Nhong Rim Klong – Experience Authentic Thai Food By A Canal!

The thought of eating near a canal might turn many people off. The sight of murky grey waters, coupled with the stench of sewage would definitely be a no-go for many Singaporeans, but those with iron eyes and noses might just be in for a treat at Nhong Rim Klong (หน่องริมคลอง).

The eatery is located just above a canal, so you get to enjoy ‘canal-side’ dining as you chomp down on authentic Thai street style ‘zi char’. Thankfully, there wasn’t that much of a stench during our visit.

We were given a table almost immediately, hence we thought that the waiting time wouldn’t be that long. But how wrong we were. Nhong Rim Klong is famous amongst the locals, and many office workers travel here to get takeaways in bulk. We waited for almost 30 minutes before we were served our first dish.

The menu at Nhong Rim Klong isn’t extensive. We got a few dishes — Stir Fried with Cabbage and Fish Sauce (240B), Fried Rice with Salted Fish (120B), Spicy Seafood Soup (Tom Yum) (200B) and the Fried Shrimp with Garlic (200B). Apart from the stir fried crab meat and shrimp, every other dish packs a spicy punch.

Considered as one of their signature dish, the stir fried crab meat and shrimp with cabbage is a sight to behold. On top of the pieces of stewed cabbage lies a scrambled egg mixture, studded with large chunks of crab meat and a few pieces of kaffir lime leaves throughout. I liked how the saltiness and taste of the crab meat complemented the natural sweetness of the crunchy cabbage, with the whole thing being delicately perfumed with the aroma of kaffir lime.

The salted fish fried rice is quite different from the version done back home. Besides being extremely spicy, the fried rice at Nhong Rim Klong is wetter and lacks wok hei. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it was bad. The fried rice is very flavourful, loaded with a generous amount of tender squid rings and prawns.

If you are a fan of spicy food, the tom yum soup at Nhong Rim Klong is right up your alley. One of the spiciest tom yum soups that I had, the clear tom yum soup carries hints of lemongrass and ginger. It’s quite sour, but the first sensation I felt when drinking the soup was the heat.

The Fried Shrimp with Garlic comes with pieces of Thai brinjal, long beans, onions and basil leaves. The dish was served in a pool of oil, but I’ll be willing to run another round around the track just for this. I liked the strong flavours of the basil, which was met with lots of heat and umami from fish sauce. Although the prawns were tender and springy, the vegetables were all too raw for my liking. Nevertheless, the dish was very flavourful and I could have it alone with a bowl of steaming white rice.

Although it isn’t the most pristine or luxe place to have a meal at, Nhong Rim Klong does whip up delicious and decent Thai style zi char. There is really something about the flavours here that I can’t find anywhere in Singapore. Could it be the fact that it’s located right next to a canal? I guess we’ll never know!

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