Thaksin Beef Noodles
The first time I had Thaksin beef noodles was almost 2 years ago. A friend’s wheelchair-bound father’s maid threw the unfortunate old man’s dentures away by mistake. I was asked to do a housecall. I had to make 4 visits to the old gentleman’s flat at Clementi. One visit to take primary impressions, one visit to take the wax bite and final impressions, one visit to try in the wax dentures and a final visit to issue the acrylic dentures. The visits were one week apart. After every visit, the elderly patient’s son would bring me down for lunch. We ate at a different stall every week. I’ve forgotten all the other stalls except for this one. Thaksin Beef Noodles a Muslim stall boasting an authentic Thai recipe. Apart from beef noodles, the stall also serves pad Thai and gai pad bai gra prao/kai dao (chicken basil/fried egg) with rice.
Of course, former Thai PM Thaksin was in the news back then and the name of the stall had an impact on everyone watching the events unfold in Thailand. Even more memorable, was the great taste of Thaksin beef noodles. I had neither opportunity nor excuse to go down to Clementi after that. I forgot where the stall was.
Just yesterday, when I went down to NUS, I decided to take the MRT back to Lucky Plaza. Much of the town centre at Clementi is now under construction. I walked to the hawker centre, took a left turn and found the stall opposite an OCBC bank. Unlike 2 years ago, there was no queue or crowd outside the stall. Ordering was easy. I got the $5.50 bowl. Lots of tasty brisket, beef slices, great soup, but the kway teow was a bit soggy. Could that be the reason why the crowd has disappeared?
With a corporate logo, their name “branded” on their bowls, it would seem that the stall had plans to expand into a chain of beef noodle outlets. With a killer name and a killer recipe, nothing seems to be able to stop Thaksin’s conquest of the beef noodle market in Singapore. Strangely, that doesn’t seem to have happened. Fear of sabotage by Yellow Shirts?
