The best street food in Bangkok
The sizzle hits my ears at the same time as the aroma reaches my nostrils. In the little stall on the side of the road, tonight’s dinner is being cooked.
Bangkok’s street food is famous – and for good reason. But it can be confronting for a foreigner. All along the sidewalks of the busy neighbourhoods, there are dozens of options and not all look appetising to the untrained eye. To get the inside word, I’ve decided to go to an expert on Bangkok’s street food, Chawadee Nualkhair.
Chawadee is a Thai-American writer who lives in Bangkok and writes a fantastic blog about food called Bangkok Glutton. She’s also just written a book about the best street food in the city. I feel in good hands.
“There seems to be a convergence where street food vendors are getting more ‘restaurant-like’ and work as hard on their dishes as any chef (like Jay Fai, the Western food ‘street stall’ Uncle John,” she tells me.
“And restaurants are going more casual and serving dishes that are considered ‘street food’ (like Soul Food Mahanakorn). So in a way they are influencing each other.”
Eating at Sukhumvit Soi 38
To get a good sense of these ‘gourmet’ street meals, Chawadee has recommended I head to Sukhumvit Soi 38, which is well-known for its cheap and casual food after 8pm. Equipped with a few of her suggestions, I arrive hungry and excited.
One of the biggest fears of foreigners is getting sick from a meal off the pavement. Chawadee’s words ring in my ear.
“You can get sick from a food stall, but also from an upscale restaurant,” she explains.
“You have to be on the lookout for places that have high turnover, good quality ingredients that are refrigerated, and something of a name that they want to protect. That is part of the reason why I focus on very well-known food stalls in my book.”
All the vendors here at Sukhumvit Soi 38 seem to fit that description. There isn’t too much traffic but the little road off the main artery is busy with diners. Most are locals.
I wander up and down a couple of times to scope out the area and get a sense of the street. Everywhere seems clean and some of the stalls are attached to small street restaurants in the shops along one side. There’s a huge selection of cuisine on offer and it’s hard to know exactly where to start. Luckily here, because the vendors know tourists like to pop in, they have some menus printed in English. But that’s not always the case.
“What’s your advice for foreigners who want to try street food but don’t know what to order or how the whole thing works?” I ask Chawadee.
“Just copy everyone else,” she says quite simply.
“That’s the first and main rule to follow. If there’s something that looks good on someone else’s table, just point to it. That makes it easy on everyone involved!”
On this occasion, though, Chawadee has recommended I try the bamee with crab and pork. I ask at a couple of stalls until I find someone who is making it.
Another great thing about street food is that it’s quick. I’ve only been sitting down at the plastic table on the footpath for a couple of minutes when my meal arrives. It’s a large bowl of noodles in a light broth with the meat minced and garnished with some vegetables and a cracker. I take a couple of bites… and it’s delicious! I have not been led astray. Oh, and it cost 50 baht, which is less than two dollars.
Another recommendation of Chawadee’s is try the mango sticky rice. Now, this one I know a bit about! I love it and it’s quite exciting to see how it’s done here on the streets of Bangkok. I walk across the road to the stall which is selling it exclusively. You’d hope they do it well if it’s the only thing they make.
This time it costs me 60 baht (two dollars) for the dish but it is worth every bit. The fruit is so juicy and sweet and the rice complements it perfectly. A great way to finish the meal.
I have one final question for Chawadee – something that had been bothering me. I was really curious to know what all the street food vendors thought of the tourists who, although they could afford to eat in nice restaurants down the road, came to the dingy stalls with the locals.
“Oh, they are thrilled!” Chawadee tells me, reassuringly.
“A lot of Thais think that, because it’s Thai, other people just won’t ‘get it’. So they are pleasantly surprised when foreign tourists like and want to try something that Thais themselves love. I think Thais are just beginning to realize that foreign tourists love Thai street food… something I find incredibly amazing.”
Oh well, I think they’ll work it out soon enough…
* You can read more of Chawadee’s blog Bangkok Glutton and find out about her book here.
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Turtle, like the name suggests, likes to take things slowly. Luckily that's one of the best ways to see the world - and that's exactly what he's doing at the moment.
This is the website of travel writer, Michael Turtle. After working in broadcast journalism for a decade in Australia, Michael left Sydney to travel the world indefinitely and write about the places, people and experiences he discovers. This isn't a diary - these are real stories from the world.
30 Responses
Cool write up, and glad to know about Bangkok Glutton! Def going to check that out…
Jessica recently posted..Tops and Flops of 1000 Days of Travel: Days 901-1000
Yeah – it’s a great site. Definitely check it out for some food envy!
The street food thing looked so unusual to me when I first got here – the idea that one tiny cart can basically hold a whole ‘restaurant’, with the complete kitchen and all the little chairs and tables. And having all the rules and restrictions of my home country regarding commercial kitchen regulations in the back of my head I did wonder: “Is this ‘clean’? Is this ‘safe’?”, but it just smelled and looked too good:). In the past two months we have mainly dined on street food – no meal has ever tasted bad or caused any digestive trouble. Don’t worry – I would totally go into full detail if it were so:) So, anyway, street food is definitely the way to go, and since you see very much what you get and how it is prepared, it’s quite honest and open. One thing I haven’t found out yet is wether every street food cart/seller needs some kind of license or if you can just rock up with your goodies wrapped in banana leaves and sell them (mmm, sticky rice banana…). Hungry now. Cool post:)!
Vera recently posted..2012 in review – the photo edition
I’m so glad you have had no digestive issues. Not because I am overly concerned about your health… but because I completely believe you when you say you would share the details here!
I can’t believe I was so close to all this good food. My hostel was superclose to Sukhumvit 38 and I never knew about it. I’ll be back in Bangkok in a few weeks and will definitely go check it out!
Angela recently posted..New Year’s eve Robinson Crusoe style at Koh Ta Kiev
Let me know when you check it out and if you find any great dishes. I feel there are so many more things for me to try there!
I am also a bit iffy of street food after I suffered a bout of food poisoning once. Slowly coming back into it now but i do like it says in the article. Follow the crowd!
Natalie recently posted..The Man Who Tattooed Himself For Turkey
It can take a little while to get back to the street food if you get sick from it once. It’s happened to me before too. But once you start eating it again, you’ll forget very quickly about that one bad experience!
“Just copy everyone else.” Foodie advice I live by
Lorenzo recently posted..Belize Gets A New Logo! Yay or Nay?
Ha ha… you can’t really go wrong that way, can you?
Great story…I stick to the “look for the long lines” strategy. They usually have the good stuff..
D.J. – The World of Deej recently posted..Disney’s Contemporary Resort – Check-In Florida
That’s a good idea too! If it’s worth queueing for, it’s got to be pretty tasty!
Is that a sticky rice with mango? It looks a good dessert for me too.
It is indeed. The best dessert ever!!
Is it bad that one of the reasons I want to go to Bangkok is to eat that much-famed mango sticky rice plate?
A Montrealer Abroad (@amontrealer) recently posted..Canada Shared By Canadians
Not bad at all. One of the best reasons I’ve heard!
Love, love Thai street food! Even though I’ve just had dinner am salivating just looking at the pictures. So nice to know the locals are thrilled tourists eat from the stalls. I couldn’t imagine it any other way!
Linda @EcoTraveller recently posted..Elephants Exploited for Tourism: From Zoos to Treks
It’s good, isn’t it. I was worried they might think we’re just joking around or being silly. I’m glad the locals realise it’s because we love the food so much!
It seems that the same is true of street food and restaurants – if all the locals are there and it’s packed, follow suit. If no one is there, run, RUN, away!
Jennifer recently posted..Seven Romantic Getaways for Valentine’s Day
I always try to avoid places that are empty. But then I wonder if they’re actually quite good but everyone else is just using the same tactic. As soon as a few people sit down, the place would become packed!
mango with sticky riceeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! huhuhuhu.
apol recently posted..The 2D/3N El Nido Experience
Yum yum yum!!
Well, seeing that there are so many local eating there I’m sure the food is really good.
Zubi Travel recently posted..Caribbean Delights
It’s always a good sign, isn’t it?
It looks really tasty. We had some really good luck with street vendors in Turkey so I think I would be ok with it in Thailand.
The tip to look for refrigeration sounds good. I can imagine that in such a warm climate stuff would go bad pretty quickly without it.
Do they have spicy chicken dishes as well? That is what I know from Thai restaurants in the West. I will definitely try whatever looks good, but that is the type of dish I’ll look for. The main downfall of pointing at another plate for ordering is if you are a picky eater. I don’t like fish or crab, so pointing could be dangerous.
Andrew recently posted..Interesting Stuff on Walls
There’s always a good chance the street stalls will be able to do something with chicken. It’s one of the easiest meats. A lot of places will give you the chilli on the side so you can make it as spicy as you want. I went a bit overboard last night and burnt my mouth – be careful!
Great article! My favorite thing about street food is sitting down with the locals and eating great food all whilst listening to amazing stories.
Peter recently posted..The Holy City of the Vatican {Photo Junket}
If you can understand the language. I clearly need to brush up on my Thai to enjoy those kind of experiences!
Hi,
May i know how to get there?
Thanks.
Hi Wanmei, Sukhumvit Soi 38 is just off Thanon Sukhumvit. You can see the night food stalls from the Thong Lo BTS station. Hope you enjoy it!