7 Off-Tourist-Radar Areas to Eat Street Food in Bangkok
Don’t get us wrong…it’s not that we hate eating at tourist-crowded areas like Chinatown or Bang Lam Phu (better known as the food market near Khao San Rd.) Delicious food draws a crowd – we know that. But Bangkok is a huge city, and street food in Bangkok scatters everywhere. Avid Thai foodies like us have had a mission to explore and locate places for delicious street food, no matter how complicated it is to get to. And here’s our guide to best places to eat street food in Bangkok with their top eateries. We encourage you to venture out of your comfort zone, try to visit them by yourself, (and perhaps enjoy being the only foreigner there!). But if you don’t want to figure out the logistics or deal with language barriers, join our tours. We do go to several of these spots.
Wang Lang Market
#1 Off-Tourist-Radar Area to Eat Street Food in Bangkok
In this bustling day market on the west bank of the Chao Phraya river, near the famous Wat Arun, you’ll be submerged in two things – clothes and food. Its maze-like alleys are lined with shops serving food. The 300-meter strip of footpath across Siriraj Hospital is packed with street cart vendors. This part is a heaven for snack lovers. You’ll find grilled bananas, roti, pancake, exotic tropical fruits, sweet Thai desserts, grilled pork (Moo Yang), Som Tam, for example. Note though, that there are no tables to sit and eat. Most of the restaurants are in the alleys. Our tip is soak into its bustling street food scene then escape onto the second floor of Wang Lang Food Center where the air-conditioning food court provides a great sanctuary from the hot and crowded market below. Read a full article on Wang Lang Market here.
OUR TOP STREET FOOD CHOICES:
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Som Tam Jae Yupin (ส้มตำเจ๊ยุพิน): Delicious Issan or Northeastern Thai food. Dishes start from 30 THB – cheap!
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Khun Daeng Kway Jab Yuan (คุณแดงก๋วยจั๊บญวน): Area’s best rolled rice noodle. Flavorful peppery soup.
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Pa Tim’s Tank Taek Pancake (ขนมถังแตกร้านป้าติ๋ม): Folded pancakes with different fillings like coconut meat, Foi Thong (Sweet Egg Floss), pandan leaf custard. Be careful, they can be really sweet your teeth may fall out!
WHEN: 9am – 10pm
WHERE:
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Any cross-river ferries from Phra Arthit near Khao San Road or Tha Maharaj near the Grand Palace
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Any Chao Phraya River ferries. Get off at Wang Lang (Siriraj) Pier No.10
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This market is featured in our Thonburi Food & Canals Adventure (Combo Food + Boat Tour)
Ratchawat Market
#2 Off-Tourist-Radar Area to Eat Street Food in Bangkok
An all-day market in a corner of Dusit District right in the heart of Bangkok, Ratchawat Market offers all kinds of fresh produce and ingredients that go into Thai dishes. The market’s main entrance is on Nakhon Chaisi Rd. A typical Thai wet market, it’s rather dark, unattractive, and doesn’t get a lot of tourists. You’ll be an unusual sight and will be greeted with smiles and mild attention. Once you have enough of the wet market exploration, make your way to streets and lanes near Nakhon Chaisi Rd. Those are where clusters of restaurants alternating with hardware shops and glistening dental clinics are. Foodies, you’ll find your home here!
OUR TOP STREET FOOD CHOICES:
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Ko Roti Cha Chak (โก โรตีชาชัก): All-time favorite sweet Roti with numerous choices of toppings go to with creamy and foamy pulled tea (Teh Tarik)
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Wiroj Phochana’s Yen Ta Fo (เย็นตาโฟ วิโรชน์โภชนา): The restaurant’s pink noodle soup (Yong Tau Foo in Hakka Chinese) features best local fresh ingredients to match with their undefeated tastes
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Ma Yodpak Radna (มะ ยอดผักราดหน้า): The second-generation restaurant serves their signature delicious pork wide rice noodle in gravy sauce with heavenly crunchy kale which they refuse to reveal where they’re supplied from.
WHEN: 8am-5pm. A few stalls and restaurants open at night
WHERE: 3 km from Victory Monument BTS Station. Get off at Exit 3, take a taxi, Tuk Tuk, or walk.
Talad (Market) Phlu & Talad Wat Klang
#3 Off-Tourist-Radar Area to Eat Street Food in Bangkok
Earning itself the nickname ‘Chinatown of Thonburi,’ Talad Phlu is rich in variety and quantity of food, otherwise has nothing in common with Chinatown at all. And most certainly, no shining neon signs are in sight. Like anywhere in Thonburi, the locals here cherish rustic and slow-paced lives. The area’s so removed from Bangkok’s urban character that you feel you were somewhere upcountry. The market sits between Bangkok Yai Canal and a paralleling train track, and has an old-school train station of the same name in front of it. Talad Phlu is made up of a big block of indoor wet market but its eateries and restaurants sprawl around it. And if you include Talad Wat Klang, another wet market, which is somewhat connected to it, they make the biggest traditional wet market in Thonburi. And of course, the possibilities of exploring its food stall in endless.
OUR TOP STREET FOOD CHOICES:
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Suriya Cafe (สุริยากาแฟ): Best vintage coffee shop sitting right in the center of the bustling Wat Klang Market. Great place to slowly enjoy a light breakfast such as Chinese fried dough or soft-boiled eggs and traditional coffee or Thai tea coming in a big glass shot.
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Kao Lao Nuea Pue-ai Talad Phlu (เกาเหลาเนื้อเปื่อยตลาดพลู): Delicious beef soup. Really tender meat in the forever simmered broth before served.
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Mae Jeng Khanom Wan (แม่เจ็งขนมหวาน): In this tiny shophouse, you’ll find almost every kind of traditional Thai sweets in a colorful array of trays.
WHEN: 6am to noon, and again 3pm to midnight
WHERE: Talad Phlu BTS Station. Get off at Exit 3, turn left on Ratchadapisek Rd., and walk 10 minutes. Once you cross the train track, the market is on the right. This market is featured in our Thonburi Food & Canals Adventure (Combo + Boat Tour)
Victory Monument & Soi Rang Nam
#4 Off-Tourist-Radar Area to Eat Street Food in Bangkok
A minivan hub, Victory Monument is also a hub of street food in Bangkok. The monument itself is surrounded on all sides by markets and street stalls. Don’t let the pop-up stalls selling clothes, knickknacks, and cheap electronic gadgets distract you. What you need to do is to wander away from them and down into the network of small alleys and side lanes. If you get off the BTS Station at Exit 2, you’ll pretty much be in Soi (alley) Rang Nam where your food journey can make as long as 500 meters down the soi. In the evening, you’ll find your companions to be Thai youngsters and office workers who live in the area’s numerous cheap-rent apartment buildings. There is even a roof-top bar in the beginning of the soi overlooking the BTS train track – a great place to unwind with chilled beer.
OUR TOP STREET FOOD CHOICES:
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Kway Teow Ruea/Boat Noodle (Beef or Pork Blood Noodle) (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ): There are up to 5 restaurants serving this specialty dish such as Kway Teow Ruea Pa Yak (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือป๋ายักษ์), Kway Teow Ruea Phra Nakhon (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือพระนคร), Anong Kway Teow Ruea (อนงค์ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ). For a bowl of 10-15 THB (30 or 50 cents), the portion is tiny. So don’t be surprised if you see bowls towering diners’ tables. You can also impress Thais by taking up the eating challenge. Some restaurants offer a deal that if you can finish 30 bowls of noodles all at once, you don’t have to pay the bill!
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Kuang Talay Pao (กวงทะเลเผา): Located in Soi Rang Nam, the restaurant provides an extensive and easy-to-order menu of seafood dishes at very reasonable prices.
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Look Chin Disco (ลูกชิ้นดิสโก้): No dancing and alcohol involved, this noodle shop is famous for homemade beef and pork balls in delicious and irresistible clear broth.
WHEN: Markets, stalls, and most restaurants operate from 10am to 10pm
WHERE: Victory Monument BTS Station
Bang Rak
#5 Off-Tourist-Radar Area to Eat Street Food in Bangkok
Bangrak is one of the oldest street food districts in Bangkok. It is known for the availability of diverse cuisines such as Central Thai, regional Thai, Chinese, and Muslim because the residents of Bangrak are multi-cultural. As soon as you walk off Saphan Taksin BTS Station’s Exit 3 down to the Charoen Krung Rd, you’ll be mind-blown by food vendors and shophouse eateries that occupy both sides of the footpaths (and sometimes blocking pedestrians’ way) And yet, there are many more eateries down side lanes you can explore. If there is a Bangkok’s neighborhood where you can dine on a street and look up to find beautiful historic buildings and ancient religious sites in the same time, Bangrak is the one.
OUR TOP STREET FOOD CHOICES:
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Ped Yang Nai Soong (เป็ดย่างนายสูง): Opened for over 50 years, the restaurant serves aromatic roasted duck on rice with delicious gravy sauce.
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A strip of Muslim food stalls in front of Haroon Mosque (มัสยิดฮารูณ): The mosque is located on Charoen Krung 36 St, opposite to the Embassy of France. The 20-meter strip of food stalls at the mosque’s entrance will spoil you with a variety Muslim delicacies and spices such as stewed beef on rice and chicken curry noodle. Several restaurants cook one kind of dish per day so they have 6 dishes for each day of a week (1 day-off). Some of them open their homes as restaurants due to lack of space – you eat in their living rooms.
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Tip Hoy Tod Phu Khao Fai (ทิพ หอยทอดภูเขาไฟ): Their pan-fried oyster omelets feature fresh ingredients and big-size oysters. The omelet is crispy on the outer and soft inside.
WHEN: Most restaurants operate from 10am to 10pm
WHERE: Saphan Taksin BTS Station, Exit 3. This neighbourhood is featured in our Historic Bangkok Food Tasting and Culture Tour.
Bang Khun Non
#6 Off-Tourist-Radar Area to Eat Street Food in Bangkok
Another residential district on the west bank of Chao Phraya river and far from city center, coming to Bang Khun Non just for its street food sounds like an absurd idea to you but not to Thais because we know by the end of the journey, it will be very satisfying (confirmed by our happy tummy). Along the 3-kilometer Bang Khun Non Rd, throw a coin anywhere and it will land in front of (if not in a cooking pan of) either a street cart or a shophouse restaurant. There are lots of traditional Thai desserts. Several stalls sell only few things but they’re great at it. An off-the-beaten-track Taling Chan Floating Market is also only 2 km away from the road – a great visit on a side if you come here on a weekend.
OUR TOP STREET FOOD CHOICES:
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Salapao Wassana (ซาลาเปาวาสนา): Best Chinese buns in the neighborhood. Different sweet and savory fillings such as pork, black beans, custard, mushroom, etc.
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Siam Dim Sum (สยามติ่มซำ): quality Dim Sum with affordable prices, cheaper than most of Dim Sum restaurants in Bangkok. Chinese and seafood dishes also available.
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Sawalee Khaokriabpakmoh & Sakhoosaimoo (สวลี ข้าวเกรียบปากหม้อ สาคูไส้หมู): The street vendor sells 2 things: Thai steamed rice dumplings with sweet pork filling and tapioca balls with using the same filling. These sweet and savory snacks are chewy and heavy enough to substitute a meal.
WHEN: Most restaurants operate from 10am to 6pm. Some open till midnight. Stalls close around 3pm.
WHERE: In Thonburi, which is on the west bank of Chao Phraya river. Best by taxi
Soi Ari
#7 Off-Tourist-Radar Area to Eat Street Food in Bangkok
An upscale residential neighborhood yet less expensive than Sukhumvit and Silom, Soi Ari features both street food and trendy cafes and bars. Soi Ari is quiet in the day. It turns busy at night when food vendors tae over its side lanes. Between Soi Ari 1 and 3, a stretch of vendors are set up closely together. Thai and expat diners flock to buy their dinners and carry home in plastic bags. The usuals are pressed juice, Issan sausage, Thai sweets, noodles, mango & sticky rice, and chicken rice. (We’re just scratching the surface.) If you wander down the sois more, you’ll find from flashier places like cute coffee shops to very upscale eateries like sushi restaurants and bars serving expensive imported craft beers.
OUR TOP STREET FOOD CHOICES:
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Som Tam & Chim Choom Loong Yom (ส้มตำและจิ้มจุ่ม ลุงยม): Located in Ari Soi 1, the small stall serves delicious Issan specialty and Thai Hot Pot. Remember to tell them ‘mai phed’ (not spicy)!
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Maliwan Khanom Thai (มะลิวัลย์ ขนมไทย): Best traditional Thai desserts in the neighborhood. Make great grab&go snacks. Go for Black Sticky Rice in Coconut Milk Sauce, Khanom Chan (Sweet Layered Cake), or simply Mango & Sticky Rice
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Krua Mae Panya (ครัวแม่ปัญญา): The restaurant serves Thai, Vietnamese, Issan dishes. Both cooked to order and ready-made to go on rice – a quick meal.
WHEN: Stalls are available all day but there are more at night. Restaurants usually open from 10am to 10pm.
WHERE: Ari BTS Station, Exit 3
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