Bangluck: Odes to Thai traditions with a Plateau noodle shop

Opening in the Plateau on April 28, 2024 after a soft launch lasting a couple of weeks, the Thai noodle shop Bangluck is the latest from Laotian Montrealer Chitakone Phommavongxay (Chita) and Thai Montrealer Siriluksamee Rangthong (Nim).

Having made a name for themselves through their first venture of the Thai street food spot Thammada, followed by a partnership in Jesse Mulder’s standout Thai restaurant Pichai, their newest spot doesn’t try to flip any scripts.

If anything, it breaks ground by being an homage to tradition: “Originally, Thammada came from the goal of spreading the word about Thai street food, all the iconic dishes—pad thai, pad see ew, curries—but I knew the varieties of Thai food could be explored further,” Nim says.

“There just isn’t that much of what we want to see in Montreal. We knew we could enrich Thai culture here, and that’s why we started Bangluck.”

“So I wanted to dig down into what Thai people eat on a daily basis, and that’s noodles. In order to fulfill my dream of sharing Thai food further, the noodle shop was the best way to do that.”

“Thai food has so much diversity and unique identities to it—spicy, salty, sour, sweet, tangy, often in one meal—and with Bangluck, we could offer something new.”

An old style, a traditional style

“When we were thinking of the name for Bangluck, we wanted something easy to pronounce like a neighbourhood in Thailand, or something tourists know,” Nim explains.

“But there was one neighbourhood known by locals for its congee, BBQ pork, its noodles—there’s so much that in that place alone, we couldn’t try everything in one day—called Bang Rak (located alongside the Chao Phraya River). The ‘r’ could be hard to pronounce… so we went with ‘Bangluck’. It worked, from sounding like it was lucky, and a small connection to Bangkok, too.”

Apart from its slick appearance and brand by Justin Daoust and his team at Nouvelle idée, and not serving late at night to fuel clubgoers the way a spot in Bangkok might, Bangluck captures what noodle shops in Thailand often offer: Reasonably priced bowls of noodles and soup in a casual, minimalist, sunlit wood interior.

Coupled with dishes like siu mai, fried wontons, or a bao bun filled with pork belly braised for a day in Thai palo sauce, Bangluck’s also selling small snacks and desserts on the side—a feature reminiscent of when the noodle shops of Thailand offer something on the side to tide people over while they wait for their order.

Apart from noodles imported from Thailand, nearly every ingredient is made in-house, from fried garlic to chili jams. Using pork lard, crispy pork rinds, and garlic oil to give dishes that hidden umami touch, Chita and Nim stress an uncompromising to their food.

“It makes a huge difference. We’re pretty close to what you’d find in Thailand, we’re about as close as you can get,” Chita says.

“It’s an old style of cooking, but it’s traditional cooking. When people here cook Thai food, a big difference can come from the ingredients and process of it,” Nim adds. “It’s labour-intensive, but just like Thammada, we can’t compromise on that.”

Setting down more roots

With only a belief in and a search for good Thai food, creating a noodle shop was a way of setting down more roots for Chita and Nim.

“We always eat noodle for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We don’t go around eating pad thai, even if that’s what people might expect here,” Chita says. “Opening Bangluck was something that was missing for us, and we wanted to express that.”

“We feel accomplished cooking our food in Montreal, and that we’re doing the right thing. I’m happy because for every person that comes in, we see it’s new to them, and they love it and keep coming back. It’s validating, and inspiring.”

Bangluck is now open at 4509 Rue Chabot.