Sae Phun
This Tanao Road shophouse has poured the same thick chicken gravy over rice since 1926, a recipe the family calls lhok nga thin, and the door wears Michelin Bib Gourmand stickers for every year from 2019 to 2025.
Why go
The dish is khao na gai, braised chicken under a glossy soy-and-sesame gravy, and the third generation still builds it to the founding recipe. Daniel Ang's March 2026 verdict names what a century of repetition buys: "The sauce was the winner. It was thick (but not too thick), glossy, a little sweet, with a mild soy, sesame and savoury flavor." The signature runs B70, the prawn-wonton add-ons top out at B150, and the room is old fans and faded walls beside the Tiger God Shrine.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the chicken stew with rice, crowned with an egg if you want the full plate, and a side of prawn wontons in clear soup (B105).
- Avoid: Wednesday, the closing day, and the khao man gai assumption; anyone expecting poached chicken with ginger rice has walked into the wrong century-old chicken shop.
What locals & experts say
- Daniel Ang, DanielFoodDiary (March 2026): the shop has served chicken stew
since 1926
and the gravy arrivesthick (but not too thick), glossy, a little sweet.
1 - Michelin Guide Thailand: Bib Gourmand, evidenced by the 2019-2025 sticker run photographed at the entrance; the guide's own pages 403 on fetch.2
Good to know
- Timing: 8am to 2:30pm, closed Wednesday (Ang, March 2026). Breakfast and early lunch only.
- Booking: walk-in; plates land in minutes.
- Getting there: Tanao Road near the Giant Swing, along from the Old Town dessert stop at K. Panich; the two make a natural pair before a Jay Fai or Thipsamai evening.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "chicken and rice restaurant; bib gourmand"
- The note: Bib Gourmand chicken and rice.
Verdict
could-visit — A one-dish Thai-Chinese shophouse hitting its hundredth year on the same gravy, with a 2019-2025 Bib sticker run on the door and a B70 plate. The lhok nga thin stew is comfort food executed with a century of repetition rather than a revelation, and the room is fans and faded walls. On Tanao Road it slots neatly between K. Panich and the Giant Swing, which is exactly how to use it.