If you happened to talk to me during the planning of our trip to Thailand, you undoubtably heard me bursting with excitement at the thought of all of the food I would soon get to experience. This picky-eater-turned-complete-foodie had so many delicious eats in store. After living in the sprawling and quirky city of Bangkok for almost two months, I feel like I finally have enough experiences to write about it. You should probably grab a snack before starting this post, because reading it on an empty stomach might be dangerous. You might find yourself purchasing your own flight ticket to this food haven, or, more reasonably, searching up your local Thai restaurant to experience something close to what we have tried here.
One of the things that has been most exciting about experiencing the food culture of Thailand is the price. When I lived in France, eating authentic French food for dinner always set you back a few too many euros, but here, the most authentic food is the local street food. A full meal can come as cheap as 30 baht ($1), but most street meals run around 40 to 60 baht ($1.50 to $2). In this blog post, I am going to list some of my favorite finds since coming to Bangkok, and as mentioned in the title, this will just barely scrape the surface of all the amazing things we've tried. For the reason listed above, I am also going to list the relative prices of each dish in both Thai Baht and US Dollars. On this list, you'll find anything from authentic street food, to Indian restaurants, buns, and even an honorable mention of Mexican food.
Thai Tea (30 to 60 baht, $1-$2)
The only appropriate way to start this list is to tell you about what I am drinking right now, as I write this. Most days, I will find myself searching out the bright orange hue of a Thai Milk Tea (here in Thailand, it is usually noted as just a milk tea, understandably). Thai Milk Tea is made of brewed
black Ceylon Tea, mixed with sweetened condensed milk. With the humidity and heat of the city, I always order mine iced. The result is a wonderfully sweet, cold, and refreshing treat. The other major benefit to an iced cold Thai Tea is that it is without a doubt the best cure for a slightly too spicy meal (something that happens quite often here).The caffeine content is very low, so my addiction to them is probably more from the sugar of the condensed milk, so I try to limit myself to maybe only 4 per week (when I first arrived, I was quite literally getting one every single day). There is a small coffee counter in our metro station that serves my favorite Thai Tea, and I have just recently become friends with one of the guys who work there. I am officially a regular at that stand, as he remembers my order, and starts making it when he sees me coming.
Pad Thai (60 to 120 baht, $2-$4)
Hello, this is Nolan stopping by very quickly! Jessica thought that this blog post about Thai food would be incomplete without an entry on Pad Thai (and she would be right!) However, she has
found that Pad Thai isn't very much her favorite food! So she's calling in the expert, as I am very much a fan of the dish. Pad Thai is the pizza of Thailand- even the worst Pad Thai is still pretty good. It's been a Thai essential for about 3/4 of a century now, and its delightfully easy to make, which means it appears in restaurants and street food stalls alike. The base is noodles stir fried in a special sauce and mixed with peanuts and tofu. From there, you can mix in shrimp, chicken, or both! As a pescatarian, Pad Thai has been a saving grace for me because I can always count on finding it in the form that matches my eating desires. Ranging from tasty to melt-in-your-mouth delicious, Pad Thai is a classic! Alright, back to the foodie expert.
Pad Kra Pao (30 to 60 baht, $1-$2)
Pad Kra Pao is my #1 new favorite dish in Thailand. It is an incredibly common dish, even more common than the ever popular Pad Thai. I've heard it called the Thai version of a cheeseburger, because of how common and easy it is to find. Pad Kra Pao is made up of usually pork or chicken, stir fried with Thai Basil and chilis, served on top of rice (and if you're lucky) with a fried egg on top. The meal is spicy and flavorful, simple and filling. It is easy to find in street food stands, restaurants, and food courts. If there is Thai food, there is usually Pad Kra Pao. I find myself eating it at least once a week, maybe more depending on how hungry I am when I come across a stand. I have found it for as cheap as 25 baht (less than $1), but it will usually come to a little bit more than that. No matter the price, a day with Pad Kra Pao involved can never be a bad day.
Stir Fried Instant Noodles (30 to 90 baht, $1-$3)
My other go to street dish is stir fried instant noodles. And when I say instant noodles, the
noodles literally come out of a ramen package. However, they just take the noodles, and mix it up with vegetables, savory sauces, and any kind of meat depending on what you find. These noodles are my favorite with a little bit of seafood, or some pork. Believe it or not, I recently found some instant noodles stir fried like Pad Kra Pao! You can't make this up. It was the best.
Buns (about 30 baht each, $1)
Buns have been a seriously addictive snack that can be found almost anywhere in this city. From food courts to our local metro mall (the mall inside the metro station at our stop, conveniently just a two minute walk from my Thai tea man), buns are a great small snack for those middle of the day cravings. Buns are basically dumplings, but bigger and with fluffier dough. For me, I can never go wrong with a pork buns. Nolan's vegetarianism tends him towards sesame buns, black bean buns, or taro buns. A singular bun usually comes in around 30 baht, maybe a few baht less, and just two will hold me over perfectly.
The Bombay Masala (usually 500 baht, or $16, for a feast for two)
The restaurant that we have no doubt frequented the most in this city actually isn't a Thai
restaurant at all! Just a ten minute walk down our street, and a left turn down a street that would be hard to be called a street, is a hole in the wall Indian Restaurant named The Bombay Masala. Here, we normally order about three entrees to share, our favorites being Channa Masala, Dal Makhani, and Paneer Butter Masala. Of course, no Indian meal is complete without some rice and garlic butter naan. The curries here are full of garlic and ginger; they are spicy and rich. We always leave with full, happy bellies, raving about whatever we tried new that day, and excited to come back for more.
Tortilla Quemada (the burrito cost about 250 baht or just above $8)
Now, it may sound weird to move to Bangkok, and then write a blog post about a Mexican restaurant but hear us out. Since we moved here, we met some friends that had a way of rating
cuisines foreign to Thailand, but more familiar for us Americans. A restaurant could either be GFH (good for here), or just plain good. This Mexican place is just plain good. My chicken chipotle burrito along with a side of queso would have been delicious if it was down this Thai side street, or along Higuera street in San Luis Obispo. It was GOOD (which was a great relief to us, as we had only found GFH Mexican places up to this point). They also had just opened a dining room with a shiny new margarita bar. Although the current lock down prohibits drinking in restaurants, I definitely see a few post times (tequila shots) in our future.
Ok, well that just barely skimmed the surface of all of the amazing food experiences we've had. Everyday we go out in search of something new and exciting, so I will most definitely be writing a part two at some point in the future. Also, comment below or shoot me an email with any other delicious food items we should search out! In the meantime, I am going to finish drinking my Thai Tea, and wander outside to see what else I can find to try.
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