With the intense proliferation of jim joom (Isaan hotpot) and muu krata (DIY pork BBQ) places in recent years, it’s nice to know that one of the older, more basic specialists of this family favorite is still going strong. Raan Deur on Narathiwas, around the corner from Central Rama III, has been in business for more than 10 years and is still heaving with punters and beer pretties every night of the week. It’s not fancy—vendors wander through selling candy and flowers while passing mahouts attempt to hawk over-priced elephant feed, but it’s all about the food here and the Isaan delights are reliably good to excellent. As well as the ever-popular jim joom, Raan Deur offers neua or muu krata and a full range of traditional Isaan fare and basic Thai dishes. The som tam koong sad (papaya salad with fresh prawns, is fresh and crunchy with just the right balance of spicy and sweet. The mouth-watering nam tok neua (spicy beef salad) comes with a generous topping of fresh mint leaves and sliced garlic. The laab ped (spicy duck salad) includes all parts of the duck—not for the offal-shy. The adventurous can try goy neua, a super-spicy take on a raw beef tartare, best washed down with lashings of beer from one of the attentive pretties promoting the beer of the moment. The only dish we didn’t enjoy was house specialty muu labert (“exploded pork”) an ill-conceived soggy, oily minced pork doughnut. Prices at Raan Deur have changed as little as the décor in its 10 plus years of operation. The only thing on the menu that is not between 50 and 90 baht is the whole grilled freshwater fish, which is sold by weight. Service is haphazard and occasionally forgetful but at these prices you won’t mind the wait. No corkage.
