Of course food isn't the only reason we travelled to Thailand, but it sure as heck was one of the best parts of our 4 weeks in this magical country. I had initially planned to just talk about some good recent food we'd had in each blog post when it went relevant. But soon realised, this food deserved its only post. So, in no particular order, here is my top ten food moments of Thailand.
Duck noodles and rice, Bangkok. 60 Baht (£1.35) a bowl
I discovered this place on Google maps, just scrolling around to see what was near our hostel just of Khao San Road, an area not well known for its good food😅 I was determined to fine some delicious local food here, knowing there had to be more than 7-11 toasties, flavourless pad Thai and fish bowls of questionable booze.
And wow. These were incredible. We ordered a duck noodle soup, and a duck rice dish, both 60 baht, which is an absolute steal! The restaurant was located on small walk way along one of the canals through the city. With tables set up right on the edge of the walk way, and two benches of single eating spots looking out on the river, it was definitely one of the most beautiful spots we ate at. And, really showed us what this old town side of the city could offer, outside of Khao San Road.
Pad krapow, Bangkok. 60baht (£1.35) a bowl
After a long morning exploring Wat Pho and Wat Arun, we were so hungry and still slightly jeg lagged. We weren't expecting to find any good, authentic food one street away from one of the biggest tourist spots in Bangkok, but we were once again proved wrong. We stopped at this very small little restaurant, where all they had on the menu was various Pad Krapows. Pad Krapow was one of my favourite dishes last time I was in Thailand, so I was very excited to try it again. This was Chris' first ever Pad Krapow too. Its essentially minced meat, generally pork, with "Holy Basil", served with rice and a fried egg. Holy Basil is a type of Basil that has a more smokey, spicy flavour to it.
Despite now having eaten maybe 30+ Pad Krapows. This was still the best one yet. The fried eggs with runny yolks really do make it😍
We also tried our first Thai Tea here too. Hmm, not my favourite thing. It's SO sweet. Made it sugar and condensed milk. I later learnt its more palatable when we asked to have it 'less sweet', but still isn't my favourite. (That spot is reserved for a Thai Lemon Iced Tea 😍🤤)
Khao soi, Chiang Mai. 60baht (£1.35) a bowl
Khao soi. Khao soi. Khao soi. Where do I begin with my love for Khao soi. When I came back from Thailand in 2020, I was determined to make this dish at home as its so unreal. The recipe I had wasn't the most authentic but it did the trick, and got Chris hooked on the dish too! So we were both very excited to get out here and eat all the Khao Soi.
Khao soi is a spicy and slightly sour noodle soup, served with a topping of crispy noodles and a portion of egg noodles in the soup. Its a north thai dish, and is most well known from Chiang Mai. Its the most unreal combination of textures, flavours and smells. This spot is pretty well known, and often sells out within hours of opening. So we got there early, around 10am for a breakfast bowl of Khao soi.
Oh my god. It was so good. We'd had a couple bowls already at street markets by now, but this was above and beyond. The meat was so soft and tender, the broth creamy but spicy with that delicious sour aftertaste from the fish sauce.
Noodle man, Chiang Mai. 40baht (£0.90) a bowl
First of all, let's talk about that price! Apparently these used to be 10 baht a bowl, but naturally have increased in price over the years.
I first found this spot when I was last in Chaing Mai in 2020. This little noodle soup, tucked behind a collapsing fence, was just a few meters from my hostel at the time. But I never got a chance to go! I still had the spot pinned on Google, and unsure as to whether it was still open or not Chris I walked down early one morning to get ourselves a bowl. We'd seen reviews from years ago that said they sold out often within hours!
Walking across the old town to this little spot brought back so many memories and I was really hoping the place still existed, and we'd be early enough for a bowl. Thankfully, it was still open. This little spot survived the pandemic, and was thriving! We got there at 10am, queued for about 10 minutes for a spot as it only serves 6 people at once. We got our seats, right up at the kitchen and got the last two bowls!! Within two hours he was sold out, how amazing!
There is no menu, the owner of the shop just cooks up 1 noodle soup flavour a day and.everyone gets served the same thing. This day it was pork belly in a pork broth, with handmade noodles. It was definitely something a little different to the Soups or broths we'd had before. Much richer, and flavoursome!
The owner was super lovely, an old small Thai, who said he'd owned the shop for about ten years now. Everything about this experience was just magical, the fact we got in for the last two bowls, the great conversions we had with the owner, and the way this shop is just a tiny little wooden hut tucked behind a fence. My only regret is we didn't go back before we left!
Khao soi beef, Pai. 60baht (£1.35) a bowl
Another Khao Soi, I can't help myself ehe. I wanted to also include this one as it was quite different to other types we'd had. We went for a beef one here which was delicious! At home, we'd only ever had it with chicken, as I had in Thailand in 2020. But, this trip I discovered a love for beef Khao Soi. The other difference with this version was the broth, it was much more tomatoy. You can probably see that from the colour alone of the broth. But it was really good, although both added a little too much spice, oops! The restaurant had an all Thai menu, thank god for Google Translate phot options! And a really cool help yourself bar to all the extras to season your dish with; garlic, shallots, pickled veg etc.
Build your own noodle soup, Phuket. 60baht(£1.35) large bowl
We did not long Phuket, and Phuket did not love me (🤒😷), but before it all went wrong, we stumbled across this great little spot! What drew us to this shop was the ability to create your own noodle dish. You picked the size, the type of noodle, the broth flavour and your meat/topping. Chris went for a dark pork broth that picked up a lot of flavour from the splash of pork blood in it, and I had a different pork broth without the added extra. We also got some chicken satay which was delicious!
These bowls were just such good value for money given their size, and how you could customise them, and they were just so tasty. Really rich and wholesome.
Barrel cooked pork belly, Chaing Mai. 70baht (£1.60) a dish
As we all know, pork belly is a pretty elite meat (if you're a meat eater!), and we'd heard lots of great things about this pork spot. They cook the cuts of pork belly in a big clay barrel over coals. This gives the pork a really crispy outside, while maintaining its moisture on the inside.
We ordered one plate of their most well known dish, pork with rice, half an egg and a gravy like sauce over the top. Then also ordered pork with garlic fried morning glory, a green leafy veg a bit like Bok Choy. I can completely understand why everyone rates this spot so highly. The pork was so soft but crispy at the same time, the gravy over the rice and pork added an extra layer of flavour and sweetness. It was also just really nice to have a plate of greens. It's quite easy to go days without any fresher greens like this in Thailand! Speaking of green, I ordered an apple Italian soda (syrup with soda water), and I have never seen anything so artificially green in my life😬
Thai family seafood restaurant, Krabi. 190(£4.30) for two mains and a side
After Phuket, I'd been feeling pretty poorly and had been on an exciting diet of plain boiled rice and bananas🙃 and this was the first meal I had with some excitement, and it was honestly one of the best and most affordable full meals we had. Chris had a Pad Thai for £1.12, myself a chicken Cashew with rice for £1.70, and we shared some spring rolls for £1.35! So so affordable. It was also the first place we've ever been in Thailand that has a queue, and a long one at that. We'd seen some really amazing reviews online so didn't mind waiting, plus I wanted the security of someone that would be a safe option for my poorly soul.
Krabi is nice, but incredibly touristy, full of lots of resorts and western restaurants. So it wasn't easy finding a more local, authentic Thai spot, but this lovely family run restaurant tucked down a side alley, really was worth the queue!
Chicken Massaman, Koh Tao. 80 baht (£1.80)
Massaman is probably my favourite Thai curry, I think mainly because of what veg is often cooked into in; potatoes and green beans! As a big potato lover, I was sad by how little things had potato in them here in Thailand. Until I had this Massaman. I kid you not, it had a whole potato cooked up in the curry. I was over the moon!! But also incredibly full after!
This Massaman also had what I think was a whole onion, slow cooked in the curry, which added a certain caramelisation to the curry! It a a a great balance of sweet and spicy! Chris had a Thai green curry, which was also particularly excellent!
Whole fried fish, Koh Tao. 300 baht (£6.70)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/k242JcjVaAPQTGD87 (according to Google this place is now permanently closed! 😭 maybe they'll reopen!)
Koh Tao, a beautiful, peaceful small island of the coast of Thailand was our final stop before moving on to Cambodia. On a tour in Khao Sok, we has a whole fried fish as part of our lunch and we're instantly in love. Chris isn't a big fish fan, but this hit the spot! Since that tour, we'd be desperate to have another whole fried fish, and knew Koh Tao was a good spot for this, as fishing off the coast of the island is very popular.
We found this really lovely spot, along the beach front just down from our hostel. We wouldn't typically go for such an expensive item (comparatively expensive, obviously that is incredibly cheap compared to the UK for a whole fish, but when compared to other £1.20 meals it is more expensive), but as it was our last night in thailand, and loved the last fish so much we went all out.
The fish was cooked in a coconut curry soup, which was maybe the best curry soup we'd had so far! We ordered some rice and some steam vegetables so have on the side, and the whole meal was just divine! Really tasty and filling, and generally just super fresh! Despite the fish being deep fried!😅
A sneaky honourable mention
Corn on the cob. Before coming to Thailand, I never knew how good a corn on the cob could be. There is something quite fun, and delicious, about walking up to a small street food vendor, with a blaring hot bbq attached to the back of their moped, and buying a hot salted corn on the cob. Unreal.
I hope I've made you all very hungry and inspired to order a Thai takeaway 😉
This is my last Thailand post now! We've been in Cambodia about three weeks now, so I'm pretty behind on those posts. Hopefully I'll get one out soon.
I hope you're all enjoying these blog posts, I'm really enjoying writing them!
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