For decades, no evening food market in Bangkok surpasses the reputation of the Chinatown’s. Every night (less busy on Mondays) underneath numerous bright Chinese-language neon signs, vendors’ woks are blazed, steam hovers over steel pots, and the aroma of cooked food permeate the air. The whole neighborhood is flocked with local visitors and tourists in search of Bangkok’s best Chinese and Thai street cuisines. If you visit Bangkok, it’s a crime to skip this nightly phenomenon!
With so many vendors and restaurants, how do you know who to eat with? Sure you can eat at any vendors but you don’t want your evening food journey in Chinatown to be just mediocre. Travel blogs and recommendations can be found online but why not hearing insight from a Thai food expert if you can. Join our Chinatown Food Tour (Yaowarat), we will figure it all out for you. Come along and enjoy!
Why Choosing Our Chinatown Food Tour in Bangkok?
1. We are the first local food tour operator in Bangkok. Our food tour guides are experts in Thai food culture. They have deep knowledge in each culinary neighborhood we take you to and can explain everything you need to know in lengthy detail (Just ask!)
2. We take you to the best eateries in Chinatown, from local’s favorites to Michelin Star awarded places. Some restaurants that we go to are tugged in quiet alleys. Dining at these places offer a different perspective to the bustling main road.
3. At each food stop, you eat smaller portions than regular serving portions so you don’t get too filled up for the next stops.
4. We care about your dietary restrictions. Do not be afraid even if you’re allergic to something. We make sure you don’t consume them.
What Do We Eat on Our Chinatown Food Tour in Bangkok
Most restaurants in Chinatown specialize in Southern Chinese (Cantonese) food with noodles, seafood and dim sum dominating the menus. We hit it all, dim sum, noodles, curries, seafood, soup, and desserts.
Pink Noodle Soup (Yen Ta Fo):
This is one of Thai’s favorite noodle dishes. The delicious sour and salty pink broth is made from tomato paste. With a type of noodle at your choice, yummy toppings like fish balls, fish meat slices, slices of squid, fried tofu, morning glory, and congealed blood combine to form the flavor. The broth and the toppings here are homemade whereas it’s common for Yen To Fo stalls to buy the toppings from food processing factories.
Dim Sum:
If you haven’t had these steamed bite-size dumplings served in bamboo baskets, you haven’t arrived in Bangkok’s Chinatown. You will get to try a few types of dim sum. All made with fresh ingredients, the dim sum here has received the best reputation in the neighborhood.
Chinese Fried Dough (Patong Go):
The stall is always surrounded by customers queuing to get the tasty treat – this is why we bring you here. The dough, crispy after deep-fried is grilled and served with topping dips of your choice such as yellow custard, chocolate sauce, pandan-coconut sauce, or simply just condensed milk. As you munch on the Patong Go, you can see them being made from scratch.
Seafood
Eating seafood at a pop-up table on a street side is a must-do in Chinatown. People are usually dissuaded seeing a long line of customers waiting for a table. But with our tour, we always reserve a spot for you so our customers are seated more or less right away! What’s on the plate? The tour guides may order different dishes on every tour but the usuals are grilled scollops, crab fried rice, spicy seafood soup, and spicy seafood salad.
Crispy Pork and Pig Organs in Peppery Soup (Kway Jab)
Another southern Chinese dish, Kway Jab broth tastes soothing and makes you sweat in the same time (because of the black pepper!) The broth comes with your choices of organs, i.e. heart, liver, tongue. If you’re not comfortable with the idea of organs, you can go for crispy pork. Each type of organs has different texture. The cooking process is totally hygienic. They smell nothing but well-cooked meat.
After the several main dishes, we head for homemade ice-cream and a traditional Chinese dessert! The ice-cream vendor offers several choices of flavors. Many of them are special to Thailand like Thai milk tea, and tropical fruits like lichee, coconut, and durian.
The other dessert is sesame balls in ginger tea. Our tour guides nick-name this dessert eye-ball sweet soup. But don’t let the name gross you out. It’s delicious! And there is a reason we pick this dessert to end the tour. Ginger tea works magic on helping you digest everything on this extended dinner.
What Else Do We Do on Our Chinatown Food Tour in Bangkok?
Bangkok’s Chinatown is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Bangkok. Every generation that lives here adds to its cultural richness. Our tour guide will help you understand the fun history and background via visiting iconic and revered sites in the neighborhood. A little sightseeing also serves as digestion breaks between food stops too!
