Seat of Our Pants

If I had one suggestion to give someone going to Bangkok it would be this: don’t eat in their restaurants. Sure, they have great selection there. Their prices are also enticing but believe me, the real eating experience is had right on the street. You will pay a fraction of the price and it’s the real deal.

Here’s an example of some great finds in the streets around Banglamphu. If you’re not staying in that area, there will be similar stalls elsewhere. You don’t have to go far – a block or two will give you all these options and more.

Forget the “set breakfasts” (toast, eggs, breakfast meat, etc) on offer at the restaurants and eat what the locals eat: noodle soup. This is usually served from carts that display noodles piled up in their display cases and cost us just about US $1. We had Tom Yum soup, which was spicy and delicious – the perfect way to jump start your day.

Lunch was a series of nibbles we picked up at food stalls like the one pictured above. You may not know what you’re ordering, but at $.50 to $1 per bag, you can always try it and toss if it’s not to your liking. Many of the stalls have either English descriptions of what they offer or display images of the type of meat or filling in their food. Everything we tried was scrumptious and set us back about US $3 total.

Bangkok is hot and humid – the kind of place that screams for an afternoon fruit snack. Carts like the one pictured above are a godsend in the mid-day heat. For the equivalent of about US $.50 you get your choice of one of the fruits displayed.

Dinner was a plate of Pad Thai, cooked at a street side stall. You’ll have an option of protein (chicken, egg or tofu) and they’ll make it non-spicy for those of us that aren’t used to Thai spices. If spice is your thing, they have chili flakes to add after it’s been cooked. It’s a heaping portion (Martin and I shared one) and at US $1, it won’t break the bank.

Dessert was the always delicious Roti, also called a pancake on the vendor’s menu. You can choose from a number of delicious fillings (peanut butter, nutella, banana or chocolate to name a few), which they fold into a paper thin pancake. We had the egg banana smothered in condensed milk and sprinkled sugar. Yes, it constitutes about ½ of your daily calorie allowance, but you’re on vacation – you shouldn’t be thinking about those things!

Finally, if you’re anything like the two of us, you’ll top the night off with an adult beverage of your choice. There really is nothing like a cold beer in this hot climate. You’ll see. They’re hard to resist – and one never seems to quench the ol’ thirst.

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