Pathumthani: Prasert Pochana (ประเสริฐโภชนา)

Dad said he'll be paying for the dinner for my belated birthday last Saturday so he asked me to choose what to eat. The thing about my family's favourite food is that we have eaten a lot of decent restaurants but we only go for small variety. It's either seafood or Peking Duck. My mum has a thing for grilled river prawn so I came up with "Prasert Pochana" in Pathumthani, not far from Bangkok, which is famous for their grilled river prawn.


Grilled river prawn is very famous dish esp. in provinces along Chao Phraya river, particularly in Uthaithani, Ayuthaya and Prathumthani. The best thing you look for in grilled river prawns are the orange creamy in the head of prawns. I know it is turn off for many Westerners but this is the best, it's what everyone wants to eat, sometimes more than the prawn eat itself! It is called "มันกุ้ง" (Mun-Gung) in Thai. I have researched around and it explained that Mun-Gung works as liver for prawn. The taste itself is just creamy, that's why the genius ancestor of mine has come up with what we called "seafood dip" to go with it. The dip is definitely only for brave soul who digs spiciness and sourness since it usually made of chilli, lime juice, fish sauce and a tiny bit of sugar for taste. This green-looking spicy dip goes very well with all seafood stuff so don't be surprised when you order seafood in Thailand and they bring out this dipping for you.


We ordered a kilo of grilled river prawns. I was amazed at the fact that they were able to cut prawn in half very neatly which you can see Mun-Gung nicely. Prawns were not over-grilled so the meat stayed soft and yummy. The way we eat Mun-Gung is mix the creamy bit with rice and splash seafood dipping sauce over it for the kick of heat and sourness. It was yummy.

Stir fried scallop with salty eggs and fish Tom Yum

We also ordered stir fried scallop with salty eggs and fish Tom Yum. Tom Yum was served in clear soup instead of the famous milky soup. I like both styles and, for me, the preference of soup depends on mood of the day; if I was looking for a kick, I would go for clear soup but for a chilled out day, the milky soup will be my choice. For the scallop, it was actually very nice. Salty eggs weren't too salty and it blended very well in the dish.

We also ordered spicy glass nooodle salad and sweet and sour fish. The bill for this meal is only Baht2,000. It is very decent considering a kilo of grilled prawns is already Baht1,200. I would say it is a good choice if you don't want to travel far from Bangkok. But if you are willing to travel far for grilled river prawns, I would recommend "แม่ทองชุบ" (Mae Thong Chub) at วัดตราชู (Wat Tra Chu) in Uthaithani which is about an hour and a half drive from Bangkok up north. They serve big-a** river prawns (2 prawns for a kilo). That's my most fave place for grilled river prawns.

Prasert Pochana (ประเสริฐโภชนา)
Soi Tessabaan 5, Bangkok-Prathumthani Road,
Prathumthani province
Tel. 089-8123933


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