Street Market Eats in Bangkok
Ben and I have seen little of Bangkok, yet we absolutely love the city. That doesn't make sense, let me explain...
We love the bustling pace yet laid-back nature, the heat and humidity, the smells, the noises, we love it all. Yet we've seen very little of the actual tourist places in Bangkok. Every time we visit, we prefer to spend as little time there as necessary, rather dash straight to the bus station and begin the 7 hour journey to Baan Dada. Generally, an overnight stay is mandatory, and so we head out for some Street Eats and maybe do a little MBK shopping - hello $20 shoes.
One day I'm sure we'll schedule ourselves to arrive in Bangkok with enough time to visit the Temples, Museums and such, yet we're quite happy doing our thing - wandering around the streets, soaking up the everyday sights, sounds and smells, and simply being buzzed that we're in Thailand, about to see the kids again. I must say, on our first visit to Bangkok in 2009, Ben surprised me with a day at the Thai Blue Elephant Cooking School, for my birthday. It was fantastic, the best overseas cooking school experience I've had to date.
Our favourite night market is Sukhumvit Soi 38. It's not flashy and it's pretty small, but every night at around 8pm it comes alive with aromas that make you want to park yourself on a plastic stool and never leave. Here is a snapshot of our latest visit in February this year.
Eagerly awaiting a dish we had been reminiscing for 15 months...
Pork Satay Skewers, with the best satay sauce ever. It's deliciously spicy, with some enthusiastic peanut chunks, and also fairly thin - hence why I spilt it all down my white top...this is not uncommon practice for me.
After our mandatory satay stop, we headed to another personally well loved street restaurant on the opposite side of the market.
Here we ordered Tom Yum Goong, Pad Krapow Moo and Pad Thai. Unfortunately the latter two were a bit lack luster, certainly compared to our beloved Kanchanaburi and Sangkhlaburi version. Yet the soup was lovely - look at that chilli and those little bobbing mushrooms!
Lemongrass Lemonade for refreshment...it tasted a little too fresh, if you know what I mean. Which I don't exactly....it was just a bit 'off' for me.
What was next?...Oh yes, dessert, from another fabulous, very popular street stall selling none other than Mango Sticky Rice. All I have to say is, "mmmmmHmmmmm".
It was as delightful as it looks - sticky, sweet, luscious heaven, with slabs of the plumpest, most dreamy mango I've ever eaten.
*sigh*, I miss Thailand.
Soi 38 is a great place to get a Thai street food fix, especially for satay, soup and sweets. You'll see locals picking up bags of food on their motorbikes, before scooting home for dinner with family - usually with a baby haphazardly strapped on. Tourists are certainly becoming aware of this little market, but it's not overrun, which I like.
The street food is one of my favourite things about Bangkok, and Thailand in general. Honest and self-assured, exciting yet comforting - it's a wondrous thing, one that you must be sure to experience at least once in your lifetime.