Meet the man behind the most local noodle shop in Bangkok’s touristy old town
Tui (or Loong Tui as locals call him — ‘Loong‘ means ‘Uncle’) has been serving noodle soup since 1985, despite the fact that being a food vendor was never his intention. In the ‘70s, Loong Tui had moved to Saudi Arabia on a contract as crane driver, and when his...
It’s in the seaweed: Why locals love this Bangkok congee stall
Maerong and her son Chain start cooking at 1am every night. They’re prepping their famous joke, or Thai-style congee, for the breakfast rush that starts around 5am. All night long they prep and stir, then pack up their Joke Sarai Talay Thewet cart around 4am and head to the 7/11 on...
This hard-to-find Bangkok restaurant serves Thailand’s most traditional dishes
For over 40 years, locals have been lining up on unassuming Soi Lamphu in search of some off the best traditional Thai cuisine in Bangkok. Som Song Pochana restaurant is so popular, in fact, that you can’t get in at lunchtime without a reservation — or without being prepared to wait...
Does this Chang Phueak restaurant have the hottest som tam in Chiang Mai?
If you come to Som Tam Udon on a weekend, be prepared to wait a while. The massive restaurant (it easily sits about a hundred people) is so insanely popular among locals that there’s regularly a line-up down the street on weekends. Yet despite its massive popularity, few travellers find...
What to order at Khao Soi Khun Yai, Chiang Mai’s most famous khao soi stall
Okay, consider this one a bit of a cheat in our off-the-grid Thailand street food list. This khao soi stall is on every “Best food in Chiang Mai” list on the internet. But it can be notoriously tricky to find if you walk past too fast; located between the temples Wat Rajamontean...
Cornflakes on your sundae: How to cool off in Chiang Mai
When you first walk into Pinky Milk (or Nom Chomphoo in Thai), you’d be forgiven for thinking you had stumbled into a cartoon-like alternate universe. The name is appropriate — everything is bubble gum-hued, from the walls to the tables to the massive strawberry milks being served up. It’s also...
Why locals line up for 4am pig blood soup at this Chiang Mai street stall
At 4am, Nek opens the doors to his family-run breakfast shop, Joke Suan Dok Gate. By 6am, the place is packed with locals, who are all ordering up one of three dishes: joke (Thai-style congee), khao tom moo (rice and pork soup), or the most popular dish, tom luad moo,...
Where to get the best curry puffs in Chiang Mai: Ms Somdee’s Puff Pies
When Ms Somdee’s puff pastry shop opened 27 years ago, there wasn’t much happening on Arak Soi 5. There were few buildings and no businesses, just her little stall (at the time, owned by her sister-in-law) selling karipap — puffed pastries filled with your choice of curried chicken, taro, or...
Where to get the cheapest green curry in Bangkok’s Bang Lamphu ‘hood
Khun Pyao has a rotating selection of curries available every day, but it’s her gaeng kiew wan gai (green curry with chicken) that’s always the most popular — so popular that it’s often sold out by midday, so forget any hopes of getting this for lunch. Instead, come before noon...
Where to get real som tam near Bangkok’s Khao San Road
Despite Bangkok’s location in central Thailand, Isan-style dishes from the north have worked their way into the city’s street food scene — but finding the best northern food means finding the stalls run by northern Thais. Pi Kruea is one of them; she moved to the city from northeastern Chaiyaphum...