A Bangkok Coffee Guide - Our Recommendations For The Best Coffee In The Thai Capital
Bangkok has a thriving coffee scene with everything from high end artisan creations to marketside rocketfuel for sale. Read our blog on our favourite caffeine fixes in the Thai capital. From exclusive expensive treats at Mother Roaster to backpacker cups at 7-11 we walk you through all the best coffee in Bangkok.
Bangkok’s coffee scene is a booming industry. From high end coffee shops to market stalls, vending machines to global chains, whatever time of day, you’ll be hard pushed not to find a cup of coffee in this bustling Thai metropolis.
We absolutely love our coffee and can’t go a day without a cuppa. At some point during a busy day exploring Bangkok, there will come a time (or multiple times) when we need to get our caffeine fix, whether that’s a cappuccino or a Thai styled coffee. With so much coffee on offer, it’s sometimes hard to know where to go, so read our guide on where to get some of the best coffee in Bangkok.
Below are just some of the best coffees we’ve drunk in the Thai capital as well as some of our favourite coffee shops we’ve visited. This includes both Thai style coffees and your more conventional Western fare.
Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links. We will earn a small commission from any purchases made through these links.
A Book With No Name
North of the Khao San district, lies Dusit. A world away from the glass high rise offices and concrete jungle of Sukhumvit, Dusit still keeps its traditional old-school feel. With a daily market open from the early hours of the morning until late at night, shops that look as though you’ve stepped right into Bangkok in the Seventies and a real community feel amongst its locals, Dusit feels unchanged compared to its flashier neighbouring districts.
Dusit is a fantastic, varied and truly local Bangkok neighbourhood!
Dusit not only happens to be our favourite district in Bangkok, but is also home to our favourite coffee shop, A Book With No Name.
Set on the main road that connects the Bang Sue and Dusit districts to Khao San Road and the south of the city, A Book With No Name isn’t just a great coffee shop, but is also a beautiful book shop, and if you know us, you know we can’t say no to having a snoop in a bookshop!
With shelves and shelves of books, dark green plants, small wooden tables and chairs, a chilled out LOFI playlist playing in the background, walking into A Book With No Name feels as though you’ve entered someone's living room. It is the perfect place to escape with a good book and a fantastic cup of coffee.
The cappuccinos are delicious!
The coffee bar at the back of the shop offers a small menu of all your favourite coffees as well as cans of craft beer, tea and some excellent cookies!
Also did we mention cats?!
The coffee shop has four adorable, if not slightly, chonky cats that love a stroke! Our favourite is the grey cat (apologies we don’t know his name) who sits in the chair right by the front of the window. If there ever was a draw to come into a coffee shop, then this is it!
Just one of the four very cute cats!
Every time we’ve visited A Book With No Name, we always order the same thing (what can I say we’re creatures of habit) and always go for two hot cappuccinos. Sprinkled with a dash of cinnamon on top, the cappuccinos are delicious. Strong, yet smooth, rich but comforting, they’re everything you need from a cappuccino.
A Book With No Name is a perfect break from the busy streets of Bangkok. It’s one of those places that seems to attract literary lovers from all over the city, with people writing to people illustrating, it feels like a small library of creativity.
A Book With No Name can easily be reached by public transport both on the river and by road. For those on the river, just use the ferries and get off at Phayab or by using the number 3 bus from the Khao San Road area. Get off at the ‘Before Si Yan Intersection’ bus stop next to the 7/11.
If you’re in Bangkok over the Christmas period, we’d recommend going just to see the pretty Christmas tree they make out of books!
We’d also recommend following A Book With No Name on Instagram to keep up to date with book signings, talks and workshops happening within the coffee shop. We saw that in the past they have done talks with big names like Haruki Murakami.
Delicious coffee, friendly cats and shelves of books to get lost in, what more could you want from a coffee shop?
Coffee Thyme
We were lucky enough to stumble upon this small coffee shop after a morning exploring the colourful Ratchawat Market. After a healthy breakfast of fried chicken (if you haven’t succumbed to the delights of fried chicken and rice in the morning, then you’re seriously missing out!), we were in dire need of a caffeinated brew. A quick search on Google and we stumbled upon the delightfully named Coffee Thyme.
The coffee shop is located on a small side street, just over the road from Ratchawat Market making for the perfect place to escape to once you’ve finished your market munching! You’ll know you’ve reached the right place as soon as you spot the ornate Koi Carp pond outside the shop.
Coffee Thyme has an extensive coffee menu showcasing all the coffee favourites as well as a small specials menu which we just had to take advantage of!
One of these specials was the Orange Americano which we can highly recommend. Citrus and coffee has yet to catch on in the UK, but when it does, we’re certainly here for it. The blend of citrus against rich, bitter coffee beans creates the perfect balance of sharp, sour, sweet and bitter. It’s got all the power of the caffeine kick, yet feels almost healthy with the citrusy undertones. It’s an excellent combination and one if you see on any cafe menu you really must try. Trust us! Next time we’d love to try their Yuzu Americano special.
If you’re in the area, we’d recommend pairing a visit to Coffee Thyme with a visit to Ratchawat Market. With plenty of street food stalls available in and around the market, a coffee from Coffee Thyme will be the perfect digestif after a morning or afternoon of munching around the market!
Make sure you visit the market hungry as there’s plenty of tasty treats on offer!
Mother Roaster, Talad Noi
This is quite possibly the most unique location of all the coffee shops we’ve listed here. Set in an old warehouse, in the arty Talad Noi district, Mother Roaster serves quite possibly the best coffee we’ve drunk in the whole of Bangkok.
As you reach Mother Roaster, you enter through a large industrial door onto what can only be described as an explosion in a scrapheap. Inside this old and dark warehouse sits old engines, metal cogs and copper wire all sitting in large piles on the floor. On our first visit here, we did question whether Google Maps had led us to the correct location as it really didn’t feel as though this warehouse would be home to a trendy coffee bar!
To get to the coffee shop, you just need to climb the creaky wooden stairs to the left. Once upstairs though you’re in for a treat, as this is the place to grab one of Bangkok’s finest cups of coffee on offer in the city.
Mother Roaster is not just a great coffee shop, but also has a wonderful story behind its creation. Ploenpit Rianmek or “Auntie Pim” as she’s more well known, is a Bangkok legend. Serving coffee for over 30 years, Auntie Pim is famous for serving her hand drip coffee from her small store. As she grew in popularity, she was able to upgrade from her small store with only two stools, to a full coffee shop above the warehouse in Talad Noi. To this day, the coffee shop is still run by her family and if you’re lucky she may even be behind the bar. They still use her same machines to grind the coffee.
When you enter the coffee shop you’re instantly hit with the smell of coffee in the air. With dark wooden planks on the floor, wooden panelled walls, vintage furniture it feels as though you’ve stepped back in time. To contrast against this wooden, warehouse feel, there is a large L shaped steel coffee bar, with orange glowing lights hanging above. It has a sleek, cosy feel compared to the messy warehouse downstairs.
Mother Roaster offers every kind of coffee imaginable with a large menu of coffee beans, roast styles and preparations to choose from. If you’re stuck for choice just ask the barista what they’d recommend and they’ll help you choose your bean.
We both opted for the classic, “iced latte on the rock” with the local coffee beans from Chiang Mai (okay almost local to Bangkok). Served in small thick glasses (they felt to us like very fancy whiskey tumblers) on a small wooden tray, our two lattes came served with a giant sphere of ice. The latte’s were perfect in every single way. Nutty, earthy and smooth, it was tantalising. The slowly melting ice cube ball worked perfectly, giving a refreshing break from the protein rich milk. If there ever is such a thing as a perfect coffee, then this surely is it. We love Mother Roaster so much, we always make sure we head there for at least one coffee as a special treat on any trip to Bangkok.
Mother Roaster is not cheap, with iced latte’s on the rocks costing 150 baht each (£3.25), however what you pay for is a top dollar coffee experience. There’s a reason why Auntie Pim became a living Bangkok legend and the proof is definitely in the coffee!
Mother Roaster has opened up several other establishments in and around Bangkok in Pratu Phi, Sutthisan, Dadfa Lasalle and Wat Arun. You can also order your caffeinated beverage to be delivered straight to you via Grab or Lineman (ideal for those who’ve had a heavy night on the Chang!).
When you leave Mother Roaster make sure you check out the street art on the wall opposite the warehouse entrance as well as the very pretty Rong Kueak Shrine nearby.
Woodbrook Bangkok
For those looking for a coffee with a view then you really can’t get much better than ordering a coffee from Woodbrook Bangkok. Located south of Chinatown’s Yaowarat Road, Woodbrook Bangkok is located at the top of an unassuming building. From the roadside it really doesn’t look like much, but once you get upstairs, it’s achingly cool. With brushed concrete, dark wood furniture and plenty of comfy seating.
The best place to sit with your coffee is the open, covered deck with views directly over the Chao Phraya river. From this outdoor area, you can see downstream towards the popular Icon Siam shopping mall and the golden dome of the Lebua at State Tower hotel. To the right, you get a great view upstream towards the Chao Phraya Sky Park and the colourful roof and Chinese lanterns of the Guan Yu Shrine (Khlong San).
Woodbrook has an extensive coffee menu, ranging from all the usual coffees to coffees that combine tea and coffee, coffees made with butterfly pea milk and even a coffee that is made with cookies and cream! If you want a fancy coffee and not your “normal” go to coffee then this is the place to go.
We ordered a regular iced latte and a roasted coconut latte and both were fantastic. The roasted coconut latte had a nutty taste, yet was smooth and rich, with the unmistakable tropical undertones of coconut running through.
The coffees at Woodbrook are expensive and nearing London prices with the special coffees around 150 baht per cup and the normal coffees starting at 120 baht, however given the riverside view and the delicious coffee, we didn’t feel too cheated!
There is also a small bar, Barbon just next door to Woodbrook which serves cocktails, craft beers and wine. The coffee shop is also located above Hostel Urby which offers both dorms and private rooms, lots of common areas, a secret bar and sunrise / sunset views over the Chao Phraya river. Book your stay here.
SRC - Song Wat Coffee Roasters
Song Wat Coffee (SRC) was some of the best coffee we drank in Bangkok.
Brushed concrete, white tiles and dark wood contrast against the gleaming silver coffee bar in this achingly cool small coffee shop. It’s one of those places where industrial meets modern to create a super aesthetically pleasing interior.
The coffee shop has all the coffee favourites, as well as a small specials menu which has offerings such as the Viennese (a coffee topped with butterscotch cream and dark chocolate) and the Shakerato (an iced americano coffee shaken with orange syrup).
When we visited, we had to try their Songwat lattes from the specials menu. The coffee was nutty and rich in flavour, yet still smooth from the foamy milk. It was everything we could ever want in a latte.
As its name suggests, the coffee beans are roasted in house, and are available to buy if you have a coffee machine at home. You can also choose from the house SRC blend of beans, or the “special blend” of beans when ordering any of the coffees. There is also a small menu offering pastries and sweet treats.
The coffee shop gets very busy, and there is limited seating, but it's well worth a wait. If you can, we’d recommend ordering your coffee and taking a perch on one of the seats outside to watch the world go by. The coffee shop is just over the road from a Chinese shrine the Lao Pun Tao Kong shrine and school, so the area is always interesting and busy.
The coffees here are definitely on the tad more expensive level, but if you’re after an exceedingly good coffee, then it’s well-worth the extra spend.
The Artist’s House
Set on the canals of Thonburi, we don’t think you could find a more relaxing place for a coffee than the Artist’s House of Bangkok.
The Artist’s House is a traditional, wooden canal side house that has now been turned into an art gallery and coffee shop. There is an art gallery upstairs which showcases local artists and photographers and downstairs there is a small shop selling handmade souvenirs, books and art materials. At the back of the shop, the wooden walls open up onto a small courtyard garden with a moss covered stone stupa rising up to the sky. The contrast of the green foliage with the bright orange garland wrapped around the grey stupa, is an unexpected sight in this historic house.
The coffee shop has a small hot and cold drinks menu with everything from espresso to cappuccino. They also sell tea for those who aren’t coffee fans. We ordered two iced lattes and sat down on the best seats in the house - right on the water's edge! Sitting directly on the canal, whilst watching colourful longtails power up and down the water was a beautiful way to recuperate from a hot walk around the canals.
If you’re travelling with children, or love to get your creativity on, then there’s plenty of art activities you can take part in from making your own bracelet through to painting your own wooden box, there’s plenty to keep you occupied whilst you sip on your brew.
We paid 170 baht for two iced coffees. It was by far not the cheapest coffee we could have found in Bangkok, but for the view and canal side breeze, it was totally worth it!
Wanlika - Khao San District
This small coffee shop is only a short walk away from Khao San Road and Rambuttri Street. Set just off the canals, this small, sleek coffee shop has a wooden bar, brushed concrete walls and has a large open doorway that opens up directly onto the street side. There is plenty of seating available inside, however we’d recommend picking up a coffee to go and exploring the canal and streets to the north of Khao San road.
Wanlika offers all the coffee staples as well as different iced teas and flavoured sodas. The owners were extremely friendly and gave us great recommendations on where to eat in the local area.
We ordered two excellent iced lattes that were delicious and certainly hit the spot. They rejuvenated us enough to continue our exploration of Old Bangkok.
Wanlika is a great place to go if you want to escape some of the more crowded streets of Khao San and Rambuttri.
Merito Coffee & Gallery
Merito Coffee & Gallery is completely different to its more traditional neighbours and shopfronts of the Khlong San district of Bangkok.
Set in a sleek, modern, coffeeshop, full of comfy chairs, green plants and colourful wall art, Merito Coffee & Gallery serves up excellent coffee for those in need of a pick me up.
In need of a mid-morning coffee, we stumbled upon the cafe after taking a look at the traditional buildings of Lhong 1919 and the Mazu Shrine.
We both opted for two iced lattes and weren’t disappointed. Strong yet refreshing, the two latte’s hit the spot on a very hot and humid day in the middle of Bangkok’s wet season.
Merito Coffee sells all the normal coffees along with sodas, teas and sweet treats! We were very tempted by one of their brownies.
The coffee is more expensive than your normal streetside coffee, but totally worth it for the taste, cool air-conditioning, friendly staff and chilled out ambiance.
Market Stall - Thai Style Coffee
If you’ve been following us for a while now, then you’ll know that we predominantly dine street side, this includes when we’re on the hunt for our caffeine fix too!
Market stall coffee can be found all over Bangkok. Just head into any morning, afternoon or night market, or walk along any street in the capital and you’re bound to stumble upon a vendor selling coffee. These stalls can be selling anything from high end craft coffee to instant Nescafe, both ice cold or piping hot.
We’ve sampled some brilliant coffee from market stalls in the Thai capital, but there have been two occasions that have stood out:
Our first was when we had a fantastic Thai style coffee from a vendor on a food tour in Bangkok that had been serving his Nescafe recipe since World War 2 to the market traders of the Nang Loeng Market. Super strong and sweetened with condensed milk it was a great digestif amongst all the delicious food we were eating.
The second Thai style coffee we thoroughly enjoyed was on New Year's Day after a very long bus journey from the south of Thailand. We arrived bleary eyed on the streets of Dusit at 4am. Struggling to keep awake, we made our way out onto the streets to find breakfast and were greeted by two lovely aunties who served us fantastic iced coffee. They were very intrigued as to why we were wanting coffee and weren’t still revelling in the clubs of Khao San Road.
Coffee from market stalls are genuinely a lot cheaper and can be quite rough and ready, but sometimes you don’t need the Mona Lisa, just something hot, sweet and full of that delicious, delicious caffeine.
Speaking of cheap and cheerful…
7-Eleven Convenience Stores
We couldn’t write a Bangkok coffee guide without mentioning 7-Eleven. Before you all start shouting at us, we know the coffee isn’t going to win any awards and yes, we really shouldn’t be bigging up a huge corporation, but when you’re backpacking needs must!
For those on a tight backpacking budget, these coffees are perfect for a caffeine pick me up, for when you need to get up and go.
Selling all the coffee favourites from americanos, lattes, cappuccinos and espressos either iced, hot or frappe, the coffee sold at 7-Eleven are a great choice for those saving the pennies.
Cheap and cheerful and with at least one 7-Eleven on every street corner, you really can’t go wrong with picking up a cuppa here.
Coffees start at 35 baht for a small iced coffee. Make sure you check out the menus as they often have specials / drink deals.
One tip though, if you are ordering a coffee from 7-Eleven make sure you say no to any plastic bag! The Thai’s love putting things in a plastic bag, and if you don’t say no to a bag, your coffee will have more plastic layers than a Welsh child on a school trip!
Final Bangkok Coffee Thoughts
Finding a delicious coffee on the streets of Bangkok isn’t hard. After a day exploring the Thai capital on foot, we love to escape the humid heat and refresh with a caffeinated brew.
The list above doesn’t even scratch the surface on Bangkok’s coffee scene. In terms of coffee exploration in Bangkok, we’re still novices and still have a long way to go. We have yet to explore the delights of Elefin Coffee and its famous latte art, the popular Kaizen Coffee in Watthanana or Factory Coffee with its sleek interior and award winning baristas. The Bangkok coffee scene is booming and we can’t wait to discover more of it! Whether it's iced, piping hot, the traditional Thai style or frappe, we can’t get enough of the coffee in Bangkok.
Let us know in the comments if you have any other ‘must try’ Bangkok coffee recommendations!
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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Street Food in Bangkok's Chinatown - Exploring Best Thai / Chinese Street Eats
Bangkok’s Chinatown is a bustling neon lit wonderland of street food, with carts spilling out down the Yaowarat road every night. In such a smorgasbord of choice where should you eat? We trusted our taste buds to A Chef’s Tour and were whisked down backstreets and through markets on what may be the best way to sample Bangkok’s Chinatown. Read on to hear all about our Thai / Chinese culinary adventure.
Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links. We will earn a small commission from any purchases made through these links.
Bangkok’s Chinatown is a neon lit, alley ridden clash of the old and new. Famous shophouse restaurants share a pavement with innovative street food vendors, whilst traditional stalls vie for space down the colourful Yaowarat Road. As the sun begins to set, the streets fill up, the billboards light up and the food begins to sizzle. Navigating our way round this cornucopia of deliciousness isn’t easy, that’s why we decided, yet again, to take a food tour.
Why Take A Food Tour In Bangkok?
Bangkok is a city literally overflowing with food. Every street corner has a vendor and each marketplace a bewildering plethora of choices. A food tour allows you to check out a “best of” selection and uncover hidden gems you may not have found or thought to try. For us frequent visitors to Bangkok, we decided to do the Chinatown food tour as a reintroduction to the area.
What Is Bangkok’s Chinatown Like?
The Chinatown area of Bangkok is centred around the massive neon sign lined Yaowarat Road (sometimes spelt Yarrowat). It is the area where the Chinese community first settled in the city and is full of shophouses, restaurants, gold sellers and, of course, food. Yaowarat Road and the streets around are full of businesses, and busy markets selling sandals to thermos flasks and everything in between. When the sun goes down the neon lights fire up and an army of food carts and stalls descend on the area. Yaowarat Road becomes lined with eateries and all around, the side streets become clogged with delicious smells, smoking woks and munching patrons.
Yaowarat Road marks Bangkok’s Chinatown and is never quiet!
We had been through Chinatown before and it's maze of streets and heavingly busy Yaowarat Road had not, so far, grabbed our hearts. We all know the quickest way to the heart is through the stomach so we thought a food tour would be the perfect way to get to know the area better and see why so many people love it!
Why Book With ‘A Chef’s Tour’?
A Chef's Tour was the obvious choice for us for our food tour through Bangkok's Chinatown. We have had amazing experiences with them in Phuket, Chiang Mai and had an incredible time in the Indian capital of Delhi. We were confident we would have a unique and delicious experience in Chinatown with A Chef’s Tour.
The Food of Bangkok’s Chinatown
Ok, enough preamble, on to the food! We met our group in a nice upscale bar on Yaowarat Road. It was a comfy place to rest, use the toilet and meet our small party of culinary adventurers. It was also the last “upscale” place we would be for the next few hours as our guide, Jonny, quickly whisked us away from the Westerners sipping on imported beers and delved straight into the backstreets of Chinatown!
Chinese Chive Cakes and Pork Leg Stew
(Kanom Gui Chai Tod & Khao Ka Moo)
After zig-zagging through some picturesque, market stall lined alleyways we emerged onto a side street and stopped by a lady selling chive cakes from her mobile cart. Thick cakes, green filled with Chinese chives, were grilled and cut into portions on a hot plate before being loaded into bags for us. We would get to taste them at our first ‘sit down’ stop.
A few shops down from the chive cart was the Pork Leg Stew restaurant. It didn't need a sign, the smell alone would bring customers in droves. A heady mix of soy, five spice and sweet porky aromas wafted out at us. In front of the small shophouse restaurant a bubbling vat of stewing pork poured its enticing scent out onto the street.
We sat down at one of the long no nonsense metal tables (this is not a tablecloth and silverware kind of tour), and dived into our chive cakes. These were delicious and completely unique. So unique in fact that it is hard to describe them in an appealing way. Words like “gummy”, “bouncy" and “sticky” are all accurate but do not sell these lovely little cakes well. The chive cakes were highly savoury and nutty and were served with a great little chilli and sweet soy sauce dip that cut through the bouncy (dammit!) texture perfectly.
Trust us the chive cakes were delicious!
Pork leg, chilli vinegar, raw garlic and chillies, happy diners!
These were just our starters for this leg of the tour, a mere amuse bouche to the main event that had been tantalising our nostrils since the street. We have had pork leg before in Chiang Mai and we already knew we loved it so it should come as no surprise that we found this delicious. It was, however, a very different dish from its northern brother. The Bangkok Chinatown pork leg was less sweet and had a more prevalent star anise flavour which complemented the meltingly soft fatty pork perfectly. Our guide Jonny, advised us to eat it alongside raw garlic and chilli, we did so and it was amazing, the flavours changed completely, the garlic softening and perfuming the bite and the chilli heat cutting through the sweet fatty pork!
This was not our first Chefs Tour, so we knew we needed to pace ourselves. It was darkly funny however, to see the faces of our fellow adventurers, being told that these were only the first two of up to twenty dishes we would be enjoying that afternoon.
They did warn us to come hungry!
Thai Suki Soup and Satay Skewers
We made our way down another maze of alleys and streets and found ourselves next to a roaring roadside barbeque. The white hot coals of the barbeque sat in a long thin brazier topped with scores of marinated skewers. It was satay time!
Can’t barbeque without proper eye protection. Also, just look at that yummy meat!
We sat on the street, on tiny little chairs crammed up against the stall to allow pedestrians to pass. We have had some of the best food of our lives in places like this. It is a perfect example of why you should travel off the beaten path for food and why you should never judge food by its dining room!
The satay skewers came out, smoking and arranged in piles on the paper plates. We in England have heard of satay, it is on the menu in pubs, bars and restaurants across our little Island, but it does not taste like this! The skewers were marinated in turmeric, garlic and pineapple vinegar to tenderise them. Grilled to perfection over coal and flame they were juicy and full of flavour, but when added to the peanut sauce they were absolutely next level. The sauce was rich and nutty but nowhere near as sweet as we were used to. There was sweetness there, and in the meat, but it was a background note in a balanced savoury symphony. They may have ruined future satay for us but we cannot say we are sad!
Next out from the tiny roadside kitchen were steaming communal bowls of suki soup. Full of mushrooms, radish and glass noodles the suki was simple in all the best ways. The thick soup was comforting and, even on a hot Bangkok day, wonderful.
For the more adventurous of us, we could augment our suki with the addition of some funky smelling fermented bean paste. This stuff was hard on the nose but delicious on the tongue. The fermented paste completely changed the soup's flavour and added a rich umami taste and a cheeky kick of spice.
Pennywort Power Juice
After our soup we ambled off down the road to a lady with a polystyrene coolbox. Wherever we go in the world there is always a local “wonder” ingredient. From Hungary to Vietnam, Sri Lanka to Laos, there is always a local herb, fruit, shellfish or plant that supposedly lengthens your life (or other things if you are male), sorts your eyes out or otherwise miraculously helps heal and renew you. Frequently these are based on actual scientific fact with herbs that lower cholesterol or help with rheumatism etc so there is no harm in giving them a go. With this in mind we eyed up the bottles full of thick, green liquid, now being proffered from the lady’s coolbox.
The Pennywort juice is purportedly good for a lot of conditions, from detoxing livers to urinary tract infections. Jonny told us that the Muay Thai fighters always drank a pennywort drink to strengthen them and recover from injuries. We are no Thai fighters but after a while in Thailand, anything that helped our livers out was probably a good idea so we chugged the bottle.
It was like drinking a lawn, not terrible but just grassy and green tasting. We will report back on any miraculous health benefits.
Michelin Class, Bourdain Recommended Pork and Prawn Dumplings
(Khanom Jeeb)
Rejuvenated by the Pennywort we dived back into the backstreets of Chinatown. We wormed through labyrinthine alleyways and, we were told, we were walking in the path of one our culinary heroes Anthony Bourdain. We were in search of Bangkok’s best dumpling!
Sandwiched in a tiny back alley between stalls selling Chinese temple offerings we found the stall. Jonny told us that, back in the time before GoogleMaps, the shop was unknown to tourists until Bourdain’s program aired in the West. To Thai’s in the know, however, it was an institution with Royal patrons and a legendary reputation. It is a tiny operation (it used to have only a single table that would book out months in advance) but its dumplings are known to be the best in Bangkok and have received the coveted Michelin Guide’s recommendation.
Dumplings, the perfect proof that good things come in small packages!
The dumplings are filled with pork and prawns and topped with deep fried garlic, they are ridiculous. Soft wrappers give way to perfectly seasoned juicy pork and chunks of sweet prawns. The contents are so perfectly steamed and full of flavour they just burst the second you sink your teeth in. The crispy fried garlic completes the textures by adding crunch and finishing off what may be the perfect mouthful. If you wanted the full dinner experience booking is difficult and necessary (there are only five tables!). However, with A Chef’s Tour, we were able to sample the famous delicacies with ease. Be warned though, these dumplings are very, very addictive.
Rice and Curry, Chinatown Style at Jek Pui
(Kaeng khiao wan)
We emerged out of the alleyways back into the grey light of a cloudy Bangkok and headed straight for another legendary establishment. Jek Pui used to serve up no nonsense Chinatown style Thai curries along the side of a road, its patrons on tiny chairs against picturesque wooden doors eating from plastic plates without a table.
The streets around Jek Pui are full of small market vendors.
Made famous by Nexflix and Mark Wiens, Jek Pui’s customers swelled. Nowadays it has moved around the corner to a site that is no more upmarket, there are still no tables, but now, at least it has a roof.
This new roof was just as well as the second we sat down on our plastic stools the heavens opened. Perfect timing for a steaming plate of green curry, Chinatown style. The green curry came out on the ubiquitous plastic plates but was instantly identifiable as different from the usual Thai classic. Sliced Chinese sausage was strewn about and chunks of winter melon wallowed in the curry sauce. The curry was much less spicy than traditional Thai green curry but was creamy and delicate. The Chinese sausage was especially yummy, its snappy sweet flavour complimenting the rich curry.
This was dish seven…even with our near bottomless stomachs we were getting worried.
Jackfruit, Whiskey and Insects
The rain was over as soon as it had begun, but the sun was now fading as we wandered out of Jek Pui. All around street carts were moving, getting in place for the famous night time eating scene of Chinatown. We paused by a little old lady who was skilfully dismembering a jackfruit with a large kitchen knife. The jackfruit is common all over South East Asia and can be used in many ways. You can use it in curries, as a meat replacement or just snack on it depending on when you harvest it. Just after a rich curry it made a perfect palate cleanser, its slightly tart flavour resetting our mouths.
A few stalls down from the knife wielding jackfruit seller was the insect vendor. A common sight to tourists on Khao San Road, insect vendors peddle a variety of deep fried crawlies for tourists to scream at and take selfies with. They are, however, also common at actual Thai markets, their protein rich insects making up a traditional part of the cuisine.
We have had ant curries in Cambodia and snacked on chilli powder crickets in Chiang Mai. Insects are no more “gross” or “weird” than prawns or sausages (seriously, try and describe what a sausage actually is for a moment and you will see what we mean).
With all that high and mightiness out of the way, the insects that day were…. insect-y, mainly just crunch with the occasional pop and gooey part.
Definitely an experience, but not a culinary revelation.
To wash down any remaining antenna or wing we ducked into a “Whiskey Stop”. A tiny hole-in-the-wall bar consisting of a single fridge and a couple of chairs in the middle of a rapidly closing market street.
Jonny explained that after work it was popular for people to stop by for a couple of shots of Thai whiskey before heading home for the evening. That way, supposedly, their spouses would be none the wiser and would not scold them for going to the pub.
Whiskey can mean many things when you're abroad. Our experience with “whiskey” in South East Asia could cover pretty much anything distilled and highly alcoholic. From Lao Lao to Sang Som, all were called whiskey but could taste like anything from petrol to rum. In the little bar in Chinatown we were given two different “whiskies". The first was almost medicinal in taste, a complicated flavour of roots and spices with a very alcoholic aftertaste. The second tasted a lot more like vodka with a harsher, more brash taste. They were definitely more refined than some “whiskies” we have sampled in our travels.
Chinatown Kway Chap
We came out from our “whiskey stop” and into the full chaos of Yaowarat Road. The cars were still queuing up and down the street, but the roadway was now a lot smaller, with both sides being taken up by stalls and streetside restaurants. We waited for a table outside an insanely busy restaurant. The restaurant in question looked like a ballet choreographed by a madman. Tables butted up to each other, waiters bobbed and weaved between crowds of chairs seemingly scattered at random across the road, bowls for steaming hot something balanced precariously overhead. The queue was moving fast but we couldn't see where anyone was going, they just disappeared into the melee.
If you thought Yaowarat was busy during the day, just wait until the sun sets!
Impossibly, we were told a table for the eight of us had opened up and we leapt into the maelstrom. Behind one of the street carts, with our tables sloping and snaking around we found our seats. We also found out why this place was so busy as delicious peppery bowls of crispy pork belly kway chap landed in front of us.
Kway chap is a rolled rice noodle. It looks a little like a scroll with both sides cured up towards the centre. The dish we had was a peppery light broth that clung to the kway chap noodles. The chew of the noodles, the light soup and the glasslike shatter of the pork belly crackling was heavenly. Even after all we had eaten so far, even after the insects and whiskey, our appetite was roused once again for the final leg of the food tour. That or we are just really really greedy.
Healthy Boy Ice Cream
After the kway chap we went in search of sweet things. Our stop was a little unexpected as we entered the Healthy Boy brand soy sauce shop, not what we would have picked for dessert but, hey, trust A Chef’s Tour to surprise you! We were enjoying the air conditioned shop (the first air con of the day) and admiring the rows of soy sauce (who knew there were so many types), when we were presented with our ice cream. Ice cream topped with a thick whirl of soy sauce. Don’t knock it until you've tried it is not always a great piece of advice (heroin for example) but in this case it proved to be completely on the money. The soy sauce worked as a treacle, salted caramel flavour that emphasised the sweet vanilla ice cream perfectly.
Red Curry Clams, River Prawns, Tom Yam and Morning Glory - The Main Course
(Kaeng Phet, Kung Yang, Tom Yam & Pak Boong)
Throughout the tour our guide Jonny had alluded to a stop he classed as our “main course”. After the preceding twelve dishes we thought this must be a joke, oh how wrong we were. On a corner even busier than the surrounding busyness of Yaowarat Road sat a restaurant. Outside, tables mingled next to a massive barbeque station grilling some of the biggest prawns and lobster we have ever seen.
Like everywhere else it was completely packed out and a queue of people milled around waiting for tables. We however, were the lucky ones, our runner had gone ahead and secured us a table in an upstairs room so we skipped the line and entered the rabbit warren of a restaurant.
Passing through the crowded downstairs restaurant we clambered up some impossibly steep, narrow stairs. We passed a dining room between floors that was so low you could not stand up and had to remove your shoes and sit on the carpeted floor for your food. This was not our stop so we continued up the winding ladder like stairs. We popped out eventually on floor number three, crossed a dining room, shuffled down a tiny balcony and through some sliding doors to find ourselves in a calm little oasis. Sparing a thought for the poor waiters who have to find their way around this maze whilst carrying dishes, we sat at our table and admired the spread of food before us.
Life is good sometimes!
Bowls of tom yam soup sat bubbling over tea lights in front of us. Plates of clams in red curry sauce sat next to massive barbequed river prawns. For greenery we had dishes of stir fried morning glory in soy sauce.
The food was incredible, The prawns firm without chewyness, smoky from the barbecue and sweet with their natural flavour. The prawns came with a nam jim jaew seafood sauce. This sauce of roasted rice, sugar, chilli and fish sauce (amongst a host of other ingredients) was the perfect compliment to the meaty prawns, contrasting and complimenting in all the right ways.
The tom yam soup was sharp with lime, hot with chilli and just the tiniest touch sweet, just as it should be. We have had many variations of tom yam soup from creamy to clear, prawns to pork but this was one of the cleanest, most fresh tasting soups we have eaten yet.
The morning glory was simple but perfect. A sweet but not dominating flavour that paired with any of the other dishes effortlessly. The greens were the perfect accompaniment to the most popular dish of the “main meal”, the clams. In contrast to their fiery red appearance the clams were not spicy in the slightest but perfectly sweet in the way that only properly cooked shellfish can manage. The curry paste sauce served to bring out and highlight the nutty sweet little clams.
A look at the delicious chaos from the restaurants balcony
It was a wonderful meal, one we will definitely remember for a long time. We had already eaten so much that day but everyone found room to enjoy all the new dishes. We were nearing the finish line of our culinary marathon but mentally we were all already thinking about when we could get back and visit the restaurant again.
The Final Stop - Chinese Doughnuts and Thai Mango Sticky Rice
(Pa Tong Go & Khao Niao Mamuang)
After we had found our way back out of the restaurant, we moved away from the busiest section of Yaowarat Road and found ourselves at the final stops for the day. It was now fully dark in the sky but Chinatown had burst into light. Neons overhead reflected in puddles from the earlier rain. It looked futuristic but also somehow retro, like seeing the original Blade Runner. Neons glowing away, it was time for our puddings.
Mr Deckard would be right at home.
There couldn't have been a more thematically perfect way to finish this food tour than having a quintessentially Chinese dessert and an iconic Thai dessert side by side. Chinese doughnuts are deep fried chunks of dough, crispy on the outside and fluffy soft on the inside. The doughnuts are dipped in a green pandan custard. The custard is sweet but not cloyingly so, and the vanilla-ry pandan perfumes the doughnut in an addictively tasty way.
Thai sticky rice is famous for a reason, it is perfectly simple and simply perfect. Sticky rice with sweet coconut milk alongside juicy ripe mangoes is just the perfect combination of flavours. The mango is sweet with a little sharpness, the milk creamy and sweet which clings to the sticky rice in a supremely satisfying way. It was a delicious end to an incredible feast of a day.
Bangkok’s Chinatown is full of beautiful food and places just waiting to be explored!
We had eaten twenty different dishes, we had wiggled through back streets, dined at street carts, Michelin recommended restaurants and historic shop houses. We had eaten classic Chinese, fusion, Thai and everything in between. We had wanted a food tour that opened our eyes to the area and we had got exactly what we hoped for. Chinatown went from somewhere we had been and had no lasting memory of, to an essential stop for us. We understood more, we appreciated more and we wanted to explore even more.
We will be back, the dumplings demand it!
Is This A Good Tour For “Beginner” Eaters? Will I Be Able To Handle The Spiciness!
100% this is a great tour for those looking to dip their toes beyond the hotel and tourist area dining scene! The guides are super accommodating and will be able to advise how to approach the food. Most of the dishes on the tour were not spicy at all, and those that were were almost always made that way by adding a dip or a sauce, something the guide told us in advance and helped people gauge their levels. Our group was a varied mix of people with differing tastes and tolerances and everyone got to try and enjoy everything. The only essential thing you need is an open mind, go and try everything without judgement and you will have a fantastic introduction to Thai and Chinese food in Bangkok.
Also go hungry!
I Am Vegan / Have Allergies / Dietary Requirements, Can I Go On This Tour?
The best answer we can give is to check with A Chef's Tour here. It is a street food tour so the tour cannot guarantee you will be catered for but they will make every effort!
Ok You Convinced Me, How Do I Book The Tour?
A Chef's Tour run two different Bangkok street food tours. We have done both and both are completely amazing. The Backstreets of Bangkok Chinatown tour we talked about here is perfect for an introduction to Chinatown, Bangkok in general and, as you read, full of hidden street food gems it would have been near impossible to stumble across without a guide.
The other Bangkok tour offered by A Chef’s Tour is the Old Siam Street Food Tour. The Old Siam tour is amazing for those looking to delve a little deeper into the culinary heritage of Bangkok and eat some different, much lesser known dishes. Whichever one you go on you will have an incredible day full of food you would never have found, and will leave with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the local cuisine. We really cannot recommend A Chef’s Tour highly enough!
A Chefs Tour also offer amazing tours in Chiang Mai, Phuket as well as in other countries, anywhere you find yourself where they offer a tour, book it, they are a fantastic way to jump into a place!
If you’re looking for other Bangkok activities, or want to check out some other guided food tours, check out the links below:
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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Street Food In Old Siam - A Feast In Bangkok
Bangkok is a foodie paradise, renowned throughout the world for having some of the best street food. We took a walking food tour with A Chef’s Tour to sample some of the hidden gems of Old Siam. Far beyond the usual Pad Thai and Mango Sticky Rice, this food tour took our taste buds on a delicious tour of the backstreets and markets of a Bangkok that we had never seen before!
Bangkok, street food capital, foodie mecca and all round glutton’s paradise. Home to over 11 million hungry people, food is available everywhere in this sprawling metropolis, from sun up to sun down, from street cart to shop house the city is full of culinary adventures to be had. The district of Old Bangkok - Old Siam is studded with legendary restaurants and street food. Follow us as we join “A Chef’s Tour” for an exploration of the lesser known Thai food gems of Old Siam.
Disclosure: This article may contain affiliate links. We will earn a small commission from any purchases made through these links.
Why Book A Chef’s Tour In Bangkok?
There was no way we could visit our favourite city in the world without having a deep delve through its culinary delights. This time we wanted to go “off the beaten path” past Pad Thai and try dishes that we had never heard of.
Bangkok is rightly known as the street food capital of the world, and even to us frequent visitors, the Thai capital still has delicious surprises in store. A food tour is the perfect way to pull us out of our comfort zone, find new areas for us to explore and introduce us to some delicious new dishes.
We have previously taken food tours with A Chef’s Tour in Phuket, Chiang Mai and Delhi and have had a fantastic time on all of them. Each time, A Chef’s Tour has impressed us with their local knowledge and ability to uncover hidden gems we would never have found on our own.
What Is The Old Siam Bangkok Street Food Tour?
The Old Siam Food Tour starts outside the Palladium World Shopping Mall next to the old Chinese shrine.
Bangkok is known as the “Venice of the East” due to its large canal network that crisscrosses the city!
We met with our street food expert, Annie and our fellow eaters before heading off down a tiny set of stairs to the canalside pier. Catching a local ferry, we sped up the narrow canal. The ferries roar only briefly paused when it dipped its engines in respect as we passed a Princesses palace.
This was only the start of the tour and we were already miles away from the Bangkok we thought we knew.
Grilled Sticky Rice and Taro
Pulling up to the Bobae Market pier, we hopped off the ferry and were immediately greeted with our first food stop.
On the edge of the canal smoke wafted up from a charcoal barbecue. Behind the smokescreen, the friendly stall holder was bent over, turning tightly wrapped green leaf parcels on a grill placed over the smoking embers. It was these green presents that we were here to try.
Annie explained to us that this dish was a popular “on the go” breakfast for Bangkokians as it’s cheap, tasty and extremely portable.
We were each handed a parcel and it was time to munch. Pulling apart the charred banana leaf, we were greeted with a rectangle mound of white sticky rice, punctuated by nublets of dark purple taro. Biting into the chewy exterior and through the soft rice and taro, our mouths were filled with a nutty flavour. As you chewed more and more, the flavour became slightly bitter, almost that of a bite of rich dark chocolate. Underneath the nut and chocolate, the flavour was melded by the smoky undertones of the charcoal and with the banana skin subtly coming through. The sticky rice was a surprising texture, with the outside crunchy and the inside extremely soft and chewy. It reminded us of the texture of a flapjack. It was extremely moreish, and we could all see why this was a great breakfast dish as it would keep you full for a very long time.
Our appetites whetted and eager for more, it was time to head off to our next stop.
We followed Annie as she led us deeper into the dark labyrinth of the Bobae Market. The Bobae market (or Bo Be market) is one of Bangkok’s oldest markets. Specialising in the selling of clothes, the Bobae market is the cheapest place in the city to purchase a new wardrobe of the ever prevalent elephant print pants and shirts! We were not in the market for clothes but for food so we wound our way out, emerging from the darkness to a troop of colourful tuk tuks who were waiting to drive us to our next stop.
You can’t visit Bangkok without at least one tuk tuk ride!
Hoi Tod - Fried Mussel Omelette
After a short drive later, we pulled up to a small unassuming restaurant.
Pointing to a sign hanging outside the restaurant, Annie explained that we were in for a treat as this restaurant has been recognised by the Shell Shuan Shim guide.
Look out for these signs all over Thailand and you’ll be in for a foodie treat!
The “green bowl”, or Shell Shuan Shim guide is similar to that of the Michelin Guide system whereby restaurants are awarded with a sign in recognition of their delicious food. These signs can be taken away at any time following inspection, and are very highly regarded amongst the Thai populous. If you’re after a good meal in Thailand, then just look for the hanging “green bowl” signs and you won’t be disappointed.
Heading into the restaurant, we stopped next to the huge flat top grill. On the flaming hot plate, the chef was frying piles of mussels, crunchy bean sprouts and thin discs of egg batter. These were the basic ingredients for Hoi Tod, fried mussel omelette.
We each took a seat and quickly plates of the Hoi Tod appeared. Topped with green coriander and served with a sweet chilli dipping sauce, the Hoi Tod was delicious! A combination of sweet and salty, soft and snappy, spicy and smokey. The crunchy discs of omelette, fried almost like a thick crispy pancake batter, created a satisfying crunch when paired with the sweet, plump mussels. It was a delicious plate, with every element perfectly balanced.
Crispy Fried Banana Slices and Deep Fried Banana in Sticky Rice and Coconut
Our next stop was down a small alley just off the main road. We were here to try a popular street food sweet treat, deep fried crispy banana!
On a small makeshift kitchen, the stall holder cut thin slices of banana before soaking the slices in a bath of batter made from coconut water, before sprinkling them in coconut shavings and sesame seeds. These slices are then deep fried in hot oil until crunchy and voila, you’ve got yourself an extremely moreish sweet treat.
Our second deep fried delight was this time not a slice, but instead a whole banana! Similar to the thin slices, the whole bananas were soaked in a batter made from a combination of coconut milk and coconut cream but this time an additional layer of sticky rice was added. The use of the coconut milk / cream was to give the batter a richer, more intense flavour before being dunked. This rich flavour was evident as soon as we bit into the banana. Crunching through the crispy, snappy rice shell, the texture of the sweet banana inside was like a half boiled egg yolk in the centre. It was delicious!
Throughout our travels in Thailand, we’ve become slightly addicted to the deep fried banana slices, but have never seen the whole banana fry. This stop had suddenly opened up a whole new world of sweet street side treats.
Full up on fried bananas, it was time to try another Thai dish. Heading to the bus stop, Annie reminded us that we were here to eat like the locals do, and so instead of getting a taxi to the next restaurant, we’d be catching the bus!
Roast Pork Belly and Duck with Soup
A short bouncy bus ride later and we had arrived at our next foodie interlude.
Our noses let us know we had arrived, with the smell of roasting meats permeating through the air. In the street side window, huge slabs of roasted pork belly and duck hung to rest, with their scorched skin glistening in the sunlight.
The most unassuming restaurants in Bangkok always sell the best food!
If you know us, or have been following along with our stories on Instagram, then you’ll know we’re a little bit partial to some roast pork. So this stop was a little slice of heaven. Even before we sat down to eat, we knew we were in for a special treat.
Sitting down at a table, we were immediately brought out plates of sliced roasted pork belly, roast duck, dipping sauces and a bowl each of steaming soup.
The pork was divine. Alternating layers of melting fat, crunchy skin and juicy meat created the perfect textural mouthful. Annie explained that to roast the pork, the restaurant had scored the pork belly, coated it in vinegar and then sun dried it before finally being expertly roasted. As you looked at it, you could see a cross section, a tectonic map of delicious layers and you could see why all this effort was necessary.
The duck was similarly expertly handled. The deep rich roasted flavour of the duck, balanced with fermented soy bean and coriander. Its five spice laden sauce complementing the rich meat and removing any trace of gamey flavour.
The soup was meaty, deep and fatty. It was like the restaurant had collected all the best bits of the roasted meat juices to create a savoury, rich and peppery broth. We’ve eaten many of these “side soups” but this one was markedly different, with an almost ‘dark’ meaty flavour. It’s the sort of thing you could never get out of a packet, you had to be there amidst the swinging slabs of roasted meats to get this incredible flavour.
This stop was amazing, and if given a chance we’d have stayed here all day, but Annie reminded us that we were not even at the halfway mark of the food tour. So on we went to our next stop.
Khanom Bueng Yuan - Thai Style Crispy Pancake Salad
Down a dark covered alleyway, our next food stall was spluttering with the sound of frying batter. Three clay pots stood on iron stands, their charcoal heating large woks full of bright yellow batter.
The owner here was an older lady who we were told had cooked for everyone from the Thai Royal Family, to the local residents. Everyone loved her. She once had to close her stall for a week whilst she was whisked away to the Thai parliament where she cooked for politicians and leaders of the country. She was a Bangkok legend, and it soon became apparent why.
Standing in front of a true Bangkok food legend!
We’ve eaten some unique foods before, but this was unlike anything else. A crispy pancake batter, similar to that of Banh Xeo (crispy Vietnamese pancakes) is fried on the wok and then served with a cold crunchy salad of red and spring onions, beansprouts, cucumber, slices of ginger, soft tofu, coriander leaves, shredded coconut, kaffir lime leaves and black pepper. To eat the pancake, you need to first mix the salad with the crunchy pancake, and once mixed, top the salad with a sweet, salty and tangy syrup-py sauce that is made up of sweet chilli sauce, pineapple vinegar, palm sugar and salt.
The flavours were fireworks, it had something for everyone! Salty, sweet and sour, all in one satisfying mouthful. The textures were everything you could ever want from a zingy salad.
Next came the same salad, but this time, softer and cooked with a duck egg. The salad came out wrapped in the batter, and presented almost like a steaming murtabak. The cooked rich duck egg changed the flavour completely, giving an almost sweeter undertone to the vegetables.
Despite all the strong flavours, both the salads were incredibly fresh and light. The tastes were addictive, and it was one of those dishes that you’ll alway remember as the flavours were so unlike anything we had ever eaten.
Thai Style Tea And Coffee
Our next stop would be a place for us to get our caffeine fix for the day.
Located just outside the Nang Loeng Market, a small, elderly gentleman stood behind a wall of red Carnation milk tins and steaming pots of liquid. It was time to have a cuppa!
Annie explained that the vendor uses his World War 2 recipe for his coffee and has been serving this market since 1958.
The Thai style tea was the perfect pick me up. Sweet, refreshing and caffeinated. With a bright orange colour from the condensed milk.
Thai style coffee however… … Let's just say it was like rocket fuel. You'd definitely not be getting any sleep for at least a few hours after even just a sip!
Khanom Jeen
Our next few food stops would be within the Nang Loeng Market. This old market has been a Bangkok staple for over 120 years, and is one of the first formalised markets held on land as opposed to the floating markets that previously thronged on the rivers and canals.
Weaving our way through the busy market, we passed stalls bursting with a kaleidoscope of colourful fresh produce. From fruits that looked like they grew on Mars to more familiar vegetables and Thai staples. We eventually halted in our tracks, by a table heaving under the weight of a mosaic of curries. Spread out like a stained glass window, were curries of every shape, colour and size. We knew we were in for a treat.
So many delicious choices of curry! You know you’re in for a treat when you see a spread like this.
Sitting down at a small plastic table in a busy market restaurant, Annie immediately set about handing out small plates of Khanom Jeen.
Khanom Jeen is a southern Thai staple but available throughout the country, and is made up of fermented white rice noodles, topped with a variety of different curry toppings and eaten with crunchy vegetables. Today, our Khanom Jeen was topped with a coconut yellow curry and beansprouts. Creamy, yet crunchy with a slurp of noodles, it was the perfect appetiser to our curry buffet that was to come next!
Thai Curries - Massaman, Penang and Green Curry
As soon as we had finished slurping our noodles, it was time for a curry buffet!
Laid out in order of spice levels were small bowls of Massaman, Penang and Green curry.
These curries aren’t challenging for any newcomer, in fact you may already be familiar with them, but we can confidently say that the imitations we’ve eaten in the West are nothing like the real deal!
The Massaman curry was peanutty, creamy, rich and so studded through with spice it may have been a porcupine of flavour. Its yellow colour comes from lashings of turmeric and the spices and Indian influences are apparent throughout.
The Penang curry was satay in another form. Smooth, creamy and suffused with peanuts, it was tantalising. If there’s ever a curry you’d ever want to show a fussy eater, then this would be it. There was nothing not to like!
The Green Curry was heavenly. It was everything you wanted from a Thai curry and more! Unlike the usual soupy green curries you’re subjected to in the hotels / tourist districts of Thailand, this curry was a dry curry that clung to the rice. The curry was so flavourful with all the usual tastes of a green curry, but laced with rich citrus undertones from the kaffir lime leaves. This was the “hottest” curry of our buffet, but the chilli never grew in intensity, instead it remained a warm background that never grew despite how many mouthfuls of curry you ate.
The curries oscillated from sweet to savoury, sour to creamy and every step in between. There’s no better way to really experience the joys of Thai food than eating a freshly produced curry in amongst the hubbub of a busy market!
A Thai Flavour Bomb - All the Essentials Of A Thai Curry In One Bite!
Leaving our curry buffet we continued our market eating.
Our next stop was to be one of the most unassuming stalls the market had to offer, yet it would turn out to be one of the most flavourful. It was time to eat, what Annie called, the “Thai Flavour Bomb”.
A betel leaf was handed out to each of us. This dark green leaf was filled with a small handful of roasted peanuts, raw lime, slathers of ginger, chilli and onion, dried shrimp and roasted coconut. This flavourful leaf was then to be wrapped up and eaten in one go. This one bite, detonated a Thai explosion of flavour. Sour, sweet, hot and savoury, instantly exploded across our mouths. It was like we had eaten all the core ingredients for a Thai curry in one mouthful, there was literally nothing like it.
We can’t explain how different this dish was. There were some people on our tour, who at the start could not tolerate any chilli, yet here with the “flavour bomb” were gleefully scarfing down raw bird's eye chillies. If you want to taste Thailand, there can be no better single mouthful than this market side flavour bomb.
We can’t tell you what it’s called and even if we could, we certainly couldn’t pronounce it, but just get off the beaten path, get into a market (or find all these lesser known treats in A Chef’s Tour) and get your taste buds blown over by the Thai Flavour Bomb!
The “Thai Flavour Bomb” - assemble for the most flavourful street eat you’ll ever have!
Sago Balls - Mushroom Dumplings
With our taste buds tingling from the “Thai Flavour Bomb”, we continued through the market to our final stop. Sat on a metal table amongst the busy market, we were handed our next dish, Sago Balls.
Sago Balls are rice flour dumplings filled with a mixture of shiitake mushrooms, coriander root, shallot, garlic, radish, peanut and white pepper. These dumplings are then steamed under a muslin cloth and topped with garlic chips and bird's eye chilli. Each bite is a tantalising combination of meaty, nutty and sweet, cut through with fiery undertones of chilli and peppercorn. It is a tasty one biter, full of earthy flavour and distinctly Thai tastes.
All the ingredients you need to fill a sago ball!
Buffalo Horn Fruit
We had one last almost savoury dish before we started on our dessert courses, it was time for our first taste of Buffalo Horn fruit.
As with a lot of Asia, this was a fruit we’ve never seen before. Think Halloween devil decoration, mixed with black Buffalo horns and you’ll get the picture.
To eat this bizarre fruit, we needed to peel the thick black peel, which exposed the white, chestnutty flavoured fruit below. It was a bizarre fruit and its nutty flavour reminded us of Christmasses in the UK.
A Thai Royal Dessert Platter - Khanom Bueang, Khanom Thuai, Egg Floss Rolls, Pandan Jelly Layer Cake, Khanom Mo Kaeng Thua
Nang Loeng Market is a mecca for desserts. Patronised by everyone from market workers to the Thai Royals. It is legendary for its sweet treats and we were about to find out why.
Sat down at a table in the centre of the market, before us Annie laid out a plethora of Thai puddings.
The sweet course started with Khanom Bueang, Thai crispy pancakes. These ubiquitous desserts can be found on almost every street corner of Thailand and are delicious! We loved them in Chiang Mai, but this time our crispy crepe batter was filled with salted shredded duck egg and sweet red bean. The Khanom Bueang were slightly larger than ones we’ve eaten previously, and were as morish as ever.
Next came the Khanom Thuai. This tiny pudding may look like just a plain set custard, but boy would you be wrong. This pudding is the perfect example of sweet and salty. Mark a cross in the white coconut custard layer, dig through with your spoon and you’ll reach the sweet pandan and palm sugar layer below. Eat both these layers together and you’ll get a perfectly balanced dessert. Sweet, salty, coconutty and vanilla-ry pandan, what’s not to like?
We continued our sweet and salty flex with a taste of some Thai Egg Floss rolls. These small bright orange gnocchi like shapes were delicious. Sweet, yet slightly savoury due to the egg floss wrap, we couldn’t help but think they would make the perfect partner to a strong coffee.
Our next dessert was the most bizarre cake we’ve ever seen. It was literally, layers upon layers of luminous green pandan jelly. The cake was made of two different alternating textured layers. The bright green jelly packed a punch in flavour and was extremely sweet with the texture reminding us a bit of a melted gummy bear. In comparison the pale green pandan mousse was more subtle in flavour, but we could still taste the vanilla-ry pandan taste throughout.
The final Thai pudding was quite possibly the most unique dessert we’ve ever tried, and one we’re going to have a hard time convincing you is tasty. It was our chance to try the curious Khanom Mo Kaeng Thua, or Thai Flan with Shallots! Like you, we were not convinced when we heard this, but trust us, the dessert really works. The set custard on the bottom of the flan is super soft, almost jelly like in texture with a delicate coconut and egg custard taste. The topping of this pudding is where things go a little bit different, as unlike most set custard desserts in the West, this pudding is topped with deep fried shallots. In every way this shouldn’t work, but it really does. The sweet and slightly salty shallots pair perfectly with the sweet custard making for one of the most delectable desserts we’ve ever eaten.
The Final Course, The Thai Fruit Platter - Longkong and Mangosteens
Our afternoon of endurance eating was finally coming to an end and it was time for our final plate of food, the Thai fruit platter.
First up were the longkong (langsat), tiny beige balls (looking a bit like salad potatoes) that once peeled reveal a bright white fruit with a black stone in the middle. These little longkongs had a sweet and sour taste and reminded us of a sour grape.
Next came the deep purple mangosteens. Annie let us know that these fruits are often banned in hotels in Thailand due to the bright purple juice that stains everything it comes into contact with. To peel these hard fruits, push your thumb into the middle of the fruit and pull away so that you’re left with two halves, one of which will contain the fruit. These small white nuggets were extremely sweet and reminded us of plums. They were addictive, and it’ll be a fruit we’ll seek out when we’re next in a market (just not while we’re wearing white clothing).
Feeling extremely full, both in the stomach and with our new found food knowledge, our Bangkok banquet was at an end. Our culinary exploration of Old Siam was done!
How Can I Book This ‘A Chef’s Tour’ Street Food Tour?
If you’re hungry after reading this and eager to try everything we’ve eaten, then why not book your own Old Siam street food tour?
A Chef’s Tour also runs other street food tours throughout Thailand and beyond, including an amazing northern experience in the streets of Chiang Mai as well as a tour showcasing the diverse southern cuisines of Phuket’s Old Town.
If you’re in Bangkok, A Chef’s Tour also runs an evening food tour showcasing the best of Chinatown’s Yaowarat Road.
Still Hungry For More
If this article hasn’t satiated your appetite, then why not read about another amazing food tour we did in Bangkok. This time, we ate our way through the neon-lit back streets of Chinatown eating everything from Michelin recommended prawn and pork dumplings to a soy sauce ice cream. It was a rollercoaster of Thai Chinese cuisine and a food tour not to be missed.
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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