In contrast to last week’s latest obsession, I’m going to present to you all one of my many guilty pleasures, a piping hot bowl of floating market soup. The name derives from the many floating markets stalls (aka boats) nearby Bangkok. I believe it was the summer of 2006 that my roommates had introduced to me a Thai spot called Pattaya Thai. My standard for great Thai food has always been Thai Square in Arlington, VA. Go where the natives go right?. So as a weekend ritual, the roomies would venture off to Pattaya Thai in Sterling and enjoy this noodle soup that vaguely resembles the almighty bowl of pho.
From a first glance, it’s appearance is very much like a distant relative to pho. Visible differences would be the addition of chinese broccoli, vinegared green chilis, meatballs and sliced eye round. But take a look at the top right and bottom left of the pic and you’ll see the broth is quite murky. The broth’s flavor is very unique as its contains hint of sweet, sour, spicy and salty all in one ceramic spoonful of soup. As a veteran pho consumer, I was pleasantly surprised this bowl of soup could give pho a run for its money in flavor. The key component to a great bowl of any noodle soup is the broth. Nothing should need to be added. In this case, there was no need to add sriracha (mind you in this pic the bowl came out with a small dab of the other red chili sauce with seeds). There was no need for hoisin and all the veggies I ever wanted came with the bowl. Floating market soup is simply put Thailand’s equivalent to a perfect bowl of pho, if not better. For folks in the DMV, Pattaya Thai, Thai Square and Nava Thai are your best bets for a solid bowl. Yo Atek, you down to grab a bowl?
my roommate has been obsessing about this for a while! i tried it the other night but it was via a to go order.
i’ll have to check it out at the actual restaurant now!