Khao Pad

I finally found where Mommy Thai went.

My friend Jessel told me that she moved to Ortigas Home Depot months ago, but I didn't get to properly look her up until yesterday. We got there at around 11 am and the place was still empty. Mommy Thai was actually doing the cooking, and it was certainly nice to know she still remembers me. I think the fact that I'm the only client she had in UP who actually speaks Thai helped, too.

We had red curry, larb moo and rice. Big servings. Delicious. Very cheap. And the place looks really nice, too.

I first tasted her cooking when she was still occupying that makeshift canteen beside the International Center in UP Diliman. We would actually walk from AS past Educ, Vinzon's, Econ and Asian Center just for her Tom Yum. When I moved to Thailand, I heard she transfered to a pink box in Balara. I went there a few times and actually chatted with her about food and a bit of Thai gossip. When I went back to her new place a few months later she had left. There were shirtless men in a steamy room playing pool. Not my idea of a good lunch.

My friend Cathe then told me that Mommy Thai actually sold everything, moved to Singapore to be with her family (daughter married to a Thai working in Singapore) and realized she had to come back.

I would definitely go back there to try her other dishes. If there's one thing I miss about Bangkok it's the food. And Khao Phad is my favourite Thai restaurant here in the Philippines, non-pretentious category. (I do love People's Palace and Benjarong, but it's not like I can eat there whenever I feel like it.)

Go and visit. I hope her loyal clients from UP rediscover her spicy dishes. And I'm pretty sure she'll get new ones from the area as well.

Khao Pad is in Auto Depot (beside Snax in the City), in Ortigas Home Depot. Julia Vargas Ave.