Will noticed a sign that said “Boat noodles” while driving down Garvey one day on his way to a vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant for lunch. Knowing my love of boat noodles, he immediately reported it to me and that’s how we ended up at Tantawan Thai Kitchen one day for dinner.  The place must be newly opened because the sign for the previous restaurant (a pho place) is still up despite the “Grand Opening” Tantawan Thai banner also being up.

While there are no outright vegetarian items on the menu, Will was able to order a modified pad kee mao sans fish/shrimp sauce and meat and add in some fried tofu.  It came out looking good and tasted alright, but it wasn’t anything to write home about. I found the fried tofu a little tough and bland.

I ordered the boat noodle soup and was mildly disappointed. It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t on the same level as Sapp’s.  The broth was lacking a little of that funky taste I like and was a bit on the sweet side.  The special hot sauce they brought out with it didn’t improve it much.  The noodles were a little too clumped up when they came. The bowl of noodles wasn’t even on the same level as Hoy Kha so I’ll probably continue going to the Monterey Park location of Hoy Kha for my spicy boat noodle needs.

I was hoping for a great Thai place that would replace my need to drive over to east Hollywood for good Thai cooking, but maybe that hype led to my disappointment in this place.

Tantawan Thai Kitchen
9000 E Garvey Ave
Unit C & D
Rosemead, CA
(626) 288-1527