Bangkok street food and food court options

 

this is out in Isaan instead, but the theme comes up a lot in Bangkok

just a market alley, not all that food related, but there would be stalls and shops in there

This discussion comes up over and over in social media groups, so I'll add some thoughts here beyond what fits in a typical post comment.  Some of the background context does get expressed in some threads, but usually it's just a list of personal favorites.  That's fine, but there are dozens of places that repeat, and what turns up in any given post is sort of random.

Let's start with categories, and more on to my own favorite examples of each after.

Street food versus food courts and markets:

True street food is vendor's cart on a sidewalk, which is everywhere in Bangkok.  Food from these places can be fine, but it does add some risk of foodborne illness, since those vendors don't have a kitchen or refrigeration to work with, for sanitation.  Some things seem safe in general; I'll buy cut fruit from them, and roti, and in general whatever is cooked in front of you is better than what is sitting already cooked.  Meats can be ok, but that is sitting out in Bangkok heat without a lot of refrigeration, so a problem could also occur.

Food courts can be a better option for Thai basic foods because they have those extra facilities, and because the types of foods overlap.  There are food courts everywhere, in most office buildings, shopping centers, malls, and in local markets.  The one in Terminal 21 (in Asok) is popular among tourists, but really it's nothing special, it's just presented slightly better than usual.  The Central World version is fine (but I was just in there and many options are 200 baht or so, way too much for food court foods), or in any other mall really.  Older or out of the way mall areas can be even better.  The food court in the Paradise Park mall is great, or The Mall in Bang Kae.  I'm not suggesting that anyone drive an hour or more across the city to go to a special food court; the idea is that different places can be good.

the Terminal 21 food court (credit the GoTouchTheSky page)

Local markets are an exceptional option; these tend to host busy food court areas, the informal outdoor versions, which often work out as local favorites, sometimes selling novel options.  Basics can be great at these too; my own favorite is Isaan fermented sausage with sticky rice, which pairs well with som tum, Thai papaya salad.  There's a nice local market in our area, on Rachawat road in Dusit, but it has a row of food shops instead of a market section, which isn't so different, but it's not the same.

a standard street market, the fruit section

a much bigger pineapple section at the Ta Lat Thai wholesale fruit market section

I just attended a local fair, with a market that was a nice variation of these.  Fair food includes grilled meats, Thai basics (like som tum), fruit, smoothies, novel desert or snack items (like battered fried bananas, or blended rice fried into sweet disc shapes), and just about anything else.  Grilled shrimp might be fine from such a place, or a seafood omelette; it just depends.  They were selling fried bugs there; I guess that's fine for a novelty, for something unusual to try, but I've not tried that.

that fair was based on a Squid Game 3 theme; strange

there was some food at this street art themed fair, not far from the Grand Palace area

Night markets would always include this sort of food shop / open food court space.  Many are geared towards foreign tourists, but in some places they're there mostly for locals.  Another favorite is in a completely local area, Bang Son, I think that is, beside train tracks (here), with one section as a food market and the other as a food court sort of theme, just on tables set up in an open space.  My daughter loves a crepe place there, and there's a shwarma / wrap place, but most is standard Thai food, chicken and rice, rice noodle soup, and so on.  Again it might be anti-climactic traveling across Bangkok to see a railroad market and food shop section; you would probably pass a half dozen similar places along the way.

that Bang Son railroad market place

local places carry a lot of Thai desserts and snacks, like this version

night market sort of shops space beside Victory Monument

I don't really have other favorites for night markets, but there is one outside the Central Rama 9 mall, another beside the Paradise Park mall, and a range of different related areas beside Chatuchak market in the Mo Chit area.  One of those is famous for being a top tier fresh food and fruit market, but since I don't go there it's not so easy to turn up a location link.  I go to a great place beside the Sam Sen railway stop, where fruit options and low pricing can be on par with wholesale markets, but then if your luck or timing is bad there might not be much there at any given time.

there is a good tea shop beside the Paradise Park food court, Ju Jen

People sometimes comment in discussions that most office buildings have food courts in them, and this isn't an exaggeration.  In the office building I worked in prior to the current one there was a food court in the basement, and two in adjacent buildings, with large local versions across and down the street.  Not so much in the building I'm in now; there is mostly just one main one in the basement.

We would go to two different food courts when visiting Chula university, to a pet hospital there (we have cats), but who knows how many of those there are on that large campus area.  There are relatively few places where anyone off the street isn't welcome, in any kind of area.  One other food court inside Chula seems to be mostly for students, somehow, but it would probably still work out to have lunch there, people just seem not to.  

Food street / local shop areas:

Some places collect lots of options together, that aren't exactly a local market or fair.  Ban That Tong road is our favorite example of this sort of thing; it's a row of over a kilometer of densely packed food shops, beside the Chulalongkorn university, near the Sam Yan area.  Our favorites are Cheng Shim Ei, a Chinese iced desert place that sells barbecue and crispy pork, and duck, with noodles or rice, a congee place, and a great khao soy place, northern Thai mild curry, typically served with chicken.  All of those are near the Stadium One building, near the Lotus on Rama 1 road.

at the Cheng Shim Ei shop with favorite friends who visited

But there are many examples of these, all over the place.  A row of different types of food shops near Siam One, in the Siam BTS area, is trendy and popular with younger people, a place to see and be seen as well as to eat.  It's behind the Siam One mall / shops area, so more or less a short block away from the BTS station.  Different food themes would be available there, including very standard hot pot and Korean barbecue variations.  

Thais eat lots of rice noodle soups, similar to Vietnamese pho, that are just not the same.  Fried chicken variations can be popular, or odd desert and snack themes, like a toasted bread place.  Japanese food is very popular across Bangkok, but Ban That Tong is more Chinese and Thai oriented, while the Siam One area emphasizes novel modern informal establishments.

Street food, in more detail

You can find almost anything as street food, but some common themes repeat.  It wouldn't be typical for someone to cook pad Thai, fried noodles, from a food cart, but they could.  Grilled meats is a common theme, or fried chicken.  Some places sell variations of the basic rice noodle soup that's a main staple.  Roti is my favorite (like a snack version of an Indian fried bread sheet); it comes as a plain sweetened version (tamada), or with egg and banana.

For many since food court areas are similar, or market related shop spaces, there is no reason to eat most of what is offered on sidewalks.  Bangkok has been removing such places, or went through a wave of restrictions maybe 8 years ago, but only long term locals would notice what is missing.

It almost doesn't make sense to ask where street food is good in Bangkok.  It varies by vendor.  To me market spaces, food courts, or food shop areas tend to have a more consistent theme or quality level, in specific areas.

Other favorites

My two standard favorite food shop or market basics are chicken and rice or crispy pork and rice, or barbecue pork if they have that instead.  Or it's really about what looks good.  A plain grilled chicken can be great, if a vendor is making a nice looking version of that.  Add some sticky rice (kao neow) and that's a nice lunch.

Lots of food shops, market stalls, or even street vendors sell just one kind of thing, and often that can be nice, across a lot of range.  We always buy fried chicken from a place in that market in Rachawat road (in Dusit, near Sam Sen).  A khao soy place will often sell just that (Nothern mild curry noodle soup).  Some local restaurants are the opposite, particularly if they are a Western theme / Western oriented place, and they'll sell a bit of lots of things.  Sara Jane's in Sathorn, near the Empire Tower, is an example of this (right beside a local food court area I'd mentioned separately).

It might sound like going local is the best way to go, to get great value on great quality food that sells for next to nothing, 40 to 60 baht a dish, a bit over $1.  That's it, but Thai chain restaurants can be ok too, basic ramen places (Hachiban / #8 ramen is nice), interpretations of Japanese food (like Ya Yoi), or fusion options, like the Pepper Lunch Japanese interpretation of Korean barbecue (sort of), selling meats with rice and corn.

Thais would have their own favorite shops, and would drive by plenty of other places to get dishes that are exceptional there.  We have a favorite duck noodle place (never mind where; it's too far out), and pork ball with rice noodle place (not far from the UN building, further along that road towards the river).

Tourist places tend to be among the worst options for decent local foods, oddly.  Beside Wat Pho, where we visit often, there isn't much at all, and there's nothing exceptional about the options in the Khao San road or Phra Arthit areas, beside each other in the old part of town.  True local areas are generally better.  

Tourist food shops tend to focus on coffee shop themes and bad interpretations of pizza.  Real local food shops would only be a block or two away, so wandering around a little might resolve this gap.  Not so much near Wat Pho; I'm not sure why it works out like that.  I was just in a radna place yesterday only 3 blocks or so away from Wat Pho, so I guess that could work as an exception, but no one would ever find that place without knowing exactly where it is.  I don't like that dish; it's basically the large noodles served fried with kale in pad see ew, often with fried pork, but with gravy, which I like less.

that one local food option I still haven't tried