Extremely Popular with Locals: Kanokwan Thai Noodle
Kanokwan Thai Noodle is a small neighbourhood restaurant in Zhongshan that serves some excellent Thai/Taiwanese fusion food. It’s been on our radar for a while for its high rating on Google, and because almost any place with the word “Thai” in its name immediately grabs our attention. If that’s the reason it caught your attention, let us just reiterate: this is a fusion place, not a Thai place. There are lots of people on Google claiming that this place is authentically Thai. Ignore them. The food is great, but there’s definitely some Taiwanese influence going on. If you’re not put off by the blend of cultures, this is a nice spot to check out.
Kanokwan Thai Noodle is teeming with locals, especially on the Saturday afternoon that we visited on. To our surprise and delight, the owner spoke perfect English, and was incredibly friendly and welcoming while explaining the menu to us. There’s no English menu, but you can look at the pictures out front and have him mark down your order for you. Expect to wait: we were one of many groups waiting for a table, though it didn’t take too long for us to be seated. They have a good system where you order, pay, take a number, and wait. They will call your number in English or beckon you over personally since you’ll likely be the only foreigners there.
The first thing we ordered was the Tom Yum Soup ($180). This was surprisingly delicious, although it wasn’t exactly authentic. We can’t quite put our finger on what was missing, but we enjoyed it all the same. The shrimp were ever-so-slightly overdone, but it was still good.
The next thing we ordered was the pad ka prao ($100), a pork and basil stir fry that was the most Thai-tasting dish that we got. This was pretty small — keep that in mind if you’re hungry — but it was packed with flavour and very satisfying. We’d definitely get it again.
The last dish we ordered was some sour noodles with various cuts of beef and basil ($120) that came heavily recommended by the owner due to their “special” flavour. This was the most Taiwanese-tasting thing we tried, and we were a little undecided on how we felt about it. It was tasty, but pretty far removed from Thai food. We’re also not the biggest fans of tongue, which was included with the noodles, so we probably wouldn’t go out of our way to order this again.
We washed everything down with some Thai milk tea ($60), which was very good but another example of Thai/Taiwanese flavours blended together. This drink was quite milky and had less of the tamarind flavour that makes Thai iced tea so distinctive. It was still a great drink, just not the real deal.
Check out their menu:
Overall, we definitely enjoyed our meal at Kanokwan Thai Noodle. Everything tasted delicious and the owner was extremely kind and genuine. We felt proud to have stumbled upon such a popular local place quite by accident. However, this definitely wasn’t real Thai food, and we had to keep reminding ourselves of that as we ate. If you can keep an open mind about what to expect, this is an awesome place to check out. If you’re in the mood for some legit Thai food, try another place, like Thai Made in Da’an.
What’s the vibe?
Small fusion restaurant that’s very popular with locals. The staff are awesome and the food tastes good. Don’t expect to run into any foreigners there.
Worth it?
It was worth it for us because it was in our home neighbourhood and we were open to trying some fusion food. If you’re looking for authentic Thai food then no.
Would you go back?
Sure. We enjoyed the food and the service, so we’d pop back in for a quick bite sometime during the week.
Last updated November 2019.
| Kanokwan Thai Noodle |
| Chinese Name: Kanokwan 老麵攤 |
| Hours: Mon-Fri 10:30am – 9pm Sat 10:30am – 8:30pm Closed Sundays |
| Phone: 0960 764 116 |
| English Address: No. 24, Lane 21, Section 2, Nanjing East Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City |
| Chinese Address: 台北市中山區南京東路二段21巷24號 |
