Bangkok Belly — The Inside Guide to Thailand’s Favorite Food
A Gastronomic Journey of Street Food and Sidewalk Eateries in Bangkok Thailand in Words & Pictures
Bangkok Thailand. Street food and sidewalk eating are synonymous with the place. The weather is hot and so is the food.
I have eaten noodles for breakfast with the locals and sipped many a Chang beer precariously perched on a small plastic stool made for children on the sidewalk absorbing the Bangkok buzz!
It is one of the best ways to experience this amazing country and culture.
This is my ‘Bangkok Belly’ journey!
Isan Street Food
Pradiphat is a location close to our apartment in downtown Bangkok. There is a street food vendor there that makes some of the best Thai Isan street food in Bangkok.
Isan food is from the northeast of Thailand but you will find it all over Bangkok because it is the perfect street food.
It is very hot and spicy and has become one of my favorite Thai cuisines. Crispy pork neck, spicy liver, charcoal fish, spicy minced pork with onion, and sticky rice you eat with your fingers.
That’s Isan food.
Plain Decor and Noodles
Food is often more important than decor in Bangkok.
Many places are nothing more than small shops on the street with plastic chairs and steel foldup tables and what you might call….basic decor.
As an Interior Designer in my former life, I have to admit it took some getting used to when I first started going to Bangkok. It knocked the snob right out of me though!
Because…..friendly and authentic people and an amazing bowl of noodle soup. Simple but delicious!
Many people think Thai food is all about rice but actually, noodle soup is pretty high on their list. Especially for breakfast and lunch.
Anywhere Will Do
The Thais will create a place to eat anywhere. Literally!
If there is a poky little space down some back alley you can bet there will be some tables and chairs, with someone cooking, and people eating. You will be eating amongst all kinds of shops, as well as cars and motorbikes trying to squeeze their way through.
This is like the Bangkok equivalent of fast food!
Some Like it Hot
There is a large Indian population in Bangkok so Indian food is quite popular. It is also popular with many international tourists, especially with the English ones like me!
They also like it hot…very hot!
We found this great place called Mama Indian on Ong Ang Walking street. In fact, there were a few Indian places along that street. It was good Indian street food.
Seafood Everywhere
Seafood is crazy in Bangkok Thailand!
They love their seafood in Bangkok. This is perhaps one of the most underrated cuisines in Thailand. The focus is always on rice and hot and spicy dishes but seafood is right up there with Thai people.
When you are eating with Thai people they will always ask for small bowls of cut chili and various sauces to augment the various seafood.
They will also eat just about every part they can too. Including the heads of prawns! I usually give mine to my wife.
BBQ
Thai and Korean-style barbeques are all over Bangkok. They can be inside or outside and will consist of lots of thinly sliced meat such as beef, pork, and bacon.
You usually choose the meat from a buffet area and cook it yourself at the table. Chopsticks are typically used to eat and you all cook on a shared barbeque or hotplate that is either set into the table or on it.
As a general rule of thumb if the barbeque is set in the table it is Korean…. if it is on the table it is a Thai barbeque!
At ‘Sam Gyup Sal’ a Korean barbeque in Huai Kwang Bangkok, they cook it for you. You choose your meat and one of the staff will cut it up and cook it for you right there at the side of your table. They will wait there the whole time as you keep piling up the meat.
All you have to do is eat.
Sam Gyup Sal is an ‘all-you-can-eat’ place and there is an unwritten rule that you should not leave anything.
You must eat everything that you bring to your table. I’m not sure what happens if you don’t but it was not a problem for us.
Hot Pot
Asian Hot Pot is another big favorite for Thai people. It comes from the Chinese community and like everything in Thailand has been adapted to suit Thai taste.
It is similar to the barbeque where the pot will be on your table and you again choose your meat from a buffet and then cook it at your table.
Everything will go in that pot too. Lettuce, bok choy, sprouts the lot.
Sweet Anyone?
I almost forgot….for those with a sweet tooth. You can’t beat Ice cream with sticky rice and mango sprinkled with crushed peanuts eaten out of a coconut shell. It sound’s crazy but it is delicious.
This little gem is usually found in outdoor markets like Bangkok’s famous JJ markets (Chatuchak markets). I have seen it served in markets all over Thailand.
It is a real winner in the heat of Thailand. Amazingly refreshing and addictive so watch out!
Bangkok’s Chinatown
I can’t really finish this gastronomic journey around Bangkok without mentioning Chinatown. It’s a chaotic vibe of bustling tourists, vendors, and street food…or should I say road food as quite often you are sitting in the road to eat.
Bangkok has an eclectic mix of Asian cultures and many have blended to become a kind of hybrid Thai-Asian culture. But the predominant Chinese influence can be seen everywhere, especially in Chinatown.
Eating Chinese food in Chinatown Bangkok is an absolute must on the Bangkok bucket list. You can get just about everything your taste buds desire. Some of it can be a bit weird for the Western palette…but some of it is very tasty too!
Aroi Aroi…mak mak as they say in Thai!
(Translation — very very tasty!)
I hope you enjoyed that little tour of the Bangkok Belly. Please let me know if you have any Bangkok street food stories to share too.
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An introverts guide to Life, Personal Growth, and Thailand at my profile here on Medium or over at my blog DJ Hopkins