These handmade fresh and soft noodles are cooked in various styles, from traditional to fusion. So whether you prefer your noodles with seafood or with pork in clear soup or simply stir-fried, you can be sure you'll find your favourites at the Siang Ping Loh Chinese restaurant.

"Lai stands for the action of making these noodles and min is Cantonese for noodles," explains chef Kamchai.

"These noodles are different from others because we make them in front of the customer and in single portions. That guarantees they are very fresh and soft."

The 43-year-old chef says he acquired the know-how for making the Cantonese noodles from a senior chef he met while working at the Dusit Thani in Bangkok. The senior chef, in turn, had learned the recipe - and the trick - from a Chinese chef who came to work at the Ambassador Bangkok.

"Traditionally, lai min are always used for stir-fries but I wanted to add more variety. I've created a range of new dishes so that diners can enjoy different flavours for diners," he says.

You can try the noodles with mixed seafood in soup, covered with XO sauce or spiced up in phad khi mao. Prices start at Bt200.

Grand China Princess Hotel only offers its lai min menus during April mainly, says the chef, because the hotel wants to attract children during their long vacation. This is particularly true at weekends, when youngsters accompany their parents to watch the chef's busy hands working on the wheat and egg strands.

The restaurant is located on the eighth floor. Lunch is served from 11am to 2.30pm and dinner between 6 and 10.30pm.

For more information and reservations, call (02) 224 9977 extension 338 or 303.

Juthamas Cholthavornpong

The Nation