COCONUTS HOT SPOT — If you have Thai friends that are interested in classic foods, chances are they’ve already brought you to Mont Nomsod, a shop that’s regularly called the most famous Thai dessert shop in the city. The name has long been synonymous with mouthwatering images of jam toast, steamed breads and warm custards; late-night snacks perched alluringly beside soothing cups of milk.
If you are a downtowner, a stroll into MBK Mall will almost always end in front of one of Mont Nomsod’s three Bangkok branches. They also have one shop in Chiang Mai. Accessible they are, but accessibility is not the story here. Getting the mood right is a huge part of experiencing Mont Nomsod in the best possible way — the classic Thai dessert spot is modest, rustic, and filled with local joys and specialties.
On the other side of town, there are more temples than malls, ancient pagodas outnumber Starbucks franchises and classic buildings are older than you can imagine. It’s here, in Phranakorn District, where the more than 50-year-old original Mont Nomsod shop still sits. It is located on Dinsor Road near Bangkok City Hall.
During after-work hours, the place is almost always overflowing with fans that travel for miles to be comforted by the toasts and teas of their childhood. Weekends are even worse if you hope to score an empty table for a large party.
Don’t be alarmed by the crowds. The queue moves along quickly as everyone here has the same goal — to pig out on sweets and get the heck out. It’s not a place to see-and-be-seen or camp out all day on your laptop like you do in the chic cafes on Sukhumvit.
The service is usually quick, and so should be your snacking time. Here’s how the pros do it: one person goes hunting for a parking spot, dropping everyone else at the shop to queue up. Once in, one person goes hunting for a table while the others queue for food. By the time the food arrives, everyone reunites at the table for a quick eat.
Toast with butter and pandan custard
Toast with butter and corn
What to order? Well, the menu is simple. On the bread side, you can choose between toasted or steamed bread, or both. For toast, you must also choose one topping for each slice (THB20). The options are: butter and sugar, butter and condensed milk, butter and marmalade, butter and pandan custard, butter and egg custard, butter and corn, butter and strawberry jam, and last but not least, butter and taro custard (only available on Mondays at MBK branch). The most classic ones are the first five combinations, but the one I find most interesting is the butter-corn topping. Prior to my ‘research’ for this story, I would never have imagined putting these ingredients together — sweet toast and corn soup? No way!
Toast with egg custard
If you choose steamed bread, I’d say the options are pretty obvious and nothing too unconventional, just Mont Nomsod’s very high-quality pandan custard and egg custard to choose from (THB55 per set).
But Mont Nomsod wouldn’t be Mont Nomsod without Mont’s “Nomsod,” would it? Nomsod, meaning fresh milk, is the store’s namesake product and, quite obviously, its star item.
If you’re drinking it in the shop, the milk comes warm or iced in a paper cup. If you want to take it away, you can get small or large bottles to drink at home. The regular milk has three level of sweetness: unsweetened has a green lid, lightly sweetened has a white lid and sweet features a red lid (small bottle THB35, large bottle THB50). I advise that you dive right in and try the sweetened without ice first. That way, you taste the pure Mont Nomsod product. The richness. The milkiness. The sugar rush. Oh my.
Other fancy flavored milks at the shop include: butterfly pea milk (small bottle THB45, large bottle THB80), sala (red syrup) milk, and chocolate milk (small bottle THB40, large bottle THB70). Other milky drinks include milk coffee, milk Ovaltine, milk tea, and milk green tea. All of these drinks hit a home-run based on the incredibly high-quality of the milk that made the shop famous.
Butterfly pea milk
Everything on Mont Nomsod’s menu is a time-proven classic. Younger customers have been introduced to the place by their parents and grandparents who, in turn, were introduced by older classmates or work colleagues. The most sight at Mont Nomsod is people leaving the shop with huge takeaway bags to bring treats back to their friends, family or office mates.
FIND IT:
Hours: 12pm – 11pm
Dinsor Road, Saochingcha
Tel. 02-224-1147
Mont Nomsod MBK
Hours: 11:30am – 9pm
Tel. 02-611-4898
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