Eating in Bangkok

In December 2012 John and I went to Bangkok for a long weekend.

The last time we were there we did several amazing tours: Tiger Temple, Elephant Village, and Fishing Village.

This trip I had two goals: Eat street food and get a massage.

We stayed at Lebua at State Tower on Silom Road in Bangrak.

Bangkok is one of the world’s best cities for street food.

On our first day we walked up and down the side streets off of Thanon Silom.

They had the best open-air market near the Sri Mariamman Temple.

I could have spent hours there!

I know, I know. I say that every time I write about a food market in another country.

I love them for how different they are from where I shop.

While I got my fabulous two hour Thai massage at Health Land Spa:

John explored Lumphini Park.

It’s 142 acres of tranquility in the middle of Bangkok.

There is plenty to do in Lumphini Park: yoga, tai chi, aerobics, tennis, swimming, paddle boating, and dancing.

And lizard watching.

Big lizards!

After my massage and John’s walk in the park, we went looking for a lunch spot.

This place smelled incredible so we ordered something by pointing to a large pot of food.

I have no idea what it was, but it was delicious.

Time to pay attention, because I am going to tell you about a Tuk Tuk/Taxi Restaurant Scam.

Later that night we walked around the city and started our way towards Chinatown. We met a nice local man along the way who told us about a restaurant we should try.

Since we love when local people tell us about restaurants, we listened. He told us about Somboondee Seafood Restaurant and that it was an easy Tuk Tuk ride from where we were.

The best part of this story was the fun Tuk Tuk ride:

When we arrived at the restaurant, a huge red flag popped up -> no locals. The place was packed with tourists!

The man in charge walked us by a large selection of seafood and then escorted us into the restaurant.

I immediately had that feeling that says something isn’t right here. We ordered 2 beers, connected to the WiFi, and did a little research.

This is what we found on TripAdvisor:

You can read more HERE.

So, we paid for our beers and got out of there as fast as we could.

Phew!

By this point we were starving so we went to Queen of Curry, a restaurant we fell in love with the last time we were in Bangkok.

This hit the spot!

Being there is like being with friends.

Friends who can cook!

The next morning we ate poolside at Lebua.

They have the best breakfast, everything you can imagine is available.

They heat up the bacon over an open flame:

And toast the bread in a wood-burning pizza oven:

Toast, bacon, and homemade four berry jam.

Perfect.

After breakfast we met up with Bangkok Food Tours for their Historic Bangrak Food Tasting & Culture Tour.

We met at Saphan Taksin BTS train station where we watched food vendors prepping their food for the day.

We were in a small group with just 4 other people.

Our guide pointed out some of the local produce along the way.

We stopped at a food vendor and tasted the sweet, warm, gooey, and delicious treat I remembered from our last trip to Bangkok.

Kanom Krok are grilled coconut pancakes and they are best straight from the pan of a street food vendor.

The first restaurant we went to was a Muslim Restaurant near the corner of Charoen Krung and Silom Road.

The curry lava egg was served with pickled vegetables — it was a perfect combination of sweet and spicy.

We walked a few doors down to a tom yum noodle stall.

I don’t remember the name of the restaurant or even if it has a name, but I do remember that the tom yum was amazing!

Next, we hopped on the ferry boat and crossed the Chao Phraya river.

Yum Rob Sab is a charming restaurant off of a small path in a quiet neighborhood.

This is where we ate Yum Pla Dook Foo, Crispy Catfish and Green Mango Salad:

The fried catfish was light and flaky, like an airy nest, and the mango salad was fresh and refreshing.

I could eat Green Mango Salad everyday.

We tried Moo Yang Nam Tok, a spicy pork with fish sauce and mint.

This was one of my favorite stops on the food tour.

We jumped on the ferry and went back to the other side of the river.

After all of that savory, we went to Panlee Bakery for a couple of sweet treats.

We ate Green custard buns:

And drank Thai iced tea.

Thai iced tea is sweetened with sugar and condensed milk — it’s delightful!

Our last stop on the food tour was Kalpapruek for green curry and ice cream!

As you can imagine, we needed a nap after our food tour!

That night we went to a well reviewed restaurant a couple of blocks from our hotel.

Cafe Ice des Arts is located on Soi Charoen Krung 47/3 across from GEMS Tower. Their other location is next to the Belgian Embassy off of Silom Road.

We loved everything about Cafe Ice des Arts: the romantic ambiance with a casual atmosphere, the attentive service, and most of all. . . the food!

I ordered the stir-fried soft shell crab with chili oil and yellow curry sauce. It was amazing!

John ordered the deep-fried sea bass with herbs and Thai chili jam salad.

Also amazing.

Our dinner was a delicious finale to an amazing weekend of eating.

Bangkok is one of The World’s Best Cities for Street Food.

Perhaps that has something to do with it being one of my favorite cities in the world!