Gin Sen – New Stall to Thai-de Over Your Bangkok Street Food Cravings

We recently stumbled upon Gin Sen, a new Thai hawker stall in Old Airport Road.

For Tanya and Candy, the two Thai ladies who run the stall, being apart from their home in Bangkok was difficult. This led to the idea of them starting their own hawker business, where they whip up authentic Thai street food in Singapore.

So, what makes their version of Thai food stand out from other stalls? “We know that a lot of Thai restaurants in Singapore change the recipe or ingredients to suit the Singaporean taste, such as reducing the spice level, or even using sweet basil instead of holy basil, which is a much cheaper alternative to import,” they shared.

We had the Thai Bak Mee ($4/small, $5/big), which is supposedly a dry version of Tom Yam Noodles. With the addition of spices such as chili flakes, sugar, crushed peanuts and dried shrimp, it felt like a cross between Tom Yum noodles and Pad Thai. Albeit on the dry side, the sauce was savoury, sweet, and spicy. 

We also had the Thai Claypot Beef & Beef Tendon Soup ($7/small, $10/big) with flat rice noodles. Served with chunks of beef and tender beef tendons, this dish makes for a complete meal. The broth was savoury, and the flat rice noodles were al dente, and had a nice bite.

If noodles aren’t your thing, go for the Thai Claypot Basil Beef Rice ($6.50). Using the same meat and tendons as the Beef Noodle soup, the Thai Claypot Basil Beef Rice is first stir fried with long beans, garlic and holy basil leaves. It is plated a little more messily, but the killer sauce makes up for the lack of presentation. The sauce is essentially a reduction of the beef braising liquid, so it is a concentrate of meaty, savoury and sweet flavours. I could even eat the rice and sauce on its own!

The stall sells sides such as Thai Fried Mid Wings ($3.80/6 pieces) and Thai Green Mango Salad ($5) too. However, the star was the homemade Thai Fish Cakes ($5/4 pieces). Tanya, the chef in charge of cooking the dishes, told us that prior to being a hawker, she used to make fish cake from home. She would pass the fish cakes to her friends and family, who would always order from her. We know why Candy’s fish cakes are so popular. The fish cake is savoury, springy, smooth, and has a strong lemongrass aroma. Tanya told us that she makes the fish cake daily, and she only uses fresh ‘batang’ fish from the market.

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Gin Sen. The two Thai ladies, who don’t look a day over 30, are able to recreate the flavours you get from street food in Bangkok, at wallet-friendly prices. We will be back for the fish cakes!

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.