Thread: Jai Fai Bangkok

One for the bucket list...



Jay Fai is a place that both taxi drivers and foodies wax lyrical about and it's easy to see why. Wearing her signature goggles, the local legend that is Jay Fai continues what her father started 70 years ago and makes crab omelettes, crab curries and dry congee.



Jay Fai (Thai: เจ๊ไฝ, also known as Raan Jay Fai, "Jay Fai's shop") is a street-side restaurant in Bangkok and a nickname of its eponymous owner, whose real name is Supinya Junsuta (สุภิญญา จันสุตะ).[a] The restaurant mainly serves wok-cooked seafood dishes, and is highly popular among food enthusiasts despite its high prices. It received one star in the inaugural Bangkok 2018

Jay Fai was born c. 1945 to Chinese immigrant parents, who sold kuaitiao khua kai (chicken noodles) for a living. However, she was not good at cooking, and had to learn from her younger sister, who originally doubted her abilities. Jay Fai did not initially join the family business; instead, she worked as a seamstress for several years, until a fire prompted her to turn to cooking when she was in her thirties.[b] She opened her restaurant in the 1980s and originally served congee and noodle dishes such as kuaitiao khua kai and rat na, building on her mother's recipes. She then gradually expanded her repertoire, experimenting and developing her own recipes and techniques. She also began using seafood, travelling extensively to procure better ingredients and charging accordingly. The restaurant gained a steady stream of followers, and has since become one of the most famous street-side restaurants in the city.

Jay Fai's restaurant occupies a shophouse on Maha Chai Road, in the neighbourhood known as Samran Rat or Pratu Phi in Bangkok's Phra Nakhon District. It is open-air and barely decorated, with green tiled walls and simple tables and stools for seating. Cooking takes place at the side of the shop, where the walls open onto a small alley, using two charcoal braziers. Jay Fai herself works six days a week as the restaurant's sole chef, wearing ski goggles while she cooks (the shop is closed on Sundays).
Jay Fai procures ingredients, especially seafood, directly from several sources, placing an emphasis on quality. This is reflected in her prices, which are much higher than regular street affair. One of her more famous dishes, for example, is a crab-meat omelette which costs upwards of 1,000 baht (over US$30). Other popular dishes include rat na and phat khi mao with seafood.

A serving of phat khi mao at Jay Fai's, showing a large prawn typical at the restaurant


The restaurant has been famous among food enthusiasts for decades. In a 1999 review, Bangkok Post food critic Ung-aang Talay (Bob Halliday) described her as "one of those increasingly rare Mozarts of the noodle pan who can transform very ordinary, lunchtime-at-the-market dishes into masterpieces of local cuisine".[7] Famous customers include Martha Stewart, who called Jay Fai "the best cook in Thailand".

In December 2017, the Michelin Guide released its inaugural 2018 edition for Bangkok, in which the restaurant was awarded one star. It was the only street restaurant to be awarded a star, and joins a handful of others in Hong Kong and Singapore as a result of Michelin's efforts to diversify its coverage, previously limited to fine dining establishments. The award resulted in a surge of customers for Jay Fai, who had never heard of the guide before and had to be persuaded to attend the ceremony.Following the announcement, the restaurant became so busy that it had to implement a reservations system (something she previously refused to do), and one of Jay Fai's daughters had to leave her job in order to help full-time (in addition to another, who already worked at the
restaurant).

Jay Fai, who has never written down a recipe, has said that she does not intend to pass on the business, as she does not wish her children to pick up the hard work since it has earned enough

^ She's heavily featured in episode 1 of the new Netflix show 'Street Food' if anyone's interested.

Originally Posted by Bogon

^ She's heavily featured in episode 1 of the new Netflix show 'Street Food' if anyone's interested.

Watched it tonight, that inspired this thread.

Did you enjoy it?

I found it a bit repetitive, and the Thai bird with the American accent nearly made me put a rope around my neck.

Apart from that, it was OK.

You've got to admire the old girl, conjuring up new recipes at 74 years of age.

crustaceans from the gulf of thailand - you may be safer guzzling ladyboy sperm from butterfluffers arse

Originally Posted by Chittychangchang

Jay Fai is a place that both taxi drivers and foodies wax lyrical about

Taxi drivers?

Bollocks

The only bummer is Jai Fai herself is not a happy chef.

https://www.news.com.au/travel/world...0bfdffd910b402
The Bangkok chef who hates her Michelin star

IT IS the food industry’s top honour. But the head chef at this much-talked about restaurant says winning a coveted Michelin star has been a curse.

It's a hipster joint.

Originally Posted by aging one

the head chef at this much-talked about restaurant says winning a coveted Michelin star has been a curse.

They know how to milk the publicity

Originally Posted by armstrong

It's a hipster joint.

Punter on the right obviously feels it has to be chopsticks, not the spoon and fork he was insultingly offered.

The two Thais behind look like they've been waiting an age.

Four Indians on the left sharing a dish

There's a t budding young Tomcat top left too

Originally Posted by Dillinger

Four Indians on the left sharing a dish

They look more like they're working out how she can take the piss with the prices.

3 drinks between the 4 of them too

Theres some Thai guy on the Bangkok News section of the other channel who has just been arrested for doing runners from a few posh reataurants up there. I checked Not Teakdoor and DJ Pat is in town saying the weather's a bit muggy

Has anyone actually tried Jai Fai? I’ve been past may times and the queue is crazy, like RotiBoy on their first day!

Originally Posted by knowsitlike

Has anyone actually tried Jai Fai?

I've tried the family's Hi Fai and Wi Fai, never heard of Jai Fai

I wonder if Chitty wears goggles in the kitchen?

^

That's actually pretty funny you pair of cvnts

Mozarts of the noodle pan

bangkok, and indeed thailand is blessed with thousands of these very capable street cooks.

the trouble with this jai fai gaff is that the press, and in particular those jumped up twats who run the michelin star organisation have discovered and publicised this place which has now become just another box to tick on the bucket lists of all those camera wielding face book addicted food bores that seem to have taken over the world.

one doesnt need to spend thousands of baht on a good meal in thailand, great food can be had for 100 baht if one knows where to go, thats why i find tomboys (tomcat??) food threads on here such a giggle. all those drinks served out of jam jars, all those funny shaped plates, all those trendy new ingredients and deconstructed traditional recipes, all those up their own arsehole bestubbled and tattooed cooks who call themselves chefs and all those sucker punters with more money than sense. its all bullshit.

peasant food is where its at, and you can find it on many of the streets in bangkok. just look for the big fat sweaty mae khaas working the woks and the queues of people waiting for a rickety table and plastic stool.

Originally Posted by taxexile

bangkok, and indeed thailand is blessed with thousands of these very capable street cooks.

the trouble with this jai fai gaff is that the press, and in particular those jumped up twats who run the michelin star organisation have discovered and publicised this place which has now become just another box to tick on the bucket lists of all those camera wielding face book addicted food bores that seem to have taken over the world.

one doesnt need to spend thousands of baht on a good meal in thailand, great food can be had for 100 baht if one knows where to go, thats why i find tomboys (tomcat??) food threads on here such a giggle. all those drinks served out of jam jars, all those funny shaped plates, all those trendy new ingredients and deconstructed traditional recipes, all those up their own arsehole bestubbled and tattooed cooks who call themselves chefs and all those sucker punters with more money than sense. its all bullshit.

peasant food is where its at, and you can find it on many of the streets in bangkok. just look for the big fat sweaty mae khaas working the woks and the queues of people waiting for a rickety table and plastic stool.

Indeed. The best country in the world for good food at excellent prices, and it's rarely ever much more than a 5-10 minute walk away.

Originally Posted by hallelujah

The best country in the world for good food at excellent prices, and it's rarely ever much more than a 5-10 minute walk away.

Have you never been to Isaan?

Originally Posted by Dillinger

Have you never been to Isaan?

Even better up there! The smell of pu pla ra knocking you for 6 as you move from one gaff next to the next...

Jungle food. And when you do find something edible they use all the shit parts of the chicken and no Maccy D's for 80km