Saturday, November 17, 2007

TIKIM: A THAI NIGHT AT SOMS



Finally had the chance to visit this place which my friends have been raving about. SOMS Noodle House is all about Thai food - delicious, fresh, and just like in many places in the kingdom, eaten on the street. The owners have been renting this series of apartments on Alger St. in Makati City and have made the street right in front of it - the sidewalk to be exact - the restaurant. How this was made possible by the city government is beyond me, but that's not what we are here for now, are we?

SOMS' kitchen is a one apartment affair and it looked really crampy and magulo (see photo below), but it seems to work for them. It's a family affair with Ilonggo women acting as manager and servers. SOMS also used to have a branch on N. Garcia, but this has been closed already. They are due to open a new branch somewhere in Katipunan, hopefully a full-service resto already. SOMS is owned by Parinya Pauamadiolok. former chef of Sukothai. His parents used to serve the Royal Family.


Al fresco dining is the order of the day. Some tables have umbrellas and lighted by bulbs like that above. Some are on the street itself.

Thai milk tea. So far so good. They come in these refillable plastic water bottles.

Pad thai! But I think I will just eat this once a year. Too heavy on the tummy but a meal in itself. Anyhow, I really don't know anymore what is a good pad thai. I have tasted many versions already. Sorry, but I have no good photos of the soup, Tom Yam Goong.
I loved this salad. It has huge shrimps in crunchy greens with a delightfully light lemon sauce.

And finally, the traditional Thai dessert: mango and sticky rice. The tartness of the mango (yep, it isn't sweet) goes very well with the sweet sauce of the sticky rice.

HOT TIP: SOMS does not accept reservation so you have to come early, usually before the usual meal times of 12NN or 7PM so you do not have to wait for a seat. Anyway, if you need to wait to be seated, order ahead. Be firm with the server girls. They are too busy to even notice you, but good things come to those who wait. See you there!

SOMS
5921 A. Alger Street
Poblacion, Makati City

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh wow. love Thai food. mukhang ayos yung kainan na ito ah. thanks for the tip, i will definitely find the time to go there, pwamis!

Anonymous said...

Food looks good.So many versions of thai phat, though the tastes vary on freshness of ingredients.

J.

Anonymous said...

yung pad thai lang nila parang pinoy spaghetti. manamis namis. ganito ba talaga? parang di diba?

Kai said...

The N. Garcia branch is closed already? Now I don't have a chance to try it, experience daw after eating at the Alguer site.

Anonymous said...

i love Thai food! satay, pad thai, crispy catfish salad, sticky rice w/ mango! I haven't tried SOMS, layo kasi samin sa Alabang e.. hehe.. pero ive heard nga masarap daw and cheap lang food. :)