[Food Review] Thaise Snackbar Bird - Super Authentic Thai Food with Huge Portions and Inexpensive Prices, Near Nieuwe Markt / the Red Light District
Ever since I was nineteen, I have been visiting Bangkok yearly for vacation. I can't deny that its diverse and delicious cuisine is one of the biggest reasons why. However, one of my complaints about the Bangkok food scene was that price and interior did not always impact the satisfaction I got from the food.
Although I also enjoyed dining at Michelin-starred restaurants such as Nahm, Gaggan, Le Normandie and Paste, my biggest delight always came from small eateries like Polo Fried Chicken near the US embassy or Wat Dong Mun Lek in Chonburi.
Before arriving in Amsterdam, I had heard about a small Thai snack bar near the Red Light District. Apart from a few places in Sham Shui Po or Sheung Wan in Hong Kong, I couldn't recall any other eatery deserving of the "hole-in-the-wall" title more than this place.
Despite the crowd and the line, I managed to easily find a seat at the wall-side sitting bar since I was alone. The menu boasted more than 80 dishes, and while I looked around at what other people were eating, most of them had huge curry bowls with rice, so I followed suit.
During peak hour dinner time, they even took delivery orders, yet they managed to serve all my orders in a super speedy manner. I was pretty impressed with the portion size as it was quite huge - I wished I had a container to take back home. They did sell them for 50 cents each, and just by looking at the food, I could tell it was fresh and decent.
When you order a curry, they serve a bowl of white rice for free, but you can add 4.5 euros for Thai fried rice. The Khao Pad was roughly fried but decently prepared. The texture was alright, slightly wet, but not too much so. It had a decent wok-hei flavor, and the fried long-grain white rice was mostly fluffy, but some were a little bit scorched, much like you would expect in paella.
I ordered a huge bowl of Red curry with tofu for 12.5 euros. Everyone had the same-sized bowl, and I could tell that all the ingredients were very fresh. The Thai spices were present in the correct amounts, and with just one spoonful, I could taste all the superb and complex flavors of Thai cuisine - sweet, sour, salty, and spicy. They didn't skimp on the vegetables, spices, and coconut milk, so the flavor was rich. They didn't fry the tofu for the curry, so the tofu maintained its soft texture and mild flavor, but with the plain tofu, it was more than flavorful.
Despite being quite hungry, I didn't know I had the superpower to finish the entire bowl and the rice. It was undeniably good and reminded me of Bangkok's food scene - small, humble, but more than decent.
Even as closing time approached, people kept coming - to sit down, take out, and get deliveries.
The food was more than impressive, and I would definitely go back for more. Interestingly, there is another Thai restaurant named Bird right in front of the snack bar, although they are not related.
Since my first visit was quite impressive, I decided to visit again. I made a strategic choice to visit at 3 PM on the weekend and was lucky enough to find a table, although it was still busy as usual.
For my second visit, I ordered the beef Massaman curry, a relatively mild version of Thai curry that uses coconut milk. As you can see from the picture, the ingredients were still fresh and abundant, demonstrating the real Thai flavor. While Bird's prices are not cheap, the portions are always quite huge,
My friend ordered Kai Pad Krapau, which is spicy minced chicken with basil leaves and chili peppers, and it was just as good as the Massaman curry.
We paid extra to replace one of the rice dishes with fried rice, and this time it was even better than the last time. However, as I mentioned before, the portions are really huge, so if you go there with someone else, you should consider sharing one fried rice dish as it is unlikely that you will be able to finish all of the food.
After this experience, I mostly went to Bird to order takeout. They have a daily special 12.5 Euro menu that is available for takeout, even on weekends. For Saturdays, they offer beef red curry, and for Sundays, they serve chicken green curry.
Thaise Snackbar Bird
Zeedijk 77, 1012 AS Amsterdam
+31 020 420 6289
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