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Calories · Thai & Vietnamese

Calories in boat noodles

A typical restaurant serving of boat noodles (one full-size bowl of pork boat noodles with meatballs and rice noodles in dark spiced broth, about 700 g) is about 530 calories, usually 380–940.

Restaurant portions vary; this is a typical estimate, not a label. Also called kuay teow reua, guay tiew ruea, Thai boat noodles, boat noodle soup.

~530
Boat noodles

The usual range

Drawn on one 0–2,000 scale shared by every dish page, so plates compare at a glance.

Protein, carbs and fat

  • Protein28 g
  • Carbs69 g
  • Fat15 g

One serving

Serving
one full-size bowl of pork boat noodles with meatballs and rice noodles in dark spiced broth
Weight
~700 g
Per 100 g
~75

The dish

About boat noodles

Boat noodles (kuay teow reua) were first sold from boats on Bangkok’s canals: rice noodles and meatballs in a dark, spiced pork or beef broth, traditionally thickened with blood. In Bangkok they come in small bowls you stack up; a single full-size bowl is about 530. Numbers from Singapore’s Health Promotion Board lab analyses of Thai boat noodles, a 700 g full bowl and a 250 g mini bowl, checked against Mahidol University’s Thai food tables for rice noodles with pork and soup.

Ways it comes

One dish, a few numbers

Boat noodles · rough numbers

  • One mini bowl (250 g)~190
  • Five mini bowls~940
  • Beef boat noodles, full bowl~500

What moves the number

Why one plate is 380 and another 940

  • How many mini bowls you stack up
  • Rice noodles in each bowl
  • Pork crackling on the side
  • Beef versus pork: about the same

Ordering lighter

If you want a lighter plate

  • Stop at three mini bowls
  • Ask for more morning glory (water spinach) and bean sprouts
  • Skip the crackling

Side by side

Next to other Thai & Vietnamese dishes

Thai & Vietnamese · typical restaurant servingAll about Thai & Vietnamese food →

  • Tom yum~160one bowl of clear shrimp tom yum with broth, rice not included · usually 100–350
  • Som tam~210one plate of som tam Thai: pounded green papaya with dried shrimp, peanuts, tomato and palm sugar dressing · usually 60–350
  • Larb~240one plate of larb (about 200 g): minced meat tossed with lime, fish sauce, chilli, herbs and toasted rice powder · usually 180–400
  • Thai milk tea~280one regular cup (400 ml) of Thai milk tea over ice, sweetened with sugar and milk or creamer · usually 150–400
  • Fresh spring rolls~300about three rice-paper rolls with vegetables and meat, dipping sauce not included · usually 200–400
  • Tom kha gai~370one bowl of tom kha gai: chicken, galangal, lemongrass and mushrooms in coconut milk broth · usually 250–550
  • Pho~440one medium bowl with broth · usually 330–650
  • Mango sticky rice~490one plate of sticky rice, sweet coconut sauce and half a mango · usually 380–650
  • Khao pad (Thai fried rice)~500one plate of khao pad: jasmine rice fried with pork, egg, onion and tomato, with lime and cucumber · usually 400–750
  • Boat noodles~530one full-size bowl of pork boat noodles with meatballs and rice noodles in dark spiced broth · usually 380–940
  • Bánh mì~550one mixed-pork bánh mì on an 80 g roll · usually 400–750
  • Moo ping~560three moo ping skewers (about 120 g of pork) with a bag of sticky rice (100 g) · usually 400–750

In PlateDiary

A rough number for the dishes you save — only if you want one.

Off unless you turn them on

Calories in PlateDiary are off unless you turn them on. Switch them on and, when PlateDiary AI reads your photo of the table, each dish gets one rough “~” number. Accept it or change it; a number you correct is remembered for that dish. With Calories off, the app looks exactly as it did before.

A read sends small pictures of the cut-out dishes, with the place's name as a hint — never the table photo, faces or your location. Calorie numbers never go to analytics, and nothing is written to a health app. PlateDiary AI starts with free tries; here is how it works.

How these numbers were made

Method and sources

Questions

Questions people ask.

How many calories are in boat noodles?

A typical restaurant serving of boat noodles (one full-size bowl of pork boat noodles with meatballs and rice noodles in dark spiced broth, about 700 g) is about 530 calories, usually 380–940. The number depends mostly on the portion and how it is cooked.

How many calories in a bowl of boat noodles?

About 530 for a full-size 700 g bowl, and about 190 for a small Bangkok-style bowl.

How many calories in five bowls of boat noodles?

About 940 for five mini bowls of around 250 g each.

Are boat noodles high in calories?

Per bowl, no: about 75 per 100 g, close to pho. It is the stacking that adds up.

What changes the calories in boat noodles?

How many mini bowls you stack up. Rice noodles in each bowl.

How can I order boat noodles lighter?

Stop at three mini bowls. Ask for more morning glory (water spinach) and bean sprouts.

Can PlateDiary show calories for the dishes I eat out?

Yes, if you want it to: calories in PlateDiary are off unless you turn them on. Switch them on and each dish you save from a photo of the table gets one rough “~” number you can accept or change.