This ever popular Haymarket eatery has become legendary with chefs and Thai locals alike for for its lava hot noodles and soups. It's the original hot spot from Somporn Phosri, who's gone on to expand the chain to Chatswood, Melbourne and Bondi Junction.
The main event is the signature tom yum noodle, coming in a clean, sweetly porky, hot-and-sour broth hit with generous spoonfuls of fried garlic and topped with crispy wonton strips. Each comes with a variety of toppings from seafood to soft pork bone and can be customised with a choice between seven types of noodles, such as glass, rice, instant and supersized, for those with an appetite. Competitive friends can be seen challenging one another on levels of heat, stomaching chilli levels up to seven – which causes the usually clear broth to turn opaque – with precautionary names like ‘devil’, ‘lava’, ‘super volcano’, and all the way up to ‘super nova’. Order at your own risk and beware the sweats, chilli hallucinations and the inevitable Johnny Cash.
Less popular but equally as addictive are bowls of rice drowned in the same tom yum broth with a similar variety of toppings. A full menu is also available all day, but it is best for those who come in groups. Thin, marinated slices of grilled pork neck are served next to a punchy nam jim jeaw dipping sauce; strips of marinated, air-dried, fried beef are reminiscent of jerky; curries and som tums (green papaya salads) are up there with those you’d find in northeast Thailand and are devilishly fiery.