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Explore ExperiencesAsian cuisine is amongst the tastiest and healthiest cuisines in the world. While all the countries in this region have a fair few things in common, each country has its unique take on everything – including the food. Thai cuisine is especially scrumptious and more so the street food. Bangkok street food or even the street food in other cities in Thailand such as Chiang Mai is something that you cannot leave without sampling. The best street food in Bangkok will always leave you desiring more.
Bangkok has an all-encompassing inventory of both organic and non-organic foods with a variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. This means that every person gets what they want (as far as food is concerned). It’s not just the flavour of the food but the vibe of the areas that sell the best street food in Bangkok that makes it just as interesting to visit. Even locals often eat at these stalls and so it is usually busy, bustling and full of life.
1Types of Bangkok Street Food Outlets
Bangkok street food is not limited to a handcart on the street, it could also be a collection of smaller restaurants, a series of stalls on a weekday or weekend market. Even traditional shophouses sell delicious street food, with their tables spilling out into the pavement.
Another advantage? Even the most famous and best street food in Bangkok is usually extremely pocket-friendly at the same time not compromising on taste, quantity, or quality of food.
But there’s always the question of what to eat? And where do we eat it? Hopefully, the following information will come in handy when it comes to answering that question.
What To Eat In The Streets Of Bangkok
Let’s start with some Bangkok street food classics, arguably the best Thai food in Bangkok! (Desserts, drinks and places to eat will follow!)
Grilled Fish (Pla Pao)**
Street food Type: A filling snack
A grilled or barbecued fish that is stuffed with lemongrass, kafir lime leaves and sometimes basil as well and coated in a thick layer of salt at the time of cooking to keep the flesh perfectly moist and juicy. The salt-crusted skin is peeled back before eating so you can simply dig into the juicy flesh. It is usually served with a Thai chilli sauce. This is one of the most authentic dishes to try out in Bangkok’s street food checklist.
Fried Rice (Khao Pad)
Street food Type: A meal
Thai cuisine almost always uses fragrant jasmine rice for all its rice dishes. The Thai fried rice or Khao Pad is prepared by frying the jasmine rice with both meat and veggies. There are variations to the fried rice and visitors can customize the ingredients as per their preference. Usually served with a side of kimchi or fried egg.
Noodles with Shrimp (Pad Thai Kung)
Street food Type: A meal
Soaked dried rice noodles are cooked with shrimp and just the right amount of veggies. Pad Thai is generally served with lime wedges and garnished with roasted peanuts. Pad Thai and its variations are the most iconic dishes from Thailand.
Steamed Chicken on Rice (Khao Mun Gai)
Street food Type: A meal
Finely cooked pieces of chicken (usually boiled or steamed chicken) are mixed with jasmine rice and are accompanied by a sauce and a chicken broth soup on the side.
Grilled chicken on skewers or chicken satay (Gai Satay)
Street food Type: A light snack
Any ‘Thai food guide’ or ‘Best street food in Bangkok’ is incomplete without mentioning the amazing chicken satay that is replicated almost everywhere around the world. Juicy pieces of chicken on a skewer are grilled to perfection, soaking in their own juices. Served with peanut sauce or glazed with its own juices, a dash of honey, or other sauces. You can’t really go wrong with a satay. Moo Satay (pork satay) is also a great option and it is usually served with a white vinegar cucumber sauce. Beef satays are also available.
Pork and Basil stir-fry (Pad Kra Pao Moo)
Street food Type: A light meal
Pork is stir-fried with the Thai Holy Basil to make this heavenly dish. It is usually served with rice and a fried egg on the side. Chicken variations are also available. This makes for an amazing meal to cross off your list of best street food in Bangkok.
Sour Issan sausage (Sai Krok Issan)
Street food Type: An accompaniment to a meal or a light snack
This is a fermented sausage (usually pork meat, but can be made with other meats as well). The fermentation process is usually done by storing the meat with salt and rice. These sausages are served with slices of ginger, raw white cabbage, and bird’s eye chillies.
Raw Papaya Salad (Som Tam)
Street food Type: An accompaniment to a meal
A delicacy that is enjoyed throughout the South East Asian belt, the raw papaya salad is usually tangy or spicy and is a great accompaniment with rice dishes. It can also be enjoyed as a stand-alone snack. Apart from being one of the best street food items in Bangkok, this dish is pretty much favoured in other parts of Asia as well.
Different Types of Noodles
Street food Type: A meal
The best street food in Bangkok comes with a variety of noodles that you can eat dry or in a soup. You will find rice noodles, egg and flour noodles, glass noodles, flat noodles, wiry noodles and the list just goes on. The best part about noodles in Bangkok’s street food stalls is that they are customisable. You can order the type of noodles you want with the desired meat or veggies and garnish or flavour it with various condiments of your choice.
Know Your Noodles!
Noodles, noodles everywhere, and every strand to eat! When in Thailand with so many mind-boggling varieties of noodles to choose from, know which ones are perfect for your bowl of flavour-packed dishes.
- Sen Yai (rice river noodle): a wide flat noodle made from white rice flour
- Sen Mii (rice vermicelli): a small wiry looking rice flour noodle
- Sen Lek: a medium flat rice flour noodle (the same kind used in pad thai)
- Bah Mii: an egg and wheat flour noodle (yellow in colour)
- Woon Sen (glass noodle): a thin, wiry, transparent soya bean flour noodle
- Gieow (wonton): boiled minced pork wrapped in yellow dough
Thai Stir-fried Noodles (Pad Thai)
Pad Thai has a delicious combination of the spicy sweetness of chilli and palm sugar, as well as an underlying sourness that comes from tamarind pulp and lime juice.
The recipe to Pad Thai involves rice noodles, eggs, chopped firm tofu and often served with minced peanuts. This is served with prawns too. Pad Thai is a famous Thai dish known around the world, and even though it is eaten as a meal in many restaurants, it is an icon that has to under the best street food in Bangkok list.
Bonus: Below, under best places to try Bangkok street food you will know where to get the best Pad Thai in Bangkok!
Pork Trotters Rice (Khao Kaa Moo)
This dish is an explosion of textures and flavours with its luscious stewed pork leg served over a bed of soft jasmine rice soaking up the stew mixed in a vinegary, garlicky stew with tiny green chillies. Chinese kale, a nicely boiled egg and pickled mustard greens are served on the side to complete the dish and make its place on the guide to best street food in Bangkok.
Thai Wanton Mee (Ba Mee)
This is saucy Chinese style egg noodles served with some aromatic pork lard, locally referred to as baa mee. Pork lard and oils add to the flavoursome of this sauce and the egg noodles are usually served with several pieces of pork, wonton and a soft boiled egg which adds a creamy richness to the noodles.
Spicy Thai Seafood Soup (Tom Yum Goong)
A very Asian flavoured soup that is one of the three famous soups in the world, it’s a blast of spicy, sweet and sour taste all at once added with shrimps, lemons and chillies. This is also served with rice and noodles. Lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, shallots give it a herbal kick and coconut milk adds to its creaminess making your taste buds dance within. You can also ask for a vegetarian variation.
This yummy, spicy soup is also a great remedy for a cold or if you are down with the flu.
Thai Rice Noodle Soup (Kuay Jab Nam Sai)
Spice lover? Pig-meat lover? Then, Kuay jaab is your cup of soup that is all pork and no veggies to cleanse your palate. This soup is basically a celebration of the pig.
A bowl of kuay jab nam sai contains pork maw, entrails, liver, heart, tongue, crispy pork and pork pieces with a rich peppery and garlicky aroma to it.
Raw Oysters (Hoi Nang Rom)
A sinful burst of flavours with kra Tin a locally found vegetable, deep-fried shallots, seafood sauce, garlic, lime, chillies and some a whiff of chilli paste with the feel of fresh oysters is the dish Hoi Nang Rom.
Fried Bugs (Ma Laeng Tod)
Thailand is the ‘Go to’ land for fried bugs. You can find a range of insecty-goodness here, from mealworms to locusts and even fried cockroaches and crickets. The fried insects are dipped in a seasoning sauce and served on a stick.
Bird’s Nest Soup (Rang Nok)
Street food Type: A unique snack
Thai Bird’s nest’s soup is made by the birds regurgitating their spit and letting it harden and is served with a whole cooked egg as well as honey. Ginko nuts also accompany the soup. This soup is considered to have a lot of purposed health benefits with it.
Grilled Prawns (Goong Yang)
The Goong Yang on the streets of Bangkok is usually served with a variety of other seafood like squid or fish. Freshly grilled river prawns that have a natural saltiness is just enough as it is grilled over charcoal with its juices bubbling within.
Fish Maw Soup (Krapo Pla)
The Krapo Pla or the fish ma is usually served in a starchy soup made from chicken stock, with the addition of quail eggs.
Toast-Bread with Jam (Kanom Pang Ping)
Well this is dish is not as simple as it sounds, a lightly buttered and crisped/toasted bread smeared with exquisite jam and condensed milk with a raw taste of hazelnut and kaya adding to the sweetness with a coconutty taste.
Thai BBQ (Mookata)
This is a combination of steamboat and grill so that all the lard and meat juices could trickle down to form one of the most wholesome soups.
Boat Noodles (Kway Teow Rua)
Street food Type: A meal
The Boat noodles are a variety of toppings with different types of gravy in one meal. Boat noodles typically come in three variants: chicken, pork or beef; served in either a dark sauce or peanut gravy. It’s usually served dry.
Grilled Pork Stick (Moo Ping)
Moo ping makes for a delicious meat snack on a skewer that is marinated with some fish sauce, palm sugar and some garlic that gives its mouthwatering aroma. The sight of the pork flattened over a skewer with all its aromatic flavours for some even heating will make anyone revisit the streets for Bangkok for more.
Fried Chicken (Gai Tod)
All the fried chicken lovers prepared to be mind blown with this Thai version of Fried chicken served like a drumstick that is lightly dipped in oil and shallots mixture. A truly different experience to fried chicken.
Duck noodles/rice (Kuay Teow Bpet/Khao Na Bpet)
Street food Type: A meal
A Thai dish inspired by its Asian roots is the Kuay Teow Bpet. A soup that is boiled from duck bones with mouthwatering duck meat that has a slight tinge of sweetness from pickled ginger, dark soy and chillies served with rice or noodles for a wholesome dish.
Thai Green Curry (Gang Kiew Wan Gai)
Street food Type: A meal
When in Thailand, never miss the Thai Green Curry. This dish is a delicious overload of coconut milk flavoured with basil leaves and some lemongrass. This slightly spicy dish is served with sticky rice and usually comes with chicken or Thai eggplants.
Crab Bee Hoon (Poo Aob Woonsen)
Street food Type: A meal
A good serving of Hoon Poo Aob Woonsen is a flavourful bouncy noodle and a gravy that is well seasoned with pepper and spices and of course crab/prawn that springs in this dish.
Pork Porridge (Joke Moo)
Street food Type: A light meal
This Thai-style porridge is actually quite similar to Cantonese porridge but comes with an addition of fish sauce/sugar/chilli etc.
Oyster Omelet (Hoi Nang Rom Tod)
Oyster omelette as the name suggests are crispy fried oysters dipped in rice flour and egg batter. Fried batter and egg are served alongside the dish.
Hoy tod
A crispy pancake-like omelettes that is soft and gooey combined with fresh mussels or oysters and eggs atop onions and green chilly sauce served during any and all hours of the day on the streets of Bangkok.
Bua loy nam khing
Street food Type: A filling snack
This dish is a serving of fresh dumplings packed with black sesame floating in a gingery broth. Put together it looks like lotuses floating away in a pond, thus the name ‘floating lotus’
Mu Daeng
Mu Daeng is the dish served with a heap of sticky rice and the Thai version of barbecued red pork. One of its special ingredient that adds to the flavour and colour of this dish is the berry marinade.
Kuay teow ped toon
Street food Type: A meal
Tendered cooked flavourful duck that is simmered in a stew of cinnamon, star anise, five spice powder, garlic, galangal and soy sauce, served with egg noodles and topped with a serving of bean sprouts and green onion adding to the texture in each sinful bite of this dish kuay teaw ped toon.
Saku sai moo
Street food Type: A light meal
A completely tapioca based serving that is steamed and flavoured with ground peanuts and pork, alongside fried garlic oil (gratiem jiew) and a spicy adding of chillies altogether that makes it a crunchy chewy dumpling popular on the streets of Bangkok.
Let’s move on to some amazing Thai street style desserts, shall we?
Rolled Ice Cream (I Tim Pad)
Also known as stir-fried ice cream, it is a sweetened frozen dessert that uses a rolling process to get a semi-solid gelato or ice cream. This comes in many yummy flavours and toppings.
Crispy Pancake (Kanom Bueang)
Kanom Bueang is bite-sized thin wafer-like pancakes, made from rice flour with a rich stuffing of coconut cream and fresh coconut flesh. This crispy pancake is also served with other various stuffings such as egg yolks or chopped scallions
Coconut Ice Cream (I Tim Kati)
Banana Egg Prata (Roti Kai+Gluay)
Softened caramelized bananas combined with egg dough drizzled with condensed milk and chocolate syrup is a must on everyone’s checklist for the best street food in Bangkok.
Thai Candy Floss (Roti Sai Mai)
Mango Sticky Rice (Khao Niao Mamuang)
This dish is the serving of succulent fresh mango with a sachet of coconut milk stacked alongside sticky rice. The feel of coconut milk adding moisture to the glutinous rice makes for a beautiful texture for this dish.
Pandan Cake (Kanom Krok Bai Toey)
Flour, salt, coconut, sugar, and pandan leafs all mixed to be served in the shape of fruits in an iron griddle is your Green Coloured Pandan cake (kanom krok bai toey).
Red Ruby (Tub Tim Grob)
Grass Jelly Dessert
Finally, a few drinks to wash it down!
Pomegranate Juice (Nam TubTim)
Thai Milk Tea (Cha Yen)
Some with the addition of Pearls or Jelly alike.
Bonus:
You will, of course, never go wrong with having the classic, fresh tender coconut water. Many stalls will even serve it chilled or as a shake by including the cream that comes in the coconut.
As mentioned above, some of these street food items can serve as all and out meals. Others are just snacks to keep you going till lunch or dinner time – or you could fill up on loads of snacks and call it dinner 😉
Now, let’s move on to –
Where to Find the Best Street Food in Bangkok
Following are some of the most visited places and considered the best places to eat in Bangkok for its street food:
Chinatown
Bangkok’s Chinatown is a smorgasbord for food lovers. And the keyword you are looking for is Yaowarat Road. Apart from the popular Thai dishes mentioned above, the street food stalls in Chinatown offer several seafood dishes. You can gorge on oyster omelettes and various types of grilled seafood. Or munch on some hot, roasted chestnuts. You will also be able to find dim sums and a large variety of dishes that are a mix of Thai and Chinese cuisine. Yoawarat Road in Chinatown always makes it to any list of best places to eat in Bangkok and for good reason. Therefore, it should definitely be visited.
Pro tip: Don’t stick to one stall. Keep walking and eating, sampling little things from different places.
Soi Rambuttri
It is considered as the place for foodies in Bangkok who want to get away from the more crowded streets (such as its neighbour Khao San Road). Soi Rambuttri is a part of old Bangkok, and just being away from the huge skyscrapers and going down tree-lined roads makes it worth the visit. The place is small and easy to explore, it should take about 30 minutes to walk the whole road. Soi Rambuttri has undergone a facelift over the last few years and it has been transformed into one of the premier eating hubs, not just for street food but cafes and restaurants serving other cuisines as well. As far as best places to eat in Bangkok go, this one definitely makes the cut.
Pro tip: Chances are English menus won’t be largely available, just point at an interesting looking or sounding item and be adventurous with your food. Do let us know what you find!
Khao San
On the parallel road from Soi Rambuttri, Khao San Street and its markets are famous amongst tourists for shopping as well as the food. Find all the famous Thai street food dishes here and then some.
Pro tip: This is a highly tourist concentrated area, ensure you aren’t being overcharged.
Sukhumvit Soi 38
Sukhumvit Soi 38 is famous for the food carts lined along the road which stay busy for most of the night and well into the morning. Sukumvhit Soi 38 is not as sparkly as its neighbour Sukhumvit Road and there are usually carts lined into the streets, with people and cars passing by, rickety furniture and maybe a hopeful dog or cat looking for scraps. However, the food is cooked hygienically and the street is highly popular for the food and therefore makes the cut for places to get the best street food in Bangkok.
Pro tip: There are chances that you won’t find as many stalls as there used to be earlier as the construction of an upcoming condominium has caused many food stall owners to move their place of business.
Bangrak – Silom Road
Silom road is located in the vicinity of the Central Business District of Bangkok. The street food in Bangrak or specifically Silom road is a mix of influences of various cuisines. Apart from Thai cuisine, you are also going to find, Chinese, Indian and Muslim stalls and dishes. You can find everything from pork dumplings and crispy duck to Indian curry with naan bread or rotis.
Pro tip: More tourists visit Silom and hence it will be easier to find people who speak English. You can opt to customise your food or go off the menu and ask them if anything you have been desiring is available. They would be happy to help you and will try their best to understand and give you what you want.
Banglamphu
Banglamphu lies near the river and in the vicinity of the Golden Palace. It is one of the most sought-after street food places. A must try here is the tom yum goong and tom yum talay – a spicy soup with shrimp and seafood and lukchin ping – pork or beef balls on a skewer, dipped in sauce and then grilled. You can also find some strange choice in meats such as crocodile and ostrich meat!
Pro tip: This is very close to Khao San market and Soi Rambuttri and you can go on an endless eating spree down these streets.
Rattanakosin – The Old City
Pad Thai fans can find the purported ‘best Pad Thai in Bangkok’ right here in Rattanakosin – The Pad Thai Thip Samai also known as Pratu Pree or ‘Ghost Gate’. This place is one of the oldest shops in Bangkok serving the famed Pad Thai. There are plenty of other food stalls too, fret not!
Pro tip: Given its fame, there will be a huge queue and slightly inflated prices. But if it is the best Pad Thai in Bangkok it also counts as the best in the world, right?
Bonus
You can also grab some quick eats and tasty bites at the famous floating market in Bangkok.
All these places operate in the evenings, and well into the night and early mornings. Bangkok street food is like the mother who is always ready to feed you, whatever the time the day might be when your hunger pangs or cravings might hit you.
Tips for your quest for Best Street Food in Bangkok
- Most street food stalls are hygienic and prepare fresh food with fresh ingredients every day. However, they won’t be the best-looking restaurants. Tables and chairs will usually be cheap plastic and there will be just basic amenities. If you are the squeamish sort about these things, it is best to be prepared.
- The street food areas are usually crowded with people and sometimes even traffic. Be prepared for the chaos.
- The stalls selling the best street food in Bangkok will (for obvious reasons) be teeming with people. Visit these and you’re guaranteed to get some good food – they are crowded for a reason.
- Many street food areas will also have stalls for shopping purposes – so go nuts and be sure to up your bargaining skills!
- If you are vegetarian/vegan, ensure you check with someone about the ingredients. Chances are that even if there is no meat, the sauces and other condiments might be obtained from non-vegetarian sources.
Also read: Only have a day to spare in Bangkok? Here are all the things you can do in one day
**All pictures are for representation purposes, the actual dish may vary depending on the stall/restaurant.