Restaurants and food stalls in Bangkok

[Julian Teoh]

I have been in Bangkok now for 24 hours after 23 hours in Seoul. Was lucky enough to get into the city and have a few bites there though nothing worth mentioning here.

After a day of eating well off of street stalls, I plan on heading to Chote Chitr and using the map for that area mentioned in a similar post. Other places on my list at Dalat Aw Taw Kaw and Taling Pling, which just happens to be about a block away from our current hotel. Am traveling for the next year so my food budget is pretty small and will be in Bangkok for another few days. Anything else I should add to the list not already mentioned in this thread?

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Eternal,

Across the road from Chote Chitr, there is a sensational mango sticky rice place called Kao Neeo Korpanich. I don't think it was mentioned in this thread, though I found it elsewhere on eGullet. Link below, with useful information and visuals to help locate the shop, especially if, like me, you can't read Thai:

http://importfood.com/thai_vendors/saochin..._korpanich.html

Simply amazing stuff. The link says they are only open from June to December, though they were definitely open in May last year, so you may still get lucky!

Edited January 9, 2009 by Julian Teoh (log)

[Stupid_American]

The Importfood.com Saochingcha guide is full of great eateries. The ones we have tried have all been exceptional.

My personal recs, all over Bangkok, are here: Cheap Eats

At Aw Taw Kaw, be sure to try the ba mee this lady's stall:

Edited January 9, 2009 by Stupid_American (log)

[eternal]

I read this too late. I did go to Chote Chitr and was very good. I think the lady is pretty familiar and gives everybody pretty much the same thing. She is nice though and the food was good, though I could do without the crispy noodles.

Out of Bangkok now and heading north. Will probably be back in Bangkok in a few weeks and will try some other places mentioned.

[MaLO]

I will be heading to Bangkok in a couple of months and was wondering if anyone can add anything more recent.

At the moment I am considering Bo.Lan, Gaggan, D'sens / Le Normandie and lots of street food.

The newish chef (Christian Ham) at d'sens seems to have had an interesting career so I will probably go there.

On a past visit I ate some good Chinese food in Jade Garden at the Montien and lunched at Sala Rim Naam and other pot luck places but it was about eight years ago.

I am keeping an eye on the Bangkok Post and some hotel websites for wine dinners or visiting chef events but any advice is welcome.

[et alors]

I'm in the same boat-- looking for more recent advice. I think Thai food is the most delicious cuisine, yet it doesn't seem to be taken as serious as Japanese or French. Nothing I had at joel roblechon (east or west) could hold a candle to the sheer yumminess of a sausage I had a cart outside my hotel. But I do like sitting down to eat, so hoping to find the quality plus the care in Bangkok.

My advice from two years ago is try the night market's beer garden. Freshest seafood, giant German and Belgian beers, and flavors galore. As well, this looks useful... anyone have experience using it as a guide? http://www.cnngo.com/bangkok-city-essentials

Great Pad Thai outside of a Wat (literally the best I've ever had)

Beer garden

Seafood rice noodles OF THE GODS!

And I loved the Blue Elephant cooking class-- the morning gives you a tour of the market

[et alors]

I have just discovered my go-to night market Suan Lum, is closed. Do you which of the others is best for foodies? Suan Lum was my favorite dinner.

I've found this advice, but it's more shopping than food oriented.

http://susan-cunningham.suite101.com/3-bangkok-night-markets-a124209

and this

http://www.bangkok.com/shopping-shopping-after-dark.htm

[MaLO]

Just spotted this. I am not in Bangkok on the dates. Just a bit gutted.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/food/features/289585/three-michelin-star-chef-in-town

This is another place I am considering.

http://www.chakrabongsedining.com

Edited April 22, 2012 by MaLO (log)

[MaLO]

Just returned home from nine nights in Bangkok. Here is what we did.

Day one. Found by chance a couple of outdoor covered food markets on Soi Sala Daeng opposite a busy Italian restaurant called Zanotti. The food halls were packed full of lunching office workers and others so we thought we should give it a go. Some vendors cook to order and some have pre cooked curries and soups. We took our choice and ended up with three curries (Chicken, Vegetable and Fish) over rice for about 35 baht. It was good, not particularly spicy, but very tasty none the less. We also sampled a Squid Pad Thai, Roast Pork and Roast Duck on rice and Shrimp Mired in Egg. It was all quick, tasty and cheap. We ate here a couple of times.

After spending much of the afternoon dozing we ventured out for more pot luck street food near Chong Nonsi Sky train. We ate some Grilled Sausages, a Som Tam and a few Stir Fried Pork, Shrimp and Chicken Dishes.

There is a quite useful shopping centre called Viva City nearby that has a very good small supermarket (villa market) and bars and restaurants for stocking up on water and booze and the like. We stopped for drinks at wine fusion on a couple of evenings.

On day two we returned to the covered food hall for lunch after some shopping and picked up some chicken wings near the sky train.

After the early evening storm passed we decided to eat at Lek Seafood, again near Chong Nonsi. We ate here a few times as it was very good and close to our hotel and the sky train.

Over our visits here we ate Spicy Stir Fried Seafood, Soft Shell Crab with Chilli and Garlic, Grilled River Prawns, Ostrich Hot Plate, Seafood Hot Plate, Poached Sea bass, Fried Whole Fish, Stir Fried Morning Glory, Broccoli with Scallops, Kale with Crisp Pork and more. It was very busy and the food was excellent. You can sit inside or outside, inside is cooled by fans and free of insects so if you go there bear this in mind. Our bills were generally in the region of 600-1000 baht with masses of food, beer, water and soft drinks.

Next day we stumbled upon Dean & Deluca, again under Chong Nonsi. They have Californian wine, western food, good coffee, excellent air con and free wi-fi. It became a daily visit for morning coffee and a late evening wine. We did not eat here although all the food looked nice if you wanted that kind of thing. They also stock Estrella Dam Inedit. The prices are reasonable too. Again we lunched at a street cafe.

For dinner we decided that a bit of comfort was required so we decided on Baan Kanitha. We ordered from the menu rather than the set options. We got a pre meal snack of Pandan Leaves with Chilli, Nuts, Dried Shrimp, Ginger and a dressing tasting of Shrimp paste.

We shared the mixed appetiser platter of Grilled Chicken, Fish and Shrimp Cakes and Spring Rolls. This was mostly good if a little boring.

For mains we picked Cotton Fish Steamed in Banana Leaf with Thai Herbs, River Prawns in Green Curry and a Thai Omelette with Sour Sausage. The cotton fish was ok in a delicate way but the rest was bland, very bland in fact.

They may have cooked for us in a style suited to the many western guests but no one asked how we wanted the food and it was not worth the effort or cost. Far better Thai food can be had in the UK. We make better ourselves at home.

Day four saw us head to the Siam Centre to have a look at the orchid festival. The Kempinski Hotel is close to here so we went to have a look at Sra Bua to make a reservation for another day. In the basement of the Siam Paragon Centre are dozens of food outlets, everything from Subway to Sushi and a large supermarket too. We ate a quick lunch in the supermarkets food area of Chicken Curry and Steamed Barracuda with Ginger and Onions. We found a place in the food hall doing liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream so we stopped for some.

We had planned to eat lunch at Bo.lan but after getting all the way there it turns out they don’t open for lunch so we headed back to Siam Paragon. It does say on the Bo.lan website about not being open for lunch or on Mondays but you do have to dig a bit to find this out.

In the evening we went to the Banyan Tree’s Moon Bar but it was shut due to the earlier storm. The good news is that they have another bar (latitude) on the 52^nd floor which was open. It is open-sided but has a roof and the views and drinks are pretty decent. Expect to pay 350 baht for a cocktail. Well worth a visit, and we did get to the moon bar another time. We went back to Lek Seafood for dinner.

Friday lunch was at D’sens at the Dusit Thani. The set lunch is 950 baht + 10% service and 7% tax. This is standard in most sit down places. We took a couple of glasses of Chandon sparkling wine from Australia and ordered our food.

For Amuse we were served White Asparagus Custard topped with Green Asparagus Foam. It was very tasty. There was also fresh bread, baguette, walnut and a tomato focaccia.

Starters were Fried Oysters with Chlorophyll.

And Turnip and Shrimp Ravioli. Both were good.

The Ravioli was in fact a salad of vegetables with sliced Turnip acting as the Pasta. Quite a fresh plateful but even allowing for French / Thai / English translation it had nothing to do with ravioli.

For mains we took one Angus Beef Fillet. The Beef came garnished with purees of Carrot with a hint of Ginger and Beetroot and some of each vegetable fried crisp. Not bad at all

And one Sole with Asparagus. The Sole was also good.

It was all good up to here.

The cheese option was pre plated and offered no choice. They do have a cheese trolley but not at lunch time. We shared some ok Goats Cheese, some terrible Herbed “Brie” and another I can’t recall.

This was better that the Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tart. It was a shocker. It looked like an accident and didn’t taste much better. The worst dessert I have eaten in a serious restaurant.

The savoury food was cooked well. Wines by the glass prices are not too bad either.

More Lek Seafood followed for dinner.

On Saturday we went to the river and after a bit of this and that we headed to the Oriental to see what was on offer there. We decided on Dim Sum at the China House. 888 baht buys you all you can eat Dim Sum, a Soup and a Fried Rice / Noodle Main and choice of dessert. We probably tried about 15 baskets of Dim Sum and with the exception of the turnip cake all were delicious. We ordered one Hot Shredded Chicken Soup and one Crab, Spinach and Bamboo. A Fried Rice with Shrimp and Pork and Noodles with Seafood for mains. We took the fruit option for dessert. It was excellent.

After a well deserved snooze we headed out to see the evening chaos, stopping for a late bite at Lek as we left the sky train.

On Sunday we decided after Coffee at Dean & Deluca to head to King Power for a nose at the duty free and the guaranteed coolness of an air conditioned mall. Besides the air con it was not worth the effort. Shopping at Siam Paragon was better, less expensive and you can still claim back tax.

We got off the sky train at Silom and wandered through Lumpini Park with the idea of Gaggan for lunch. On the way we passed an interesting looking place called Khruanaibaan Home Kitchen. Gaggan was open but was charging 500 baht per person more than the online menu price and our previous experience in the more expensive restaurant made me uneasy, so we didn’t bother and went back to Khruanaibaan Home Kitchen and feasted on Clay Pot Soup, Jungle Curry, Laab with Duck, Pad Thai and possibly more.

With Beer and Wine it cost less than 1000 baht. The cooking was very good, very spicy and fresh.

They have many tanks of live seafood too. Well worth a visit.

In the evening we ventured into Chinatown. The Tuk-Tuk driver insisted Chinatown was closed or awful and we should go elsewhere, as luck would have it he knew just the place. He was quite insistent until I told him we were meeting Friends, a lie, but it shut him up and we got to Chinatown. Chinatown was certainly not closed.

We walked about for a while trying to work up an appetite and seeing what looked good. We settled on a Satay stall then found a stall with good looking whole fish so that’s what we ate.

The fish came fried with tamarind sauce and cost 280 baht and was really very good.

On Monday we went out for a bit of sightseeing. Shared half a tandoori chicken for lunch then spent the afternoon dozing by the pool.

For dinner we went to Sra Bua. It was a tossup between here, Bo.lan and Nahm. We could have gone to all of these places but I couldn’t see the point of sitting through too many formal dinners and Bo.lan was very closed for lunch but I couldn’t be bothered going back. On reflection I would have traded either D’sens or Baan Kanitha for Nahm and Bo.lan but that’s the way it goes.

Sra Bua was very good. They have a set menu at 2400 baht; a wine pairing that didn’t seem like good value or a cocktail pairing. They also have the usual drinks available. We took the cocktails.

The food was broken into Nibbles, Street Cooking, Starters, Mains and Desserts and was about ten or so courses all together.

We started off with a chilled Lemongrass tea then we ate.

Then the nibblings – Soy Roasted Cashew Meringue, Kaffir Lime Lotus Root, Prawn Cracker with Chilli Tomato Dip.

Street Cooking – Tuna Tartar with Lemongrass, Miang Som-o, Crispy pork Crackling with Nam Prik Num, Prawn Bread with Sesame, Smoked Chicken Sausage with Pickled Cabbage.

Starter – Tom Yum Soup with Jellies of Shellfish, Galangal and Spicy.

Starter – Deep fried Soft shell Crab, Green Mango and Soft Nam Jim.

Starter – One of each:

Gang Dang Frozen Red Curry with Lobster and Lychee.

Seared Foie Gras with Tamarind Pear Chutney.

Mains – One of each:

Quail in Coconut Milk with Chantarell and Crisp Skin.

Veal Shank with Grilled Cabbage and Emulsified Soy Sauce.

Desserts: Mangosteen Sorbet with Fresh Mangosteen.

Mango with Sticky Rice.

Banana Cake with Salted Ice Cream And Caramelised Milk.

Mignardises.

[Shelby]

WOW! That was some serious food and I loved every minute of your write-up. Thank you for taking time to show us!

[Nasi_Campur]

I'm going to be in Bangkok for one night at the end of October. Where should I eat? Is the A&W still open?

Quite the adventurer!

Reminds me of a old Black Flag tune. http://www.mp3lyrics.org/b/black-flag/tv-party/

[LynnFoodies]

I went to Bangkok for holiday and stayed at the Khaosan Road.

There are many food stalls around the area and I remember eating some kind of fried noodle.

The taste was a bit spicy, but delicious too.

Anyone knows what it's called?

[carl_spencer]

I am right now in Bangkok, loved the review up there! Here are a couple of restaurants that I have frequented:

Riverside Terrace: In the Anantara Riverside Resort & Spa. Try out there Asian delights, Carvery corner and BBQ

Indian Host: On Sukhumvit 22. Chicken malai kabab, Mutton kabuli raan and Mutton authority are some of the best dishes I have had there.

Blue Elephant: On Sathorn road. Was most impressed with their Crab curry with beetle leaves, Yum Ma Kuer Doi Kham and Plah Koong Avocado

Enoteca: On Sukhumvit 27. Best known for Tortelloni filled with Pigeon Gravy on Roasted Pigeon Breast and Veal Cheek Braised in Red Wine

Gianni: On Ploenchit road. Try their Wagyu Beef Silver Blade.

Hope this helps!

[KennethT]

Topping up... Are there any BKK locals (or those who frequent it) on this board? I've read a lot about Jay Fai - all over the internet, and also in Chawadee Nualkhair's book - she consistently raves about the place both on her blog and in interviews she has done. Is this place as good as all this hype (and expense - it's supposedly one of the most expensive shophouse restaurants)? I'd love to get some other people's perspectives. She also seems to wax on and on about Isaan food... is Isaan food that popular in BKK or is it just her penchant for it? Are there any recommendations of other standout places? Not looking for trendy or modern restaurants - we're booked for Nahm for one night based on many recommendations, and will be stopping by Supanniga as well so I feel like we have that covered... Looking for advice for good curry, grilled items, stew, and of course noodles! (not all at once... we'll be there for about a week and have no problems travelling to different neighborhoods for a worthwhile cause!)

Thank you!

[NickLam]

Hi Kenneth,

I'm based in Thailand. This may come too late, but I've had J'Fai and don't really know what the fuss was about. The famous Pad Ki Mao (Basil and noodles stir fry) was nothing fantastic and didn't have much of the 'wok taste'. The river prawns that came with it were overcooked. The table next to me ordered the famous crab omelette and though the crab was generous in portion, its way too expensive to justify eating it. If I wanted to eat crab, just go to a seafood restaurant and order steamed crab. The sweetness of Thai crabs is better enjoyed neat, unadulterated by a browned omelette in lard.

If you are not on your way to Thailand yet, I have a few (Some may be hard to find) recommendations for you.

Nahm is great, so is Supanniga. Two very different dining experiences and if you were to ask me to choose, I'd take Suppaniga every time. This is not to take anything away from Nahm, but the price is just too steep to eat even once or twice a year. In contrast to Suppaniga, I've already been there twice this month and I actually enjoyed the food there a lot more. Note that I ate at Nahm for free, so the price didn't bother me!

[KennethT]

hi Nick - thanks for the reply... we actually returned back home about a week ago. We enjoyed jay fai - we got the pad kee mao talay as well as the lard na talay. Our pad kee mao had tons of wok taste - you could even see char all over. The lard na (a suggestion of a bkk resident foodie on another board) was excellent as well - both had an abundance of high quality seafood, and all of the prawns we had were properly cooked.

One place that was one of the highlights was a seafood restaurant about an hour outside of BKK towards hua hin called Lomtalay. http://www.lomtalay.com/eng/html/home.html is a link to their English page...

I agree about the crabs - I don't know your thoughts on this, but we were able to get a late notice reservation at Jok Kitchen - and his crabs, simply steamed, were incredible, although pretty pricey - but I don't know how they compare to similar quality crabs elsewhere.

[Cragganmore17]

hi Nick - thanks for the reply... we actually returned back home about a week ago. We enjoyed jay fai - we got the pad kee mao talay as well as the lard na talay. Our pad kee mao had tons of wok taste - you could even see char all over. The lard na (a suggestion of a bkk resident foodie on another board) was excellent as well - both had an abundance of high quality seafood, and all of the prawns we had were properly cooked.

One place that was one of the highlights was a seafood restaurant about an hour outside of BKK towards hua hin called Lomtalay. http://www.lomtalay.com/eng/html/home.html is a link to their English page...

I agree about the crabs - I don't know your thoughts on this, but we were able to get a late notice reservation at Jok Kitchen - and his crabs, simply steamed, were incredible, although pretty pricey - but I don't know how they compare to similar quality crabs elsewhere.

I'll be spending a week in Bangkok in October. Planning to eat most of my meals on the street. Do you have any recommendations for specific stalls and must-try dishes?

Trying to decide between the seemingly endless options is proving to be a daunting task. Any help whittling down my list is appreciated.

[KennethT]

Daunting indeed... I know the feeling... we enjoyed one evening in Banglamphu doing a "pad thai showdown" of sorts... we first went to Thip Samai - the pad thai institution, and then went practically next door to Leung Pha pad thai and got the same thing for a comparison... if you do so, I would recommend getting all versions including what they call "shrimp fat" or "shrimp head fat" - it definitely adds a new dimension to the dish, and I can't imagine why no one is doing it here in NY!<br /><br />We did enjoy Jay Fai (also in Banglamphu - actually just a few doors down from Thip Samai) although it is pricey by shophouse food standards. By most western standards, it is still a great deal.<br /><br />I think a good investment would be to try to purchase Chawadee Nualkhair's book, which is her top 50 BKK street food places... it was expensive on the internet, but I just bought it from her directly by contacting her through her blog bangkokglutton.com (it's a good blog anyway). She ships internationally and is not expensive. You can also pick it up in a lot of bookshops in BKK, but I wanted it before I got there so I could hit the ground running.<br /><br />I know you're planning to eat most meals on the street, but I would stress that we enjoyed Nahm and would recommend it. The complexity of flavors is mind boggling... We got the set menu, which is expensive by BKK standards, but it afforded us the ability to try a huge chunk of the menu which we ordinarily would not be able to do. I did not find neither the quality of product, nor depth of flavors anywhere else in BKK (that we had tried). The only issue we had was that we found the portion sizes too large for the number of dishes that you get, and consequently, we felt like we barely made a dent in most of the dishes even though we enjoyed them immensely.<br /><br />I had heard very good things about Paa Jazz near the Victory Monument, but we didn't have a chance to get there...<br /><br />We were underwhelmed by Polo Fried Chicken near Lumphini Park. We were there around 2PM (not prime time) and our chicken was dry and tasted like it had been sitting around for a while. The skin was just starting to get a bit leathery, although the fried garlic mound on top was great, as were the two dipping sauces on the table. Som tum was spicy, but lackluster and a little off balance. Maybe it would better when they're busier, so YMMV...

[Cragganmore17]

Daunting indeed... I know the feeling... we enjoyed one evening in Banglamphu doing a "pad thai showdown" of sorts... we first went to Thip Samai - the pad thai institution, and then went practically next door to Leung Pha pad thai and got the same thing for a comparison... if you do so, I would recommend getting all versions including what they call "shrimp fat" or "shrimp head fat" - it definitely adds a new dimension to the dish, and I can't imagine why no one is doing it here in NY!<br /><br />We did enjoy Jay Fai (also in Banglamphu - actually just a few doors down from Thip Samai) although it is pricey by shophouse food standards. By most western standards, it is still a great deal.<br /><br />I think a good investment would be to try to purchase Chawadee Nualkhair's book, which is her top 50 BKK street food places... it was expensive on the internet, but I just bought it from her directly by contacting her through her blog bangkokglutton.com (it's a good blog anyway). She ships internationally and is not expensive. You can also pick it up in a lot of bookshops in BKK, but I wanted it before I got there so I could hit the ground running.<br /><br />I know you're planning to eat most meals on the street, but I would stress that we enjoyed Nahm and would recommend it. The complexity of flavors is mind boggling... We got the set menu, which is expensive by BKK standards, but it afforded us the ability to try a huge chunk of the menu which we ordinarily would not be able to do. I did not find neither the quality of product, nor depth of flavors anywhere else in BKK (that we had tried). The only issue we had was that we found the portion sizes too large for the number of dishes that you get, and consequently, we felt like we barely made a dent in most of the dishes even though we enjoyed them immensely.<br /><br />I had heard very good things about Paa Jazz near the Victory Monument, but we didn't have a chance to get there...<br /><br />We were underwhelmed by Polo Fried Chicken near Lumphini Park. We were there around 2PM (not prime time) and our chicken was dry and tasted like it had been sitting around for a while. The skin was just starting to get a bit leathery, although the fried garlic mound on top was great, as were the two dipping sauces on the table. Som tum was spicy, but lackluster and a little off balance. Maybe it would better when they're busier, so YMMV...

Thanks for the feedback, Kenneth. I actually just purchased Chawadee's book, which should arrive in a week or two. I had been strongly considering paying a visit to Nahm on my last night, and now I think I'll proceed with reserving a table.

[NickLam]

Hi Kenneth,

Glad you enjoyed J Fay! The one time I ate there must've been a fluke. As for the crabs, Jok used to deal seafood so he knows where to get the best! His crabs will probably be one of the best you can find in BKK, but if you have the chance to go to Yok Sod in Pranburi, they are just as good, if not better, just plainly due to the proximity to the source. It is surrounded by crab farms! And, your dinner at Jok's kitchen for 1 pax would probably pay for your whole family and more!

@Cragganmore,

If you are game enough to go hunting for it, I would recommend:

1. Egg Noodles, Dry Style (Ba Mee Kai Haeng) @ Roadside Stall on the back of a truck in Ekamai Soi 19, After 7pm
2. Thai style Crispy Roast Pork Belly (Moo Krob) @ Moo Krob Nai Sai, before Prachachuen Soi 34
3. Thai Roast Chicken (Gai Yarng) and my personal favourite, Water Insect Papaya Salad (Som Tum Maengda) @ Or Tor Kor Market (Shop is next to the toilet in the front car park area)
4. Pad Thai with pumpkin, zucchini and carrot 'noodles' & Fermented Pork with Salted Egg (Moo Kem) at Ruen Sroy Yaya (Far from everywhere, near the airport) I have this saved on GPS, so I do not have the address, but PM me if you are wiling to travel there and I'll get it for you. It is in Bang Phli
5. Seafood grill, charcoal fire up the front @ Obaroi
6. Boat Noodles @ Victory Monument. Everyone has their preferences but I like the shop aptly named 'Best Boat Noodles' at the corner
7. Southern Thai Food (Spicy) @ Phuket Town in Thong Lo
8. Trat & Issan Food @ Suppaniga in Thong Lo
9. 'Terroir' Mango Sticky Rice where Coconuts, sugar and rice come from specific provinces in Thailand @ Kor Panich
10. Peppery Chinese Pork Innards with Noodles @ Guay Jab Oun Pochana in Yaowarat
11. Black sesame 'Tang Yuen' Dumplings in Ginger broth @ Chujit in Yaowarat outside Seng Heng Lee Goldsmith (The dumpling skin has become thicker in the past 3 mths due to rising costs and it doesn't seem like they will be reverting to the old thin skin. However, this is still a great roadside dessert stall.)
12. Pomfret Porridge @ Sieng Gi in Yaowarat
13. Pig's Brains Soup with tasty condiments (Think of it like custard) @ Samong Moo Thai Tham in Phraeng Phutom

There are quite a few more places but these are the ones I can think of for now! I would avoid Sukhumvit Soi 38 other than the passionfruit ice blended drink there. Having eaten there for the past few years, the standards have dropped significantly for every shop. Not sure if it is due to rising costs or any other reason but most of the old stall owners seem to have changed hands and the ones still there just do not taste as good anymore.

Happy eating!