Krua Muang Ve - Crazily Crunchy Vietnamese Pizza in Bangkok, Thailand
Is there an award for innovative foods? I think Krua Muang Ve deserves that
Have you guys ever heard of a Vietnamese Pizza? Neither did I. Apparently this isn’t some crazy creative culinary creation, it’s actually a popular street food dish called Banh Trang Nuong. And on the outskirts of Bangkok, Krua Muang Ve has brought this crazily crunchy Vietnamese delight right onto our doorsteps.
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Modern Thai Isaan - Vietnamese Fusion
All those toppings just loaded onto the pizza
While the Vietnamese Pizza at Krua Muang Ve is something to admire, it’s not the only Vietnamese food they serve, In fact they serve almost every Vietnamese dish you can think of.
Krua Muang Ve is a Vietnamese restaurant with a little bit of a fusion Thai Isaan twist. The Krua Muang Ve restaraunt is modern with white walls and furniture, and I really like the contrasting pink couches that are available for some seats.
I did say that Krua Muang Ve is located on the outskirts of Bangkok, but they actually do have a branch near Suvarnabhumi Airport, near Lat Krabang. So if you are hankering for some Vietnamese food when you arrive in Thailand… There you go.
The location that I went to is around Lat Phrao, which is still quite far away but still closer to the city center compared to the Lat Krabang branch.
Krua Muang Ve Menu
The menu is also very cool in design, not sure if you care about that but I think it’s nice extra detail
As previously mentioned the Krua Muang Ve menu is varied with a bunch of Vietnamese foods and some Thai foods.
On the Vietnamese side you can expect classic Vietnamese dishes like:
Banh Xeo - Vietnamese egg crepes stuffed with minced pork, shrimp, bean sprouts
Bo La Lot - Minced beef wrapped in betel leaf and grilled
Banh Canh - Thick Vietnamese rice noodle soup
Nem Noung - Grilled Vietnamese pork sausage spring rolls
Sadly, much like most of the Vietnamese restaurants in Thailand, there isn’t any trace of Pho, which is really weird, isn’t Pho like THE most popular Vietnamese dish? Thailand doesn’t seem to think so…
On the Thai food side, the Krua Muang Ve menu has only Northern Thai food or Isaan food. So things like Som Tam (Thai green papaya salad), grilled meats like beef or chicken, Larb (Laotian meat salad), curries, and hot soups like Tom Saap (spicy and sour soup).
Pricing
The pricing at Krua Muang Ve is fair with some dishes ranging fro about 120THB - 250THB. The portions are quite large as well, most of these dishes are meant to be shared and a single plate (eg.) of Banh Hoi (woven rice noodles with your choice of meat) can comfortable feed a family of 3.
The price is fairly inexpensive for this type of cuisine in Thailand.
Pak Moh Yuan Rolled Rice Dumplings
A mountain of Vietnamese pork loaf and fried shallots are always welcome
First little dish is the Banh Cuon, known as Pak Moh Yuan in Thai. A filling of minced pork and scallions tucked comfortable in a rice paper roll. I love the additions of sliced Vietnamese pork loaf (Cha Lua) which adds even more meatiness to the already pork loaded Pak Moh Yuan rolls.
And the crunchy fried shallots on sprinkled on top gives the dish a much needed crunchy textural contrast and fragrant aroma.
This dish came with a sweet and sour Vietnamese dipping sauce, which pairs perfectly well to balance the overload of meat.
Nem Nuong Grilled Pork Sausage
It’s like a painter’s palette but for spring rolls
Nem Nuong is a Vietnamese grilled pork sausage or meatball that is a popular Vietnamese dish here in Thailand. When you ask a Thai person what comes to mind when they think of Vietnamese food, Nem Nuong is almost always the answer.
Nem Nuong in Krua Muang Ve (and everywhere else in Thailand) is served as a DIY spring roll platter. You get an assortment of aromatic veggies like Thai eggplant and garlic. You’ll also get vegetables on the side and some rice paper.
The Nem Nuong is chopped up into bite sized pieces for easier sharing and spring roll construction.
Ditch the rice paper to make this slightly more healthy
The platter comes with a sweet and sour chili sauce that you can add directly to your spring roll or use it as a dip.
The fun part of Nem Nuong is that you can be as creative as you want. Are you a meat lover and just want a spring roll with just Nem Nuong? Go for it. Want a lot of crunch and freshness from the veggies? Go on ahead.
I like to eat mine wrapped in lettuce, just because it’s annoying to peel off a sheet of rice paper.
And these guys are addicting, especially with that chili sauce, once you had one you can’t stop, you’ll just keep making roll after roll.
Pork Belly Banh Hoi Woven Rice Vermicelli
This looks plain but trust me, this Banh Hoi will surprise you with a flavor explosion
This next dish is something that I didn’t expect to like. Banh Hoi is a dish consisting of delicately woven rice noodles paired your selection of proteins. I ordered the boiled pork belly.
Honestly this dish looked very plain and dry but I just couldn’t resist the pork belly. In Thai, by giving into the temptations and ordering these types of foods I would be affectionately referred to as “เด็กอ้วน” meaning “fat kid”. It’s not an insult however, just a fun little jab.
Anyways, this Banh Hoi dish exceeded my expectations, you’ll want to eat this with the sweet and sour chili sauce and oh my the flavor was spectacular.
The fatty and meaty pork belly, combined with the satisfying texture of the woven rice noodles is just divine. The sweet and sour chili sauce adds a great acidity to balance the fat from the pork belly.
Fish Kway Chap Banh Canh Noodles
This Banh Canh comes in a bigger bowl, I just portioned it out
The Banh Canh noodles, known in Thai as Kway Chap, are thicker rice noodles boiled in a rich soup. It’s a classic Vietnamese dish that is apparently more popular than Pho here in Thailand.
I ordered the Kway Chap with fish. The noodle soup comes packed with noodles, chunks of flaky white fish, and fried garlic is also sprinkled on top.
This is just my personal preference but I don’t really like Kway Chap, it’s just not as satisfying to me compared to a bowl of Pho, the soup is also slightly sweet which is probably the reason why I don’t like it as much.
But I can appreciate a good bowl of Banh Canh, this bowl is pretty good and for those of you who enjoy it, this Kway Chap will satisfy your cravings.
The fish was also tender and flaky, if you dip that into the chili sauce, even better.
Vietnamese Pizza Banh Trang Nuong
This might be the most beautiful pizza I’ve ever seen, and it’s not even traditional pizza
Alright here we are, the infamous Vietnamese pizza, the Banh Trang Nuong.
Krua Muang Ve doesn’t do traditional Banh Trang Nuong, oh no, here they deep fry a sheet of rice paper to form the crunchiest pizza crust imaginable.
Next another layer of wet rice paper is put on top to support the toppings, the toppings which are: minced pork, Vietnamese pork loaf, scallions, mushrooms, shrimp, and deep fried shallots.
The Vietnamese pizza is served dry but comes with a Vietnamese sweet and sour chili sauce.
Don’t you want a bite? Say “Ahhhh”
Eating this Vietnamese pizza was quite messy though, if you pour the sauce onto your pizza and try picking it up the sauce will just run right out.
Regardless, this pizza was satisfyingly delicious, crunchy, meaty, sweet, salty, all the other -y’s.
I tried folding the pizza like how you would a New York Pizza and that made the bite taste even better. It became sort of like a Vietnamese taco. A very meaty and crunchy taco.
The addition of the deep fried shallots made this pizza very aromatic and even more crunchy.
Grilled Australian Beef
Look at that fat cap, so much fat, and no these are not raw.
Here is something I didn’t expect to see at a Vietnamese restaurant. Krua Muang Ve has Australian beef?
My dad ordered this one, he’s a big steak eater so this excited him. T
he grilled Australian beef was cooked about medium rare and is served on a hot skillet so it was still cooking when it arrived at our table.
It came with a spicy and sour Thai chili sauce, the Australian beef’s flavor was quite nice, it was beefy but with a little funky beef taste like it was left out to thaw for too long.
The texture though, it was very tough and not tender at all.
It was also very oily and fatty. Would I recommend this dish? Nah.
Gai Yang Thai Style Grilled Chicken
These are some skinny chickens
The last thing we had was the Thai style grilled chicken, known as ‘Gai Yang’. This is a very popular dish to eat along with Som Tam and sticky rice, but we just ordered it by itself.
You can tell the chicken was a home grown chicken, there wasn’t much muscle mass. The chicken was very dry, even the dark meat pieces were quite dry, you’ll need the sauce to help add some flavor and moisture.
The actual flavor of the plain chicken is alright, not he best.
Conclusion
Pros
A lot of Vietnamese and Thai Isaan dishes on the menu, covers all types of dishes like soups, salads, noodles, etc… Even fried rice.
The price is reasonable and fair for this type of cuisine in Bangkok.
The Vietnamese dishes were all very tasty and flavorful, I especially love the surprising simplicity of the Banh Hoi.
The Vietnamese pizza is immaculate and is a must try.
Cons
Some grilled meat dishes need some work, the meats are way too dry and tough.
Staff could be more attentive, I went right when the restaurant opened, the staff might still be sleepy.
Overall if you are looking for some great Vietnamese food, I recommend you check out Krua Muang Ve. You won’t be disappointed by the sheer number of items on Krua Muang Ve’s menu, from classic Vietnamese dishes to exotic Thai Isaan dishes. The price is also very reasonable and so are the portions. Each Vietnamese dish was very delicious and tasty making for a very satisfying meal.
The only downside is that the Thai grilled meats could be better, the flavors were alright but the meat themselves were very dry. And the staff could be a little more alert during meal service.
Krua Muang Ve | 8.5 / 10
Phone: 088 815 1234
Location: 656 Prasert-Manukitch Rd, Khwaeng Lat Phrao, Lat Phrao, Bangkok 10230
Opening Hours: 10:30AM - 9:30PM | Mon - Sun
Pricing: 120 THB - 250 THB | $$
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