Guide to the Best Street Food Spots in Bangkok
29TH NOVEMBER 2019
Chinatown
Number 1 on the list was our favourite place for street food. A busy main road with lots of small side streets all lined with the most incredible food vendors. In addition to being one of the world’s largest and most authentic Chinese communities outside China, Chinatown Bangkok is also one of the capital’s busiest and liveliest districts. Known to locals as Yaowarat, simply order an uber and get dropped on the main road! You'll find incredible food here without a guide, but top of your list should be seafood as this is the best area in Bangkok for it! Going as a pair or small group is a good idea as you can share dishes without getting too full, meaning you can vendor hop and try as much as possible. We tried seafood, duck & rice, pork belly and gyoza, ALL so tasty.
Khaosan Road/ Soi Rambuttri
Khao San Road. It’s arguably the most famous backpacker/tourist street in Southeast Asia (if not the world). If you’re a budget traveler in Southeast Asia, chances are you’ll end up here are some point. All roads seem to point here and it’s the transit hub for backpackers in the region. It's a MAJOR place for a night out, so brace yourself for really loud music and lots of crowds. Personally, this place isn't our favourite, although we ended up here several times, it's unavoidable. There're loads of money grabbing schemes here, including overpriced food and drinks. Our top tip would be to steer clear of the restaurants and stick to the street food vendors, you get more food for a lot less, and also grab your beers from 7/11 before midnight (booze isn't sold between 11-2 and after midnight). You'll see lots of creepy crawly vendors, not worth the money, they taste horrible, but it was a touristy thing we had to try! Coconut ice cream is a must, there's stands all over! The road next to Khoasan road, Soi Rambuttri, is still very touristy but a lot quieter! You have to eat at the tiny noodle soup stand on Soi Rambuttri, the vendor is so lovely & she also joined us for dinner! We ate at M Seafood (next to 7/11) many times during our time in Bangkok, Chang is only 70 Bhat, the food is very affordable and you get loads compared to other places in this area!
Bangrak Bazaar
We visited here on Sam's birthday as many blog posts said it was like the second Chinatown in terms of street food. We were dropped on the main road, expecting it to be lined with lots of vendors but there was NOTHING! We walked around for a while and almost gave up and then stumbled across a bustling street food alley, the Bangrak Bazaar! This place is a lot more modern compared to chinatown, with more permanent food vans set up. There's also a big hall with more vendors inside. We opted for the BBQ vendor outside as all the locals seemed to be eating DIY BBQ and hotpots! It was so much fun, we were given lovely thin sliced pork and a box of veggies to BBQ at our table. We also shared the omelette pad Thai which we'd seen advertised everywhere, plus several Changs made for a fantastic birthday treat!
Floating Market
We saw this place on Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix and couldn't wait to go! There's lots of floating markets in Bangkok but Khlong Lat Mayom is the best for food. There's a huge market hall filled with different food vendors with tons of different food to try. The most interesting of the vendors are the ladies serving from their boats! We took a long tail boat tour (click here to find out more) which took us to a smaller market where we had Pad Thai from a boat vendor, so much fun! Another must try food here is the coconut ice cream with weird toppings (beans on ice cream shouldn't go, but they really do)! You'll see 'Hoi Krong' everywhere, which are tiny pan fried seafood omelettes, but this place had the most fillings we'd seen anywhere! Also the ribs stand near the long tail boat stop is a must try!
Maha Chai
Home to the infamous Jay Fai AND Thip Samai, you can expect long queues here! We were walking around looking for more street food (obviously?) and stumbled across this road with 2 of the most famous restaurants in Thailand. We stood and watched Jay Fai cooking up a storm and then wandered down to witness the queues for the most famous Pad Thai restaurant... neither restaurant we could get a table! Jay Fai you have to visit at about 9.30am to be put on a waiting list for the day, unfortunately when we visited she was closed the rest of the week, BUT it was surreal to see her in action! Thip Samai you're looking at queueing for hours, but again it was still pretty cool to see the chefs cooking away! It wasn't a total loss on the eating food front because just opposite Jay Fai there's an incredible food stall serving AMAZING Thai food, and it's a lot more affordable! We did speak with several people who were lucky enough to eat at Jay Fai and they weren't blown away considering the price, so maybe it was a blessing in disguise that we couldn't get in (*anything to make us feel better about not going*).
Jay Fai
Thip Samai
Ratchada Rot Fai Train Night Market
The Ratchada Rot Fai Train Night Market, not only has authenticity, delicious food and fashion in abundance, it’s also incredibly cool; the distinct vintage aesthetic is different and great for photos! If you're not in Bangkok for long you could end up missing it as it's only open Thursday-Sunday 5pm - til past midnight. There's tons of bars so grab a beer and wander around the stall lanes to find your favourite bite! We would definitely recommend the tasty, but very messy, seafood buckets. The Kung Thep stall was by far the busiest so we ate there, but there's tons of stalls selling this dish!
TIP: Head up to the car park opposite the market to get this incredible Birdseye view!
You'll have the most incredible time exploring Bangkok through the street food, don't be scared about trying new things and throw your worries about food poisoning away! We ate everything and weren't ill once. You'll miss out on so much if you don't try it all, and we hope this helps lead you on your foodie travels! Check out our guide to sightseeing in Bangkok for more on what you can do in this amazing city.
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