Thailand Guides - Dining

Dinning in the city

For food adventurer, the cheapest way to try Thai food is the street and hawker stalls. This type of mobile food stalls can be found all over the country. Usually prepared to serve to local people, it is an opportunity to sample Thai foods in the real Thai taste. And the good thing is there are varieties of foods for you to choose from sticky rice with Thai barbecue pork to traditional coconut puddings. If you have trouble communicating, just point to what you want and let the vendor prepare the dish. However, you may have to exercise caution when trying street foods. It is recommended that you pick the food that is prepared in front of you, in stead of ready cooked food. Perhaps the most common and safest thing you can eat is fruits.

If street foods are too much to handle, the food mall is a good option. In bigger towns and cities, most malls have food centers with large selections of traditional fare in the comfort of air conditioning. Even though menus are seldom in English, many shops show samples of their dishes in pictures.

In Bangkok, elegant Thai restaurants and international eateries are all around Sukhumvit Road, Silom Road, Sathon Road and Siam Square. This does not include stylish restaurants in luxury hotels. Besides pleasant places in malls such as Siam Center, the World Trade Center, Emporium and Silom Complex have excellent restaurants with top class cuisine. For cheap deals, backpackers’ haven Khao Sarn Road is lined with budget cafes offering mixed-quality food.