Best Bangkok Street Food – Thailand

Bangkok street food offers delicious and cheap meals for everyone and is perfect for a quick and easy meal in between exploring all the places of interest in the city. Andy and I have visited Bangkok in Thailand on several occasions, both to stay and explore the city, and whilst en route to other destinations.

We’ve always enjoyed Bangkok street food, so are excited to share our favourite dishes with you in this post.

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Best Street Food in Bangkok

Bangkok street food is famous worldwide and is also considered one of the easiest ways for tourists to get to know Thailand’s culture. However, when you first come to this dynamic city, knowing what to try and where can be overwhelming.

Based on our own experiences, I have pulled together everything you need to know about Bangkok street food. Including the types of food and the places to enjoy the best street food in Bangkok.

Wherever you stay in Bangkok, you can find colourful culinary booths which become a unique attraction of Bangkok. In the local markets, the booths are grouped; you can come back on many occasions and pick a new one each time. Some stalls are even open all night.

Types of Bangkok Street Food

Bangkok street food comes in a variety of types. It could be a small trolley on the sidewalk, many booths in local markets or a food shop with tables and chairs on the sidewalk for street vendors.

These pavilions usually serve a certain dish and diners can see fresh ingredients and how the food is prepared. Some sellers can speak English but not well. Therefore, I will give you the list of the most popular dishes that have been translated into English. I hope that it will be helpful for you.

The Noodles

Photo Credit: A Cia taken from Flickr

Many food eateries in Bangkok sell a variety of noodles such as chicken noodles, duck noodles, egg noodles with wonton, pork and beef. Each type of noodle has different flavours and sizes.

Many choices are available for you including:

• Sen Yai (rice river noodles) – long, straight noodles made from rice flour.
• Sen Mii (rice vermicelli) – thin, long and dry noodles, made from rice flour.
• Sen Lek – medium-sized rice noodles.
• Bah Mii – yellow noodles made from egg and rice flour.
• Woon Sen – thin, dry, and transparent noodles made from soy flour.
• Gieow Wonton) – grilled pork wrapped in thin yellow cake.

Once you have decided on the type of noodles you want, you will choose if you want to enjoy wet noodles or dry noodles. The last step is to choose which type of meat served with the noodles.

Curry Rice

Bangkok street food also has delicious curry rice. This is also considered the cheapest and most convenient dish in Bangkok. In the rice booths, the ordering process is simpler and faster than in the noodle booths. Diners call in to order everything they want to eat, and the food will be brought out on a tin tray.

Fried Quails Eggs

The quail eggs are simply fried and then eaten with a special sauce. The delicious taste of this dish is something many visitors cannot refuse.

Tod Man Pla (Fish Cake)

Thai fish cake has the smell of curry. Fish is prepared first then the seller often moulds it into a circle and drops it into the pan to fry. Each fish cake is sweet and crunchy and is served with sweet and sour chilli sauce. It attracts many customers. You can enjoy this dish at Pratunam Market or Chatuchak Market.

Gai Tod (Fried Chicken)

In Bangkok, you do not have to visit fast-food restaurants to enjoy fried chicken. Instead, you can enjoy this dish right at the street stalls. Visitors can choose the chicken that they want to eat and the sellers then fry it for you.

Som Tam (Thai Papaya Salad)

Photo Credit: Pabo76 taken from Flickr

Som Tam is a Thai-style papaya salad with the sweet and sour taste of the salad and the spicy chilli hit of most Thai dishes. Som Tam is made from green papaya mixed with dried shrimp, peanuts, chillies, sugar, garlic, lemons, fish sauce, and tomatoes. Most visitors coming to Bangkok love Som Tam. It’s one of our absolute favourites.

Khao Niew Ma Muang (Steamed Sticky Rice With Mango)

As a very famous dessert dish in Thailand, steamed sticky rice with mango has the main ingredients including ripe mangoes, sticky rice, and coconut milk. Thanks to that, the dishes are colourful and eye-catching to the diners. You can easily find this at the roadside stalls at prices ranging. This is also a great option if you’re a vegan travelling in Thailand.

Pla Meuk Yang (Grilled Squid)

Grilled squid is a popular dish found in many major Asian cities like Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, and Bangkok. Thai-style grilled squid has the sweetness of squid combined with slightly spicy chillies – delicious!

Wonton Mee

Photo credit: moniquz taken from Flic

Originating from China, Wonton Mee is also now quite popular in other Asian countries, including Thailand. Wonton Mee is thick golden sautéed noodles served with steamed, boiled or fried wonton with a little bit of meat, green leafy vegetables, and green onions. The best place to enjoy Wonton Mee is Sukhumvit Soi 38 Food Street.

Gai/ Moo Bing (Grilled Chicken/ Pork Skewers)

Bangkok is also popular with barbecued skewers such as fish balls, sausages, and meatballs etc. You choose and the seller will grill them for you. The skewers are often eaten with peanut sauce and are very cheap.

Khai Jiao (Thai-style Omelette)

Thai fried eggs are quite sophisticated. The seller puts the meat in the middle of the fried egg and slowly pats the eggs into a square. When the diner enjoys this dish, the seller often uses a knife or scissors to cut it into small pieces. The Thai fried egg dish is quite spicy and has an eye-catching yellow colour and delicious flavour.

Roti Kluai Khai (Crepes)

Bangkok is famous for its many mouthwatering dishes, but no one would think it would be famous for crepes – a well-known dessert in France. For a very low price, you can enjoy a crepe with Nutella jam, fresh cream, and fruit.

Fizzy Drinks and Thai Tea

Drinks such as iced coffee, Thai tea, smoothies or fizzy drinks are sold all over the streets of Bangkok for refreshments. They are available in a range of sizes and cost very little.

Icecream

Photo Credit: DeeMakMak taken from Flickr

Ice creams of various shapes, sizes and flavours like fruit or chocolate are the ideal choices to fight the heat of Bangkok.

• Tube Cream – is made simpler and the price is also cheaper than the normal ice cream. Instead of using milk, people use water to make ice cream. Each ice cream is placed in an aluminium tube, and dipped in ice to keep the cream cold. There are many different flavours depending on the colour such as orange, strawberry, mint, lemon…for you to choose from. You can find this at Chatuchak Market or along the streets of Bangkok.
• Icecream Mochi – a variation of mochi, ice-cream mochi has a thin outer shell, with icecream inside. This dish is sold at the Chatuchak weekend market.
• Coconut Cream – at Chatuchak Weekend Market, you shouldn’t miss the coconut cream. This cream is served in a small coconut and then covered with peanuts, fresh coconut, and some jellies. This dish attracts customers with the taste of cream mixed with tasty flavours from the other ingredients

Best Places to Enjoy Bangkok Street Food

As I mentioned above, diners can find street food everywhere in Bangkok, but some places that focus on a variety of dishes.

If you want to take a trip to discover the cuisine of Thailand, here are some suggestions:

Chinatown

As night falls, the main streets of Chinatown begin to light up. The most famous are freshly baked seafood dishes with two restaurants, Lek & Rut and T & K, along Thanon Phadung Dao (Soi Texas). Do not fill your stomach at just one place. To explore all the street food of Chinatown, just try some dishes and go, just like at a buffet. At first, it is a bit overwhelming, but after being surrounded by all the delicious smells and sights you’ll soon become comfortable enough to fully enjoy it. The most popular dishes in the area are dim sum, fried eggs with oysters, roasted chestnuts, cream, fruits, noodles and pepper soup.

Bang Rak

This is the ancient area of Bangkok with a long-standing immigrant community. These people brought their own culture and culinary art with them on their journey. Over time, these dishes also became harmonised with more traditional Thai food, making the cuisine here richer. The most popular dishes here are the roast duck, crispy pork, porridge, pork dumplings and roti bread served with green curry. Bang Rak is just a small area but there are many different culinary choices.

Old City (Rattanakosin)

Bangkok Old City has many famous street food restaurants scattered on narrow streets. The most famous one is Pad Thai Thip Samai Restaurant. Old City is not only loved by tourists but also by the local people who are very fond of this place to enjoy the delicious Pad Thai (a noodle dish of Thai).

Khao San Street Food

Surrounding Khao San Road and Soi Rambuttri, you will find a variety of street food stalls with diverse dishes. Although the food here has been adjusted a bit to suit foreign visitors it still does not lose the authentic taste of the dish.

Along with the aromas in the air, and rickety tables and chairs, the delicious and cheap food is a dining experience that everyone should experience once in life. You can find street food anywhere in Bangkok at any time of the day.

I hope you enjoy eating your way through the street food in Bangkok Whilst you’re at it, many interesting things are waiting to be discovered on your Bangkok itinerary. Here’s a quick city guide to Bangkok which will help you to get started with your exploration.

If you’ve been to Bangkok, what was your favourite Bangkok street food dish? If you’ve not been, which dish would you like to try the most?

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Planning your trip to Bangkok in Thailand? Here are some of our recommended useful resources to help you have the best time possible.

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