Let's get a few things straight, starting here: Noodles are awesome, noodles are life.
Also, no cuisine has the ultimate claim on noodles. And so, in support of such an outlandish statement, let's add that there is no such thing as having too many places to eat noodles. There is no argument, either, about whether rice, buckwheat or egg noodles are the best. They all have their place and their job in any given noodle-based dish.
All of this noodling about noodles is, however, why you ought to head over to La Kang Thai Noodles Bar in Hellertown. The vibe is playful, friendly and a bit tropical, with Thai pop music playing and lots of greenery, and the bowls are brimming with beautiful ingredients whose composition and taste will easily exceed your expectations. The latter point is true, even if you have little exposure to Thai noodles, beyond the ubiquitous pad Thai experience. There is much to discover here—noodles notwithstanding!
The name La Kang might be familiar, as the folks who own this noodle joint, which opened in January, also operate (the slightly more fine dining) La Kang Thai French Cuisine restaurant in Palmer Township.
“We wanted to show people that there's more to Thai food than pad Thai,” says co-owner and chef Paul Ratchaphol Rojrattana (a.k.a., Chef Paul). The place is meant to offer a quicker turnover than their fine dining spot. Even when we were there to talk about food and take photos, service was lickety-split. Within about 30 minutes, at least a half dozen dishes came out of the kitchen and from behind the noodle bar. But you won't feel rushed.
“We're on the main street, and people want something faster and casual,” he says.
Such a central location easily lends itself to a spontaneous pop-in. It helps that the interior and hospitality are an inviting experience. Sitting at the bar provides some transparency, along with theatricality, as you can watch Chef Paul prepare your noodles. Everything is cooked to order. “People love the experience of watching him do the noodles,” says Bunyanuch Pacharakornkul, who simply goes by Nikki.
They try to make dishes as authentic as possible, to their experience, but as anyone who's cooked or traveled outside of their native country knows, the definition of authentic can be rather subjective. La Kang does offer pad Thai, but it's made with traditional ingredients such as tamarind and palm sugar. Lots of pad Thai recipes skip tamarind altogether and opt for granulated sugar instead of palm, but tamarind's sourness is key to the dish.
Chef Paul, a graduate of NCC's culinary program, has cooked in various other spots around the region, including Twisted Olive, the House and Barn and Roar. He's assisted by co-owner and chef Noah Nakkarawaat Krueawang, whose background is in law but whose enthusiasms brought him to cooking and restaurants. He's engaged to Chef Paul's sister Natcha Rojrattana, who is studying to become a nurse practitioner. There's an easy conviviality and warmth among them that's common in workplaces comprised of family members—and friends-as-family, too.
You may have wondered about the name; it holds a lot of power and symbolism. Kang means bell in Thailand. “We would like to use the words ‘la kang' to symbolize when people get together, exchange food and have lunch together, it's just like we are all family,” says Nikki.
She goes on to explain that la kang is the golden bell that's rung in Thailand at temples. “In Buddhism, the ringing of a bell carries a spiritual meaning. It's our tradition and serves as a prayer timetable for monks,” she says. People in the community would go to the temple and offer food to the monks. “The ringing of a bell brings people in the community to gather together to do the good things,” she says. In the West, we might associate the ringing of a bell as an announcement that dinner is ready, and at La Kang, that's an easy association to make, too. At both of the locations, they ring a bell to announce that food is ready.
If you love Thai food and/or noodles, you might ring the bell a lot when you're here, depending on how many dishes you order, and how many people you're dining with, and their appetite for culinary exploration. Start with some dumplings, which combine ground shrimp, chicken and crab. Consider the green papaya salad, with smoked shrimp, shredded green papaya, a smattering of veggies and a chili-lime dressing. That ought to get you started. Or go straight to noodles.
La Kang opts for the highest quality possible and makes as much as possible from scratch, including upwards of 45pounds of egg noodles per week. The jasmine rice, for example, is all 100 percent jasmine rice—it's not uncommon for restaurants to cut corners and costs there. Real jasmine rice is unmistakable, though—it is incredibly aromatic and delicately flavorful. When you're making a fried rice dish, such as the one they offer with jumbo lump crab and a bracingly fresh Thai take on chimichurri, the rice better be worthy of its star treatment. (It is.)
Jasmine rice is also featured prominently in a signature dish I couldn't get enough of, the pad krapow ground chicken. Imagine ground chicken with onion, basil, garlic and chili, topped with a fried egg and crispy basil. It's so delicious, it's not clear whether it's best for breakfast, lunch or dinner. (It feels like a really good hair-of-the-dog meal; take home leftovers and decide for yourself.) “This is a popular take on street food in Thailand,” says Chef Paul.
Anything you order from the noodle bar menu is made right in front of your eyes while you wait and after you've specified your heat level, where applicable. (All the other menu items come out of the small kitchen in the back, which is obscured from view.) The ba mii pu, crabmeat noodle, arrives at your table under a domed lid that traps the smoke from the pork, and makes for good dinner theatrics. It's recommended you order it brothless—and no, that's not a mistake. The handmade egg noodles would not stand up to sitting in broth but don't worry, the dish is plenty flavorful, served with roasted honey pork, crab meat and scallion.
La Kang also prides itself on its Sukhothai pork noodles soup, which features thin rice noodles, braised pork rib and minced pork, along with long beans, bean sprouts and peanuts. But perhaps the biggest surprise is the short ribs khao soi, which prove that you certainly can and should eat short ribs all year round, regardless of weather. It's a little sweet, a little spicy and totally filling, with coconut braised short ribs, egg noodles in a Chiang Mai-style yellow curry along with pickled cabbage, cilantro and crispy egg noodles—and raw red onion (that's not a mistake—swirl it in, it works).
The food is made with a strong attention to detail and quality, which you can easily see and taste. It's another thing altogether, however, to feel that distinction. At La Kang, you can feel the difference, too. “We cook with our soul,” says Chef Paul.
La Kang Thai Noodles
620 Main St., Hellertown | 484.851.3232 | @lakangthainoodlesbar
*Please check their website and/or social media for current operating hours and procedures.
Hours
Tues.–Sun.: 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m.; 4–9 p.m. La Kang serves one menu all day.
Parking
Metered and non-metered street parking
Reservations
Strongly recommended, especially for the weekend
What to Order
Consider the pad krapow. It's a signature dish made with ground chicken, onion, basil, garlic and chili. It's served with jasmine rice and topped with a fried egg and crispy fried basil (yes, it's as good as it sounds). For heartier appetites, order the short ribs khao soi. Don't miss the Thai iced tea (not too sweet!) and the really delicious ice cream, which you may be able to taste in coconut and/or Thai iced tea flavors, among others to be determined.
Published as "Inside Dish" in the June 2022 edition of Lehigh Valley Style magazine.
