Agree however this restaurant isn’t worth going out of the way for even without a line. It’s totally middle of the road for a common dish served by hundreds of places.
I always get the pad kapow with half crispy pork and their sour pork soup. My wife gets the pad kapow with glass noodle. Their spice levels are accurately described. If you are not tolerant to spice, definitely get one of the lower levels, they aren’t over the top and the dish does need some chili.
Also, feel free to get in touch for more places to go and things to do (lived here for over a decade): firstname.lastname at gmail.
I have lived around the corner from this place for nearly 13yrs. It’s fine, not any better or worse than places serving a similar dish but without the perpetual stew marketing.
The funny thing is, this place
got famous a dew years ago, so you now have to wait in line for hours to have this perfectly normal bowl of $2 soup. I didn’t really mind because even if there was no line I’d probably eat here once every 3yrs when I was hungry and happened to be in front of it.
But this is relatively common in Bangkok and actually one of my favorite places was recently headshotted by fame. They serve pad kapow, which domestically is the most commonly eaten and beloved dish amongst Thais. This place managed to elevate the dish without getting snooty
about it, reasonably priced, fantastic ingredients, consistent quality, great service, hygienic, and just excellent in all regards. It’s a 10min walk and my wife would go there to eat multiple times a week.
Unfortunately a YouTuber made a video about it and now all of the YouTubers who pass through town make a video about it and there’s a 2hr line at all hours. I’m happy they found success, but also obviously annoyed despite the selfish nature of these feelings.
We now order it for delivery every couple months.
Usually the stuff that goes viral doesn’t bother me- the tourists need to eat somewhere, and living here I have much more ability to find good food than they would, so it kind of works for everyone that they end up concentrated in a few places that I don’t miss.
But I do dearly miss the pad kapow at Gapow Tapae (if you’re passing through Bangkok get there 20min before they open and wait in line, it’s worth it).
If The Browser Company folks made that video, their superpower is really marketing and you are actually correct. But I feel like it must have been an agency.