[Bangkok] While results of the Michelin Guide in Thailand remain debatable, there are quite a number of Thai street food eateries and stalls being honoured.
The most notable name will be Raan Jay Fai located at Mahachai Road, Bangkok.
It is the ONLY Thai street food eatery awarded 1-Michelin star, and queues got so long and work hectic and Chef Jay Fai wanted to return her star. She obviously didn’t.
Other famous Thai street food places I noted that were awarded the Bib Gourmand include Arunwan known for its noodles and pig offal soup; Jok Prince serving congee; Lim Lao Ngow selling Fishball Noodles in Chinatown; Guay Jub Ouan Pochana – another favourite at Chinatown; Baan Somtum always crowded for Thai-style cooked food; and Tung Sui Heng Pochana famous for Duck Noodles at Rama 4.
For those of you who would like to go down the list, here are 12 “Michelin” Street Food available in Bangkok:
Raan Jay Fai
327 Mahachai Road (at intersection with Samranrat Road) Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 223 9384
Opening Hours: 9am – 8:30pm (Wed – Sun), Closed Mon, Tues
Google Maps – Raan Jay Fai
1 Michelin Star Bangkok Street Hawker
Raan Jay Fai is the only street hawker awarded the Michelin Star in the and
Michelin Guide Thailand.
The eatery is run by a 70-plus year old lady also called “Sister Mole”, known for her iconic over-sized goggles.
Main dishes sold included Tom Yum Goong (600 – 1000 Baht), Poo Phad Yellow Curry (800 – 1000 Baht), Homemade Prawn Cake (500 Baht), and Yum Woon-Sen (700 – 1000 Baht) – Thai spicy salad with glass noodles and mixed seafood. A thousand baht is about SGD42 or USD31.70.
The 400 Baht (SGD16.80, USD12.70) Drunken Noodles plate consists of flat rice noodles fried in hot & spicy sauce, and jumbo prawns marinated in wine.
Frying it over coal fire meant that the noodles had more wok hei.
Thai Crab Omelette Kai-Jeaw Poo (800 Baht (SGD32.90) is the must-get, a massive roll of egg and lump crab meat that is also fried over hot coal fire. Raan Jay Fai (Mahachai Road, Bangkok)
Jeh O Chula
Banthat Thong Road, 113 Charat Muang Road, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330 (National Stadium BTS)
113 ถ.จรัญเมือง เขตปทุมวัน, Bangkok, Thailand 10330
Tel: +66 64 118 5888
Opening hours: 4:30pm – 12am (Mon – Sun)
Google Maps – Jeh O Chula
Favourite Supper Place With Famous Tom Yum Mama
Jeh O Chula also offers a variety of tasty cooked food dishes – our Singapore equivalent will be a zhi-char shop.
Customers are said to queue anything from between 20 minutes to 2 hours.
The star dish of Tom Yum Mama is available in Pork Ball version (120 baht, SGD5.03), Seafood (180 baht, SGD7.54) or All-In (250 baht, SGD10.47).
That is between USD3.70 to USD7.60 only. The portion is good for sharing between 2 to 3 hungry people.
Took a sip and LOVED IT.
Somehow the Tom Yum soup base just tasted more appetising than the usual, mildly spicy, moderately thick, and zesty with lime slices. Jeh O Chula (Soi Charat Muean, Bangkok)
Go-Ang Kaomunkai Pratunam
Poonam Market, 960-962, Phetchaburi Road, Soi 30, Pratunam, Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: +66 81 779 7255
Opening Hours: 6am – 9pm (Mon – Sun)
Google Maps – Go Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice
Hainanese Style Chicken Rice
Go-Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice has been around for more than 40 years, and offers Khao Man Gai (ข้าวมันไก่), a Thai version of chicken rice that originated in Hainan, China.
Some consider the Thai-style chicken rice less oily than the Singapore version.
The serving good for 1 person, consists of a small cup of rice topped with slices of poached chicken, served with a garnish of cucumber slices, a side soup of chicken broth, and small bowl of the black sauce.
I thought that while the chicken meat was more or less average, the rice was flavourful, fluffy, and not too oily. Go-Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice (Pratunam, Bangkok)
Chakki
1/35 Ratchawithi Rd, Khwaeng Thanon Phaya Thai, Khet Ratchathewi, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10400, Thailand (Victory Monument BTS, walk to Ratchawithi Soi 7)
Tel: +66 2 245 0849
Opening Hours: 11:00am – 3:00pm (Mon – Sun) (May close earlier when sold out, closed every first Mon of the month)
Google Maps – Chakki
Famous For Thai Style Beef Horfun And Wanton Noodles
This family-run eatery near Victory Monument is well known for two dishes which both happen to be my favourite – Thai style wanton mee and “Rad Na Nua” which is stir-fried wide rice noodles with slices of meat.
However, prices are considered higher than the average eatery serving the similar food, even up to double for a couple of dishes.
The star of Chakki is the “Rad-Nha” of stir-fried noodles with meat in thick, brown gravy.
You can choose from big flat noodles similar to the hor fun, crispy rice vermicelli or egg noodles (20 baht extra), fried with meats such as pork, chicken, beef, prawn & crab or fried seabass.
A plate is priced from 120 baht to 160 baht (starts from SGD5, USD3.61).
It came steaming hot with wok-hei with wide-flat and smooth rice noodles with very slight char, coated on top with sweetish-brown sauce. Chakki (Ratchawithi, Bangkok)
Yentafo Convent เย็นตาโฟคอนแวนต์
36/3 Convent Road, Silom, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand (Sala Daeng BTS Station)
36/3 ถนน คอนแวนต์ แขวง สีลม เขต บางรัก กรุงเทพมหานคร 10500
Opening Hours: 7am – 5pm (Mon – Fri), 7am – 3pm (Sat, Sun)
Google Maps – Yentafo Convent
One Of The Best “Yen Tao Fo” Pink Noodle Soup
The people behind Yentafo Concent is said to related to the founders of Yentafo Wat Khaek – the original stall in the Bangkok city.
There are two styles of noodles offered, the original Yen Ta Fo with the pink sauce, and a plainer Seafood and Minced Pork in soup, both inexpensively priced at 50 baht (SGD2.10, USD1.50)
You can choose from four styles of noodles – rice vermicelli, egg noodles, rice noodles and flat rice noodles.
The unique feature about the pink-sauced soup other than its colour, and that it was lightly sweet and slightly tangy – thus quite refreshing. This is partly because the base was included with tomatoes and sweet potatoes.
The accompanying ingredients provided a myriad of textures, from the small bouncy fishballs, crispy wanton dumplings, soft pig blood curd, to the crunchy kang-kong vegetables. Yentafo Convent (Sala Daeng, Bangkok)
Sanyod แสนยอดโภชนา
89 ซอยจรัสเรือง ถนนสาทรเหหนือ แขวงสีลม Khet Bang Rak, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10500, Thailand (Near Taksin BTS)
Tel: +66 2 234 7968
Opening Hours: 10am – 9pm (Mon – Sun)
Google Maps – Sanyod
Thai-Cantonese Eatery With Delicious Roast Duck
One of the oldest neighborhoods in Bangkok, Bangrak is mostly populated by Cantonese immigrants who are famous for their cooking skills.
It was in 1962 when a Cantonese native father, Wu Chun Pei decided to open a food stall that will later become a restaurant and prepare Cantonese dishes by using his family recipes.
Today, Sanyod is a well-known restaurant that offers delicious Thai-Cantonese cuisine and attracts both local clientele and folks from other parts of the city.
They come here to try the signature chargrilled roast duck marinated with a secret sauce and other tasty Cantonese dishes.
Other cooked-to-order dishes includes noodles with mix of crispy roast pork belly and sweet roast pork, radna (fried noodles with gravy), roast duck, and egg noodles.
Sanguan Sri ร้านสงวนศรี
59/1 Witthayu Road, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330
Tel: +66 2 251 9378
Opening Hours: 10:00am – 3:00pm (Mon – Sat), Closed on Sun (Phloen Chit BTS)
Google Maps – Sanguan Sri
Popular & Hidden Old School Thai Restaurant
Sanguan Sri is an unassuming hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant along Phloen Chit Road in Bangkok that has stood the test of time.
It has been in business since 1970 (older than many of us), remaining classic for almost half a century while the area around has developed.
Literally a relic from the past, its interior and exterior décor is screaming “vintage”.
Prices of dishes are mostly below 200 baht (SGD8.39). Portion sizes aren’t that big, so you could order a variety of dishes.
While there is a main menu offered every day, there are “Specials of the Day” with a daily featured dish to choose from such as Massaman Curry Chicken and Green Curry.
For home-style authentic-tasting Thai food. Sanguan Sri (Phloen Chit, Bangkok)
Ann Guay Tiew Kua Gai
419 Luang Road, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Bangkok,
419 ถนนหลวง แขวงวัดเทพสิรินทร์ Bangkok 10100, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 621 5199
Opening Hours: 4pm – 1am Daily
Google Maps – Ann Guay Tiew Kua Gai
Fried Chicken Rice Noodles With Runny Egg
Guay Tiew Kua Gai is basically fried rice noodles added with ingredients such as chicken and cuttlefish, have minimal sauces and is therefore dry.
Ann Guay Tiew Kua Gai, located near Chinatown in Bangkok is one of the best-known places to get this dish. Also, air-con.
It offers Fried Noodles with Chicken, Pork, Ham or Squid (50 Baht, SGD2.10), though there is an all-in-on combination of Fried Noodles with Chicken, Ham, Squid topped with Runny Egg (60 baht, SGD2.50).
What I liked was the smokiness of these noodles, and the runny egg on top of them added a good amount of creaminess. Ann Guay Tiew Kua Gai (Luang Road, Bangkok)
Thip Samai Pad Thai
313 Maha Chai Road, Samran Rat, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200 Thailand
Tel: +66 2 226 6666
Opening Hours: 10am – 12am (Mon, Wed – Sun), Closed Tues
Google Maps
Pad Thai Institution With Long Lines
The eatery about 10 minute drive away from Chinatown has been around since 1966, and is popular with locals and tourists alike.
(While you are there, you MAY want to check out Raan Jay Fai a few steps away.)
You would usually find a long, snaking queue in the line at any one time, seemingly about 60-70% foreigners, while the rest were Thais.
The ‘kitchen’ is at the front of the eatery, with a few sections: Two were doing the initial frying (big fire big fire) over charcoal, a group of men carried out the assembling, while the guy nearest the road was fry-wrapping the noodles with egg – a bucket at the side, with operations like systematic clockwork.
I ordered the Pad Thai Haw Kai Goong Sot (90 baht, SGD3.50) which came wrapped with egg.
The moderately thin layer of egg enveloped around the stir-fried noodles like a pillow, and when dug in was almost like unveiling a treasure chest.
Though I could say it was a good plate of Pad Thai, but not an exceptional one. Thip Samai Pad Thai (Bangkok)
Polo Fried Chicken (Soi Polo)
137/1-3 Soi Polo, Th Withayu, Wireless Road, Lumphini, Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 655 8489
Delivery: 02-2522252
Opening Hours: 7am – 9pm (Mon – Sun)
Possibly Bangkok’s Best Fried Chicken
Being in operations for more than 50 years, most come here for one main reason – the Kai Todd (120 baht for half chicken, 240 baht for whole) Fried Chicken, flavoured with black pepper and topped with crispy golden-brown garlic.
Savour this dish with sticky rice and som tum.
The tender juicy drumstick dipped with spicy sauce was a tasty experience hard to forget. The first bite was aroy mak mak!
Juicy and succulent, well marinated, and some parts lingering with oil. I found some parts of the chicken dry though, especially the breast meat.
Thus, it was half good, half more ordinary. Polo Chicken (Khwaeng Lumphini, Bangkok)
Guay Jub Ouan Pochana
408 Yaowarat Road, Khwaeng Chakkrawat, Khet Samphanthawong, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10100, Thailand
Tel: +66 86 508 9979
Opening Hours: 6pm – 3am (Mon – Sun)
Google Maps – Guay Jub Ouan Pochana
Super Peppery Kway Chap At Yaowarat Chinatown
Talk about Kway Chap in Bangkok, and “Guay Jub Ouan Pochana” or “Kway Chap Auon Pochana” which was awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand is one of the most well-known names.
For Singaporeans, this name may sound so familiar. Guay Jub Ouan Pochana is located at Bangkok Chinatown’s most famous road, Yaowarat.
For only 50 or 100 baht for a medium and large bowl respectively (SGD2.25, 5.50), you can enjoy a serving of these chewy yet tender noodles in a fragrant, hot and peppery broth.
I can imagine why people would enjoy this, the soup is simply bursting with peppery flavours.
If you never had peppery soup before, this would probably be level 8 out of 10 on a scale, so much so that I think it can probably cure a blocked nose.
On the other, I felt that the overwhelmingness of it distracts the natural sweet flavours of the pork and innards. A pity because the pork belly pieces were really quite juicy and crispy. Guay Jub Ouan Pochana (Yaowarat, Bangkok)
Kor Panich Mango Sticky Rice
431 433 Thanon Tanao, San Chao Pho Sua, Khet Phra Nakhon, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10200, Thailand
Tel: +66 2 221 3554
Opening Hours: 7am – 6:30pm (Mon – Sat), Closed Sun
Google Maps – Kor Panich
One Of The Best Mango Sticky Rice
When in Bangkok, the traditional Thai dessert mango sticky rice is everywhere, sold by street vendors to high end restaurants, in fanciful cafes presenting it in instagrammable fashion.
But some places simply stand out. One such place is Kor Panich, located near the Grand Palace and opened since 1932.
A portion of Mango Sticky Rice is 100 baht though (SGD4.50, USD3.30), considering that you can find some elsewhere at half this price.
However, take a bite and you would know why. The mangoes were SO SWEET.
As for the rice, it was cooked perfectly – soft with right amount of stickiness, imported from Chiang Rai, an area known for producing some of the best quality sticky rice. Kor Panich (Tanao Road, Bangkok)
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