Extremely Useful Bangkok Travel Guide for Food Lovers
What & Where to Eat
deror_avi, Mango with Sticky Rice P1130098, CC BY-SA 3.0
Is eating one of the highlights of your day? Do you dream of lunch right after having breakfast? If yes, then you are a foodie lover, no question about it. So, if you’re travelling to Bangkok the buzzing, bustling, beautiful capital of Thailand, boy are you in for a treat! Bangkok my dear, is street food heaven! So here’s what to eat and where to eat.
What? Your trip to Bangkok is never complete until you sample all the Thai favourites. Number one is Tom yum Goong (ต้มยําากุ้ง) an aromatic blend of fresh ingredients that include galangal, shrimp, fresh chillies and chili paste. The characteristic zesty flavour comes from the lemongrass, lime juice and kaffir lime leaves that are infused into the soup. Other popular dishes are Pla Pao- grilled whole fish stuffed with a variety of ingredients; the taco-like Kanom Beuang, Sate- grilled meat, and Som Tam, the famous green papaya salad.
If you have a sweet tooth, there are plenty of traditional desserts to try out in Bangkok. One of them is the beloved Khao Neow Ma Muang (ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง) which is literally translated to Sticky Rice with Mango. Available in abundance during the mango season, which is between March and May, this dessert is made using a special type of rice and has a generous serving of coconut cream syrup on top. Other must-try desserts include Khanom Gluay- Banana Treat, Khanom Jark- Palm Leaf Treat, Khao Neow Dam- Sweet Black Sticky Rice. There is also Khao Neow Toorien but it is not for the faint hearted as it is made using Durian which, as we all know, has a very, very unpleasant smell.
Where? From the street stalls to the high-end restaurants at hotels like the Anantara Baan Rajprasong Bangkok Serviced Suites, you are spoiled for choice. Base yourself in a good Bangkok hotel near BTS, so that you can easily travel to all the main food markets and street food haunts. One that is frequented by many locals and tourists is Yaowarat, the Chinatown. It is a bit chaotic but well worth a trip. Then there’s Wang Lang Market, located right across the Chao Praya from the Grand Palace. You can find a good variety of snacks as well as full meals here.
Bangkok is famous for being the site of many unique and curious things and this is no different when it comes to their food. Head over to the Mori Dessert Bar in Siam Square Soi 6, to taste their crazy shakes that come with wonderful toppings such as pieces of cake! Then there’s CODE where you can sample the ‘charcoal toast’, the Once Social Bar and Cafe with their majestic ‘egglette towers’, and the Summer Monster Ice Cream with their beautiful, fairytale-like desserts.
Intrigued by history, art and food, Lavinia Woolf is a writer who is passionate about the extraordinary and writes of the exhilarating and enchanting.