Wokkid
wok-kid: adjective
a street food explorer
"a person who forages the city in search of the best street food hawkers."
Bangkok Part I
The first eight of twenty street food hawkers are all in a similar area. Visit in a day or two.
Organise yourself on the Wokkid interactive map. Each red Wokkid represents visited street food hawker.
1. K. Panich
Mango and rice by K. Panich is my meal choice for last supper. Transformational. The humility and honesty of care in creation may see you changed by K. Panich too.
The sticky rice is served warm, the yoghurt chilled and the crunchy nut sprinkle is provided on the side for you to add the final touches. There is no more perfection in mango ripeness than that found at K.Panich.
2. Tarn Thong
Tarn Thong is where thousands of miniature bowls of coconut custard are made every day by the lovely ladies who make each by hand.
'Kanom tuay' is a coconut custard dish served warm. Super creamy.
20 baht each ($1)
Open 0900 - 4pm
3. Jay Fai
2 hour wait to get in because Jay Fai is Netflix famous. Worth it.
Crab meat omelette is packed with crab meat and encased in a crunchy light batter that is hand shaved so you only get the best textural experience.
Dry congee a trip highlight. Not something I'd usually have. Heart warmingly good.Pro tip: go up and write your name and get a number. Don't wait in a queue...there is a number system.Super pricey and worth it.
Jay Fai cooking with her goggles on at the wok outside on the street.
4. Lim Lao Ngow (China Town)
Open air tables fill the street. The food aromas mix with moped exhaust fumes. Fish ball soup is the speciality.
Deceptively simple. Four white fish balls, 2 slices of fish and one wonton bathing in a complex broth of aromats and a few fish gills and scales rendered down.
5. Guay Jub Ouan Pochana
China Town booms with entrepreneurial zest that climaxes on the sidewalks of the main street, where you will find Nai Mong Hoi Thod.
Crisply pork in a broth that is peppery not spicy. Skin still crispy. Offal, heart and a fine liver add to the delicacy. More like sandpaper than rubber as a mouthfeel. Side of crunch pork crackling giving rashun vibes.
6. Nai Mong Hoi Thod
Crouch out on the plastic chairs outside and watch the chef make your omelette in the wok. 100% wokkid!
Fried oysters omelette. The fresh water sea salt explodes in your mouth with every oyster. The eggy omelette part is served fried and on the side so you can mix or keep separate mopping up the gravy as you desire. Bulbous and juicy oysters. Super rich.
7. Sae Phun
The 'Since 1926' sign out the front shows provenance and a commitment to consistency. While the Grab delivery has changed the nature of business, the dishes are true to their roots.
Chicken stew is what Sae Phun is known for with juicy pieces of chicken in a creamy gravy. Add a little black vinegar provided to get the full effect. The chorizo style sausage chocks you up with the salt hit, and the egg accompaniment makes this dish a surprisingly yum breakfast.
You won't need the prawn dumplings, but get them anyway. Full size prawn meat, shrouded in the wettest dumplings and dipped in more of that black vinegar. Oh so good.
8. Yih Sahp Luhk
I almost didn't go here. Luckily on my third trip to K. Panich I bumped into a chef from Chicago, that had worked at Attica in Melbourne (great spot)... he said I had to try the short rib at Yih Sahp Luhk. So I listened.
Short rib beef served in a hot pot on a bed of rice. The rice has its own flavour complexity going on elevating the dish again.Dip your slice of short rib into the chilli paste side and say hello to heaven.The salted egg was a bonus I ordered and added in to the rice for some extra mouth feel goodness.
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Bangkok Part II - Thong Lo District
We head to Thong Lo, a trendy Thai place with the up and coming middle class.
9. Nhong Rim Klon
I got lost on my walk to find Nhong Rim Klon, so was glad to have a first street food meal indoors with aircon.
Crab quality is top notch. Enjoyed a large plate of garlic chilli crab that was all the spice and saltiness and chilli traits firing the tastebuds up.
The pickled cabbage here was the highlight. Such pleasure in a simple dish prepared well. The sweet pork broth elevates the humble cabbage.
10. Supanniga Eating Room
Nearby to a Starbucks that doubled as my offices while living in Thong Lo is Supanniga Eating Room.
Dried Fish Chilli was an absolute treat. Crunchy like biltong. Salted fish comes from the eastern Thai provinces where the original recipes were created by the restaurant owners grandma. I could return simply to eat a plate of dried fish chilli.
Beef shank salad gave life to what can be quite a tough meat.
11. Arunwan
Pork offal has been the specialty here since 1963. I felt so happy dining at Arunwan. Not spicy at all except the tanginess of the fermented cabbage.
I had the pork soup with stomach and crispy pork. If you like the fatty part of pork, you will probably vibe with stomach.
Pork wontons dipped in a sweet sticky soy sauce was an added treat. The sticky soy was like an oil slick of deliciousness.
12. Here Hai
Seafood from down Southern Thailand in Surat Thani. Guy carried in two large bags full of crayfish while I dined.
Grilled giant river prawn with green sauce was like the texture of calamari with the richness of prawn meat. So good.
Longest spring rolls on the trip.
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Bangkok Part III - Pathum Wan District
Pathum Wan District is home to MBK Center and Siam Paragon if you like shopping. Siam Paragon touts itself as the most luxurious mall in Asia, and I don't doubt it. All the luxury brands you know, plus many like Panerai that I've never seen a retail store for.Had one meal in the food mall, and it was sensational. Wokkid is not about restaurants... it is street food, so let's get back to the street.
13. Jay Oh
An hour wait here with a number ticketing system. The time flies by and anticipation builds in the seated audience as the number gets closer to our decade.
Chicken cashew nut salad brings the roasted nut together with spicy green and red chillies and a hefty sprinkle of salt. A good dish to practice your chopstick skills.
Fried pork belly and lots of it below the deep red of the tomato forward broth. Double egg yolks shimmer as the egg whites sunk below. Enough egg noodles here to easily feed 2-3 people.
14. Tung Sui Heng Pochana
Claypot duck legs brought a brand new flavour across my tastebuds today.
Crispy pork soup with your choice of noodles; I chose egg. An approachable broth, a few duck blood jellies intermingled with the crispy pork hero. Sweetness of broth on point.
Claypot duck legs brought a brand new flavour across my tastebuds today. The meat is gelatinous, and easily parts with the narrow yet solid bones of said duck. The meat is densely flavoured and lends it richness to the broth that is almost sticky in its viscosity. The fattiness is broken with the crunch of the spinach stalks.
The restaurant is now run by the family's second generation, inheriting a fifty year dynasty of serving the most unctuous of duck cuts.
15. Go-Ang Kaomukai Pratunam
Chicken and rice done a handful of ways and served in broth. Not many places that will have you nourished for 70 baht, but Go-Ang does and has a six decade reputation of serving the locals.
Treasure hunt the chicken bones for meat, and if you get a chicken neck you are in luck! The broth is a beautifully peppery number.
It was this very dish I got to enjoy on a brief layover in January 2020 that inspired the idea to do a street food tour of Bangkok. Chicken soup is like coming home.
16. Jia Yong Tau Foo
Homemade shrimp balls are the order of the day at Jia Yongs, proceeded by a crispy won tons.
Homemade shrimp balls are the order of the day at Jia Yongs, proceeded by a crispy wontons. The most delicate pork filling in a small elliptical shape, lightly oil fried its easy to chomp all ten.
Shrimp ball soup presented beautifully. Slices of shrimp meat, spring onion and a wonton accompany the shrimp balls. Especially enjoyed the fried ball in between the slurping.
17. Elvis Suki (Soi Yotse)
Arriving for the famed sukiyaki in an eggy sauce, then got tempted with scallops. Glad I listened to that voice.
Scallops are cooked in a butter sauce. Once you have opened each shell, dip them in either the green and red chilli garlic sauce provided. Or... the magic mystery lightly sweet sauce on its right. The mystery was resolved by the maitre'd; it is a plum sauce Chinese style. Sooo good. Much more the match for the delicate nature of a scallop.
Beef sukiyaki with its own dipping sauce. You can choose seafood or pork if you like. There is a smoky flavor that I wasn't expecting and initial mistook for fish sauce.Another table ordered the mussels and they looked absolutely mouthwatering.
Pro tip: walk to your street hawker of choice to work up that appetite then order a Thai Ice Tea too cool you down when you get there...and to turn the heat down on your meal if necessary.
18. Ann Guay Tiew Khua Gai
Appetite already satiated before arrival, meant I was always going to miss out on the fried noodles cooked on a hot charcoal stove. Instead I dialled it back to simply the chicken soup.
Sitting outside gives you the classic Thai street food vibe and the front of house was enjoying the music, so I thought I'd join him. Inside is full air conditioning if you prefer. It had poured with rain an hour before I arrived, leaving the streets cool on sunset.
The humble bowl of chicken soup isn't much to photograph, so let me describe the layers. Spring onion for the texture and fried garlic flakes crunch around the broth. A whole garlic at the bottom of the bowl, said this is where you're getting healthy my fren.Chicken was thigh meat I think, steak like texture, cooked in oblong chunks that curled into their soup home. That's about all I can write on chicken soup.
Bangkok Part IV - Sukhumvit
Sukhumvit is about high class hotels and high class shopping environments and represents the most modern aspects of Bangkok life. If you know your way around the BTS train network, you'll avoid the hectic 6 lanes of traffic from east to west at most hours.Sukhumvit is more renowned for its Michelin star fine dining restaurants at dizzying skyscraper heights than it is for street food. If you prefer the glitz of the top-end and are happy to pay, then Sukhumvit is likely to pay off for your food adventures (the exception being Soi Polo below).Otherwise I would stick to Banglamphu and Pathum Wan to the west and Thong Lo to the east of Sukhumvit.
19. Bangkok Bold Kitchen
Sequestered inside the palatial luxury of global brands, is Bangkok Bold Kitchen.
The first Chicken Khao Soi dish of the trip didn't disappoint. Underneath that birds nest of crunchy noodles is a slow cooked chicken leg on the bone. The richness of this Northern Style coconut curry broth will have you satiated for the entire day.
20. The Local
A classic home provides respite from the irrepressible street hawkers and heat of the Sukhimvit concrete jungle.
'Mom's Recipe' Southern Fried Fish is a curry paste fry up with a ton of aromatics. The raw accompanying raw vegetables didn't make a lot of sense, but I think my ordering selection didn't make the most of what's on offer here.
Stir fried vegetables on the side made a little more sense with a crinkle cut vegetable added in. Overall, for 1200 baht, the street food vendors are going to give you better value for money.
The surroundings are beautiful though, so factor that in to the experience you are paying for over street fumes and tuk tuk horns.
On Friday it was with the spare ribs or the duck curry and with the former sold out, I opted for duck. Classic Thai served within a warm family environment.
21. Sanguan Sri
Serving Thai's since the 1970's, a row of bi-fold doors separates Sanguan Sri from the traffic mania outside. Fortunately that is enough for the regulars from surrounding Embassies. Their menu changes every day between Monday and Saturday, enabling more people to be served in a shorter time.
On Friday it was with the spare ribs or the duck curry and with the former sold out, I opted for duck. Classic Thai served within a warm family environment. Roasted tomatoes soak up the rich red curry and the licks of duck pile up in the center.
22. Polo Fried Chicken (Soi Polo)
Not to be confused with Los Pollos from Breaking Bad, Soi Polo has been serving up fried chicken for over five decades. Situated between the Lumphini Police Station and the U.S. Embassy, custom was brisk on the day I visited. Note that there is also an air-conditioned room next door to the main restaurant that is available to dine at too.
Fried chicken is available by the half or full chicken, both coated in the deep-fried garlic crunch that made Soi Polo famous in the first place. Can't believe how delicious chicken can be when prepared simply yet thoughtfully.
Fried chicken is available by the half or full chicken, both coated in the deep-fried garlic crunch that made Soi Polo famous in the first place. Can't believe how delicious chicken can be when prepared simply yet thoughtfully.
Som Tam is a fried pork papaya salad that brings a little heat, although I am comfortable with plenty more ped ped (spicy).
If you can only dine at one street food place in the Bangkok Part IV - Sukhumvit section, make it this one.
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Wokkid
wok-kid: adjective
a street food explorer
"a person who forages the city in search of the best street food hawkers."