Khao soi is one of the most well-known Thai dishes.
I learned from my quick research that it originated in Northern Thailand, but you can find this dish at many restaurants here in Bangkok.
It is yellow curry soup with noodles.
Popular toppings often include shallots, pickled mustard greens, cilantro, lime, and crispy noodles.
I thought it would be interesting to compare various restaurants’ vegan Khao Soi in Bangkok and report my findings here.
Initially, I was planning to try at least three restaurants, but due to an unforeseen circumstance (I will explain later) this project ended after I tried just two.
But I picked two popular restaurants who serve vegan Khao Soi in Bangkok.
Khun Churn and So Vegan.
I talked about Khun Churn in this post -> https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2024/07/25/ .
Apparently Khao Soi is a recommended dish here.
Reviews for their Khao Soi were really good too, so I was excited to finally try it myself.
It’s hidden, but a lime wedge came with it.
I like to add a little splash of fresh lime juice right before eating.
It was a milk-curry (I believe coconut milk was used?) type soup.
The noodles were perfectly cooked.
There were some vegan meat pieces (I believe it was gluten meat) found in the bowl in addition to the traditional toppings.
But the crispy noodle portion was large, claiming its presence in the bowl!
The soup was slightly spicy, but not excessively.
Overall, it was a well-prepared tasty Khao Soi.
I like noodles, and I know it’s the traditional way to serve this dish, but personally I’m not sure about this topping choice.
My favorite topping was the pickles.
Now let’s look at the Khao Soi served at So Vegan.
(You can find my post about this restaurant here -> https://sideb.culinarytribune.com/2024/07/22/ .)
Can you tell how different it looks from the Khun Churn’s?
The big difference is in the soup.
This one does not have the milkiness like the Khun Churn’s and the curry flavor is very strong.
It looks spicy, and it IS spicy, but it’s not excessively so.
The toppings are similar, but this one came with fried “chicken”.
No crispy noodles in So Vegan’s.
Interestingly, when we ordered the same thing on another day, it came without the fried “chicken”; they charged a little less.
They did not tell us anything about it, but we assumed that they were out of fried “chicken” that day and that was probably why they gave us the lower price.
Instead of the friend “chicken” the soup came with a lot of mushrooms, which I was perfectly happy about.
The Khao Soi at So Vegan was also an enjoyable dish.
My husband liked them both, and he has gone back to So Vegan to eat it twice already.
Unfortunately, I myself came to realize in the middle of this project that Khao Soi in general was not my favorite dish.
I have tried some other noodle soup dishes and found many I liked better than Khao Soi.
It’s totally a personal preference, but that is the reason why I ended this project a bit prematurely.
But I thought this report will be still helpful for those who like Khao Soi in general or who want to try this popular Thai dish, and want to try a vegan version,
If you prefer a strong curry flavor, go to So Vegan.
If you like something creamy, go to Khun Churn.
I’m not sure when, but I am planning another project where I will compare another Thai dish from different restaurants.
*P.S. Since this time, I’ve been back to Khun Churn and had their Khao Soi several times. It’s grown on me, and now I go there for the dish regularly. I’ve even come to like the crispy noodle topping! (I don’t know why I felt the way I did the first time I had it, but possibly because I was not hungry?)
