Eating the street in Bangkok

Wow, what an amazing few days!  3 days in Bangkok on the way to Sydney. Why haven’t I done this before? Not only did I get to fill my belly with all manner of delicious things, I also got to stay here for next to nothing:

Definitely made the right call choosing the hotel over the hostel. Who needs to meet new people when you wake up to this every morning? And best of all, no jetlag – doing it in stages is definitely the way forward.

So what did I eat?

There were lots of locals queueing up at this place, so I took my chances and it was one of the best meals I had. Actually I didn’t order that well – these clams were horrible, more like offal than seafood and very tough:

But this amazing crab dish more than made up for it:

And I was lucky enough to be seated with a Thai family who were very friendly and open and we all shared our food. They knew all the specialties, the best of which were the crab fried rice and crab spring rolls. I wasn’t so keen on the fish maw soup though, which they all raved about.

I felt like such an over privileged westerner when it came time to pay. My two dishes cost more than their entire meal (for 6) and they were horrified when I left 100 baht as a tip, but it’s about two quid! 

On Sunday I spent the day at Chatuchak market and bought myself a whole new wardrobe for about £100. I also ate 3 lunches:

This green papaya salad was fresh, tangy and crunchy, but super spicy. My tolerance is not what it once was, so I struggled to eat the whole thing. I also found it a bit too sweet and heavy on the raw garlic - I was belching it up for the rest of the day, not pleasant.

I was pretty excited about my first ever tom kha in Thailand and it didn't disappoint. A perfectly balanced example of the flavour combination that Thai food is famous for: sweet, sour, salty and spicy.

This pork and basil stir fry was simple and delicious, with a slightly sweet soy based sauce, it provided some light relief from the spicy soup.

About half an hour after consuming the last two dishes, I stumbled across a place recommended in the Lonely Planet and couldn't resist trying the larb moo, one of my favourite Thai dishes to make.

I don’t tend to trust Lonely Planet food recommendations, they are generally a bit out of date and, more importantly, written by people who care more about their budget than their belly. However, the latest edition of the Bangkok pocket guide is written by Austin Bush, a photographer and writer who often focuses on food, as well as travel. I felt safe in his hands. He led me to what I think may be the best noodles I have ever eaten:

These pictures do the dish no justice at all, but basically it was wide flat rice noodles, quickly stir fried at a very high temperature with soy sauce, garlic, chicken, shallot and egg, until the egg was just set.

I was intrigued by this dish that I saw a lot of locals ordering. I thought it was going to be deep fried chicken bits:

It turned out to be deep fried chicken skin. Holy mother of deities, Buddhist or otherwise - what a pleasant surprise! How do Thai people stay so goddamn slim?

Chicken seems to be very popular in Bangkok – around every corner there is someone chopping it, carving it, deep-frying it... putting it on sticks:

This was as delicious as it looks, lacquered in a sweet and salty soy-based marinade. It was never going to be as good as deep frying it and coating it in buffalo sauce, but then what is? It served me well for an afternoon snack.

I was less impressed with Bush’s suggestion for a great breakfast location. After 3 days, curry for breakfast was rapidly losing its appeal:

Later the same day, I got drenched in a downpour just as I was planning to head up a hill to look at yet another temple. I decided to sit it out at this little curb side soup stall and have a bowl of tom yum moo:

It was pretty good – light and refreshing – but I wished I’d ordered the duck after I saw my neighbour’s bowl.  

Having never been to Thailand before I was very excited before the trip about all the things I was going to eat and many delicious things did pass my lips, but I must admit that after 3 days I’d had enough. There’s only so many sweet, sour, salty and spicy things I want to eat in a day and when you have to have it for breakfast too, it becomes a little much.

Should I admit this here? Will I live to regret it? Well, it’s the truth, innit. What do I want for breakfast? I’ll have the full English please.

Comments

[Ma]

Even though you told me all about this once you arrived in Sydney it was great to read the details , and see the photos. Interesting that one can tire of the Thai flavours after eating it all day every day .I think the same is true of other cultures - eg Spain and italy . In Spain , after a week of tapas you get bored. In Italy - pasta and risotto . Of course we are talking about dining out here, about menus. We really are so lucky to have the whole range of culinary traditions in our modern Australian and Modern English diets.Sydney and London are such wonderful cities to dine out in for this reason.

[Vix]

Hi Ma, yes we are so lucky. Things like this make me realise that I would really struggle to live anywhere but a big cosmopolitan city. Being able to access all sorts of different foods and cuisines is really important for me. Variety is the spice of life and all that. That said, when I lived in Spain for 3 months I did get bored but not nearly as quickly. I wonder why? Perhaps it is because the flavours are closer to the everyday ones I am used to. Or perhaps it is because Thai flavours are so much more intense - I usually crave it about once/month, but once I have had my fill I am done for a while...

[Charlie]

I love that you shared meal with the family sitting next to you...although I am not in the least bit surprised!
And I agree with Ma - we are so lucky to have every different cuisine so readily available!