Thai beef noodles are all about a rich and thick beef broth, with soft beef parts that have been simmering in the soup for hours. If you are a fan of this local delight, you have to pay Heng Chun Seng Beef Hotpot Noodles a visit.
Located on Rama 4 Road, this shop has been around for over 60 years, third generation of beef hotpot masters. The signature dish here is the beef hotpot (it also comes in a pork version). Hungry locals crowd this restaurant throughout its opening hours.
Also, characteristic of good street food places in Thailand, there’s free ice tea too. Absolutely refreshing for Bangkok’s hot weather.
While waiting, we do as the locals do—concoct our own dip from the pleasantly hygienic, bright-blue seasoning set on our table. The fish sauce, vinegar, sugar, and chilli powder combination is truly on-point for the beef. I personally recommend putting in less sugar though, so the dip will not be too sweet.
The soup here is flavorful with a slight underlying hint of herbs and spices. With the additional fried garlic and morning glory served together in the hotpot, the taste is really quite addictive. The charcoal hotpot also keeps everything piping hot throughout the meal!
Customers can choose to go for a normal bowl of beef noodles, or the signature dish, which is an entire hotpot of beef soup. We suggest getting the hotpot so that you can maximise your experience.
We order the grandest dish in the shop, the beef hotpot (THB 250), of course. As nondiscriminate eaters, every cow part is put in. And some rice (THB 5) and extra vegetables (THB 10) on the side, to balance out the protein-heavy meal.
You’ll get to choose the beef parts you want to add into the pot: beef balls, tongue, stomach, red meat, heart, shank, liver, stew beef, tender, spleen and intestine. Priced at THB180 (approx. S$7.60), the beef soup should be enough for two.
However, for those who are craving more meat, or have come in larger groups, more toppings can be added. Once again, you can choose from the various beef parts and each plate costs THB50 (approx. S$2.10).
Don’t forget to order some noodles or rice to go together with the hotpot. There are three kinds of rice noodles: sen mee (thin), sen lek (medium) and sen yai (broad). You can choose ba mee (egg noodles) too but we recommend the sen lek which has a slightly chewy texture.
The noodles are cooked, drained and served dry with some garnishes. Customers can add their preferred amounts of soup and meats to their noodles. All noodles are priced at THB10 (S$0.50) and rice at THB5 (S$0.25).
Remember to prepare your own sauce for the hotpot and noodles. Choose from sour vinegar chilli, dried chilli, fish sauce, or sugar, and mix them well. This will definitely provide even more flavour and a whole new dimension to the tastes you can get here!
The soup is excellent and you can add extra soup with morning glory at THB10 (approx. S$0.50). The beef parts are soft and succulent, and the meat just melts in the mouth. We would recommend the stewed beef, beef tendon, and beef balls!
We frequent Heng Chun Seng Beef Hotpot Noodles and we note that it is always crowded. Be prepared to wait for a little, especially at lunch hours.
Psst, we also recommend a food cart that sometimes stops in front of this shop. It sells fried sweet potato, banana, taro and sweet potato balls. These, particularly the sweet potato balls, make a really good after-meal snack. It is only there occasionally, so that will depend on your luck!
Expected Damage: THB120 – THB160 (approx. S$5.10 – S$6.70) per pax
