uncertain" ones!

Very good value for money and the location was great for watching life on the river. They were working on the river barges next to the restaurant and it was fascinating watching that.

We walked back to the main road and grabbed a taxi there without any problems.

I added it all up, I'm sad like that, and the river ticket, getting to the restaurant and back, and the cost of the food and drink came to less then we spent on a similar 2 courses at an eaterie just round the corner from the Royal Orchid Sheraton where we were staying.

It's just a pity it's where it is, but if it was closer it probably wouldn't be able to keep the same ambience.

Like Emdee, thanks Curt as it was all down to your recommendation we went and I have to say that the husband was a bit concerned at where we were going and would we get back but I said no worries, Curt knows what he's talking about!

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Alison

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It's Better to Burn Out than just to Fade Away!

Those barges are a permanent fixture. We kinda look at then as a free show.

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

That's it Alison. The ambience, I just loved it. I sometimes wonder that when the ambience is so cool, psychologically we enjoy the food more than if the same food was served in a place with little or no ambience.

And that menu! I won't forget that for a long time either. I'm going to try a whole of new dishes on our next two visitations to see if the food stacks up to what we ordered on our first visit. Judging by what we saw arrive at adjoining tables, I'm of the opinion that we won't be disappointed.

Definitely try the gaengsom cha oam. It's one of my favorite soups and theirs is about my favorite in Bangkok.

Speaking of soup, just found some amazing 20 baht wonton soup!

Going back to ambience, whichever restaurant you are in and wherever it is, if that is right then the food just seems so much better. That's one of the reasons I dislike (and that's the polite word) places that are supposed to be "the" place to eat. It's not about being seen in the right place it's about something that cannot be described but you know when it isn't there.

Any restaurant critics want a new recruit???? I would be ace!!

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Alison

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It's Better to Burn Out than just to Fade Away!

You probably wouldn't care for my wonton shop. Everything, tables, bowl, even the drinking cups, is stainless. Kinda has the ambiance of an operatory!

Wonton Soup is my favourite soup. For 20 baht that looks to be the bargain of all bargains.