TBJ TRAVELS: Bangkok Diaries 3: Eating Around Thailand + Top Restaurants in Bangkok + Chatuchak Market

Guys, I'm sorry if this post will make you hungry and make you stray from your diet; it's about my food adventures in Bangkok! :D

Bangkok is touted as one of the best food destinations in Asia; It is more notable for its street food and street food culture. In Bangkok, everyone, all of a sudden, eats street food. It seems like no matter who you are and where you came from, you won't be able to resist the allure of dining beside busy streets and highways, and feasting on local fare in the sois of Bangkok!

Street Food vendors are located at Sois. The first one we went to is the one right beside Palladium Mall, Pratunam District. The vendors are almost everywhere that you don't even have to try finding one.

Soi in Thai refers to a minor street that leads to a major street.

Click READ MORE for the rest of my yummy adventure!

Our first meal in Bangkok was at KuangHeng, a popular eatery. How did I know? KuangHeng has a branch in every street food area I've been to!

KuangHeng offers a bevy of Thai dishes, but they're popularly known for Boiled Chicken and Deep Fried Chicken sets. I got the latter.

We also ordered Chicken Satay.

Service water in street food joints isn't exactly water-it's water mixed with tea. If you want pure water only, you'd have to buy the bottled one.

For dessert, we had Sticky Rice. I don't know, but Mango Sticky Rice in Bangkok tastes much better than our versions here; The former always comes with this tasty, crunchy rice- like topping that I really, really liked and I think that made me say what I said. :D Oh, there's Durian Sticky Rice as well for Durian lovers.

We only paid 390 Baht for our dinner consisting of a plate of Chicken Satay, Boiled Chicken Set, Deep Fried Chicken Set, Mango Sticky Rice, a bottle of Chang beer, and a cup of pure Coconut Juice.

Other local favorites are Pork Marmite Ribs, Bak Kut Teh (Pork Bone Broth), and grilled seafood.

I would highly recommend that you try street food when in Bangkok because the food is so cheap, but very good, unless you have a very weak stomach; I would not say that Thai food in Manila is inferior to the one in Bangkok, but what makes the latter special is you take it in a special setting. To be honest, street food dining is not the most comfortable dining experience especially if you dislike smoke and heat, but it's nice to try at least once for a little adventure.

The biggest question would probably be "Is Thai street food safe?" Pretty much. Two days before leaving for Bangkok, I was rushed to the hospital due to gastrointestinal problems and right when I got here, I immediately feasted on street food (with a little caution, of course) and never encountered any health issues in my 4-day affair with it. However, I can't say if Thai street food is truly safe. 

My advice for an enjoyable street food adventure in Thailand would be: 1.) Always ask the server to warm or cook your meals thoroughly. 2.) Avoid having too much of one thing, especially spicy and salty foods. 3.) Bring medicine. 4.) Avoid seafood because in general, it's the food that gets spoiled very quickly. If you really want to eat seafood, choose only the freshest ones and make sure you know how.

Here are our precious restaurant finds in Bangkok:

Little Home is a restaurant/bakery that we chose to eat at in Silom Complex, a mall in the Silom district. 

Top, L-R: Iced Tea and Lemon Juice; Lemon Chicken

Bottom, L-R: Chinese Fried Rice, Ham Salad (?)

Little Home offers a variety of dishes ranging from American, Chinese, Thai, and Thai-American fusion; Their food really resembles home, but with a bit of fanciness to it and it's an ideal restaurant to go to if you're famished from all that walking or temple- hopping because their meals are really filling. It's a nice breakfast place too.

Must Try Dishes at Little Home: Chinese Fried Rice; Lemon Chicken.

For dessert, we blindly went for After You and turned out that it was one of the highlights of our vacation. 

Top, L-R: Hazelnut Latte, Chocolate Lava

Bottom, L-R: Cheese Toast, Americano

After You is a popular Coffee and Dessert joint amongst Bangkokians. The owners of this restaurant must be devoted fans of sweets because they make really good and really pretty desserts!

Must Try Dishes at After You: Cheese Toast and Chocolate Lava; Other After You branches I know are at CentralWorld and Siam Paragon, Bangkok.

My BF is a true blue chocolate lover and he craves for it regularly, like how I'd crave for coffee. For his chocolate fix in Bangkok, we got some from Melt Me, a popular chocolate + gelato store.

Their chocolates are okay, to be honest; I won't mind eating them again, but I probably won't go the extra mile for it.

Our last food destination today is the super famous Chatuchak Weekend Market or also known as Jatujak Market. It's basically street food universe as it's a sizable area brimming with street food vendors! It's only open during weekends and from morning until 6pm.

Our first meal in Chatuchak was Pad Thai and Pork with Sauce with soup from a random vendor:

 Of course, we had to have our staple Mango Sticky Rice.

Any trip to Chatuchak is incomplete without having the famous Coconut Ice Cream. There are a lot around Chatuchak and the one we tried is CoconutIceCreamJJ. For only 50 or 60 Baht, you get a bowl of all- natural Coconut Ice cream placed in a Coconut shell with Coconut meat leftovers at the bottom that you can eat. Toppings available are red bean, crispy rice, sticky rice, Nata De Coco, and Corn.

This textured, lightly sweet Coconut Ice Cream is beautiful in all levels and I love how unique the toppings are. Rice with Ice Cream? Why not! This Ice Cream is what I will go back for at Chatuchak! 

There's also a flea market at Chatuchak and it's where you can score brand new and second- hand jeans, boots, and interestingly, cowboy- inspired items.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to go around and try as much street food as we wanted to because it rained pretty bad during our visit. For me, there's no difference between Chatuchak and the other street food joints around Bangkok, but I'd go back here for the Coconut Ice Cream alone!

How To Get To Chatuchak Market: Ride MRT Yellow Line and alight at Mo Chit Station. Exit at Exit # 1.

That's all and I hope this post will come handy to you in your upcoming Bangkok trip!

For our last day in Bangkok, we'll go shopping! :) Do come back for it. ;)

Check out my other Bangkok diaries:

BANGKOK DIARIES 1: Sawasdee Ka, Bangkok + Temple Hopping (Wat Arun and Wat Pho)

BANGKOK DIARIES 2: Jim Thompson, Erawan Shrine, and Lumpini Park

BANGKOK DIARIES 4: Shopping in Thailand + Khob Khun Ka, Bangkok!