The Original Boat Noodle @ CWP (Closed)

Occupying the spot which was Penang Parade is a new franchise of The Original Boat Noodle, a Halal-certified Thai street food restaurant.

Many street food vendors prepare and sell lunch from boats in the network of canals and rivers of Bangkok and Ayutthaya, giving rise to a famous and beloved noodle dish called boat noodles, a beef and rice noodle soup with a rich, spicy broth enriched with pig’s blood. The blood-infused broth and the organ meat usually floating in it are what make boat noodles what they are.

The Original Boat Noodle is a franchise that is located at Causeway Point, Bugis Junction, Bukit Panjang Plaza, Changi City Point, The Seletar Mall, VivoCity and 339 Upper Paya Lebar Road.

Traditional boat noodles are served with fried pork rind, liver, tendon, tripe, meatballs, and crushed chilis. But this is a Halal certified restaurant, so the soup broth would not be using any pig’s blood or any blood for that matter given the strict food standards in Singapore.

Boat Noodles

There are four flavours and two types of noodles to choose from, each combination is only $1.50. It is a very small portion, just enough for one mouthful for me.

The Pathumthani soy sauce broth made with 19 herbs and a generous amount of 5 spice powder. There’s a strong taste of star anise and cinnamon, and why was it so sour?

Ayutthaya is the creamier version of the Pathuthani. This dark broth is a bit richer, containing 10 herbs, spices, and a dash of coconut milk to replace the pig’s blood that is usually added to thicken the broth. But why was it still sour despite the coconut cream?

Creamy Tom Yum is not the usual boat noodle flavour, but popular among Thai food lovers in Singapore. I was surprised by the sweetness of the tom yum, and very little of the sourness and spiciness that makes tom yum special. It tasted like an instant noodle tom yum soup base.

Their latest flavour is the Sweet Kuey Chap which mixes herbs and spices with palm sugar to recreate the traditional taste of kuey chap that would use pig organs and innards braised in soy sauce and spices for a rich taste. It was like sweet noodles and the broth was no where near kuey chap.

So how much should one order? Order one flavour each to try (4 bowls in total) first, and decide whether you want to order more bowls or some dishes to fill your appetite.

And for a sweet ending, Red Ruby. Red ruby or tub tim krob ทับทิมกรอบ is a refreshing Thai dessert made mainly with water chestnut coated with coated in a soft and chewy tapioca gel and coconut cream on top of a bowl of ice shaving. The red colour comes from the rose syrup that is used to cook the tapioca flour coated water chestnut. The rose syrup did not come through nor the pandan leaves. The coconut cream was really watery. It was a pretty bad sample of Red Ruby.

Afterthoughts

I was quite disappointed by their signature item on the menu, the boat noodles. They have not nailed the “original” taste, not did they even come close with the ingredients. The whole experience was more gimmicky than delicious. In fact the whole idea of one bite per bowl just limited the ingredients that they can put in it to make them profitable.

I would give this place a miss. Looks like this corner of CWP will see a new tenant soon.

The Original Boat Noodle
1 Woodlands Square, Causeway Point #05-12, 738099

Visited in Apr 2022

PS: I was unfortunately right again, the place was shuttered up when I went to CWP in Apr 2023.