For those who had tried Vietnamese pho, you should know how good it tasted like. However, until now I have not found any place in Penang that serves good Vietnamese Pho. Although we couldn’t get to taste good pho in Penang, there is a relatively “close of its kind” in town area.
The one which is close to pho in terms of country of origin and serving style is no other than Thai beef brisket noodle.The place that serves this nice Thai style beef noodle is at Sukhothai Beef Noodle House.
It is not hard to locate this place. If you are driving From Codrington Avenue to Pulau Tikus via Burma Road, you will sure see Tan Mark book store on your left and Sukhothai Restaurant is on your right. This building is a corner lot which is located next to Bala Clinic.
The previous owner of this restaurant was Strada Cafe. This place is very spacious and it can cater for about 20 dining tables.
Upon serving the beef noodle, there will be a basket of fresh bean sprouts and Thai basil leaves to be accompanied with the beef noodle.
The Thai basil leaves and the bean sprouts are to be placed on the bowl of hot beef noodle soup. The aroma of the Thai basil leaves were strong enough to cover the scent of the beef, whereas the fresh bean sprouts gave a juicy bite.
Sukhothai Beef Noodle – RM12.90, the beef brisket, beef balls and also some of the beef intestines were stewed in the beef stock soup. It was then flavored with some coriander, bean sprouts and Thai basil leaves. There are 3 choices of noodle which include Original Noodle, Glass Noodle and Instant Noodle.
The cooking style is really similar to Vietnamese Pho. However, instead of thick rice noodle, it was cooked with thin rice noodle. The soup was very tasty and aromatic. The stewed beef brisket were so soft. The beef ball were slightly on the chewy side. It will be perfect if they were softer.
Another option which is good to try out is the glass noodle. The base of the soup was still the same. However, due to it was cooked with glass noodle the taste was better and also no matter how long the noodle was soaked in the soup, the texture of the glass noodle was just right.
Fish Maw Soup – RM19.90. The fish maw was cooked is thick gravy which tasted similar to shark’s fin soup. Accompanying the fish maw were some bird eggs, slices of mushrooms and some veggie.
Instead of shark’s fin, it was cooked with fish maw. It tasted even more like shark’s fin soup when few drops of black vinegar were added into it.
Thai Fried Rice – RM12.90, the Thai fragrant rice was fried together with Chinese sausage slices, eggs and shrimps. It was garnished with few slices of tomato, cucumber and a pinch of spring onions. It was also accompanied with few slices of lemon for a sourish twist.
Although it was a Thai-style fried rice, it was unexpectedly not very spicy. In fact, the way they cooked it was slightly on the sweet side. The aroma of the fragrant Thai rice was very nice and pleasant. The pan-fried aroma of the rice was also strong enough. It was great for non spicy lover.
Pad Thai – RM12.90, the “kuey teow” was fried in Thai style, with some chopped peanuts, bean sprouts, eggs, shrimps, chicken cubes and some chives. The lime slices were added for those that looking for some sour flavour.
The pad thai had a reasonable pan fried flavor. It was also on slightly sweet side and the bite of the pad thai was full of peanut flavor. When squeezed in with some lime juice it made the dish more appetizing and delicious.
Besides the food, below are the drinks available at this restaurant.
- Thai Style Iced Green Tea – RM4.90 (with Milk), RM3.90 (w/o Milk)
- Sweet and Sour Roselle Juice – RM4.90
The seasoning that was served on each table consisted of sweet, salty and spicy flavours.
As for the desserts, below are the choices:
Durian Sticky Rice – RM8.90, the durian was teared into pieces and blended together with coconut milk and served on top of 2 types of sticky rice.
The smell of the durian was very strong. The sweetness of the durian complemented with the saltiness of the coconut milk. It was very rich and delicious. This is one of my favorites. However, it is recommend to be shared by 2 people or more unless you are a big eater.
Banana Sago – RM4.90, the banana was cut into slices and cooked with coconut milk and sago.
If this dish was ordered together with durian sticky rice, this dish should have been taken first. If this dessert was taken after the durian dessert, it would be tasteless.
Mango Sticky Rice – RM8.90, the slices of mango was placed beside 2 types of sticky rice which had been mixed with some coconut milk.
Unlike the sticky rice with durian, mango with sticky rice was more refreshing and appetizing as mango itself contained sweetness and slight sourness. This is also one of my favorites.
Overall, the food here is nice and the environment is family friendly. There are some car parks in front of the shop lot and also some just opposite this shop. The service is good and presentation is pleasant. The only drawback of this place is the price of the food is slightly on the high side. If the price can be lowered a bit to more affordable level, this would be an ideal dining place for all.
Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):
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| Price |  |
| Food Presentation |  |
| Service | |
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Quick Facts:
| Family Friendly |  |
| Parking | |
| Pork Free | |
| Alcohol | |
| Credit Card | |
| Smoking |  |
| Reservation | |
| Private Room | |
| WIFI Available | |
Operation hours: 11:00am – 3:00pm; 6:00pm – 10:00pm (Close on Wednesday)
Contact: 016-438 7788, 012-433 5588, 04-227 9262
Address:No 238, Burma Road, 10050 Georgetown, Penang
GPS: 5° 25′ 47.12″ N, 100° 18′ 48.49″ E
Thank God not only serving Beef… otherwise, I really have nothing to eat. 🙁
was the glass noodle a good combination with the brisket?
Foodbin, so far to me the combination is good. I have no complain on that
Indeed, Beef Noodle Soup is very nice!