Khampoon: Elevated Isan Food with a Seriously Satisfying Kick!

Khampoon is one of those Isan (Northeastern Thai) restaurants I walk past every single time I go to Central Ladprao, but I'd never once had the chance to go in and try it. Today is finally the auspicious day for us to give it a taste! So what does the food taste like, and what's worth checking out? Turn into the restaurant and follow me!

Inside, the restaurant is decorated like a Thai temple fair, which is super chic. There's a Ferris wheel, and there are stalls dressed up like the food stands at a temple fair, or like the balloon-dart and shooting-gallery games. The décor is mostly in brown tones, with wooden furniture throughout, so it feels really warm and cosy. There's even a big tree in the middle of the restaurant that makes it feel like you're truly out in the countryside. After all that build-up, are you getting hungry yet? If you are, let's see what we ordered today. Let's go!

Let's start with the first dish: “Tam Khayong”. It's a lot like a khanom chin rice-noodle salad, but the difference is that it also has pickled mustard greens, shallots and lemongrass in it. That might sound like an odd mix, but! It's so delicious you'll want to keep it a secret. The pla ra (fermented fish sauce) is excellent too, and the heat totally won my heart!

Next up, “Tam Khao Phot” (corn som tam). The corn is sooo good, I'd give it a million stars! They picked perfect corn, not too young and not too old, and boiled it just right, so it's sweet and nicely crunchy. Tossed with all the som tam seasonings, it goes together ridiculously well: sour, sweet and salty in perfect balance. I just couldn't stop eating!

“Tom saep with pork cartilage” (a hot and sour Isan soup) is so good, girl! The cartilage is super tender and still has a nice crunch when you chew it. This restaurant really does use great ingredients, and they're generous with them too. The soup leads with sourness and isn't too spicy. You can also order a healthy version of the tom saep, and it's the same price as the regular one: 180 baht.

Now for the last dish, which is… “Yam Pla Duk Fu” (crispy fluffy catfish salad). This one's just as fiery! The fluffy catfish is fried into a beautiful crispy raft, crunchy just right and not oily either. It comes topped with fried peanuts, though a bit too few, because I love peanuts! But, but, but, I can forgive them, because their dressing is seriously good: beautifully rounded, with just the right sweet and sour. The best on this earth! So, what do you think? If you'd like to try it for yourself, go for it. The restaurant is on the 1st floor of Central Ladprao, right opposite Uniqlo!