We’ve found the street food scene in Bangkok to be pretty frustrating on the whole.
There’s lots and lots of it around, but if you can’t speak Thai it’s really pretty confronting to sit yourself down on a small plastic stool and try to order something, invariably you’ll get something surprising.
Soi 38 street food
We did a bit of research on the matter and discovered that not far from us, in Soi 38 Sukhumvit, is a farang friendly street food nirvana.
Soi 38 diners
Most of the vendors have either signs with some English, or at least a photo menu.
It’s a short strip of charcoal burners, hot woks and delicious smells. Great people watching as well, plenty of locals going about their lives, school kids chatting away, families enjoying a dinner out, work mates sharing plates of fried fish, stir-fried vegetables and salads, and the odd farang sampling the local delights.
Soi 38 vendor
With only around 20 stalls, each serving their own specialty, it’s easy to get around and to make your eating decisions.
We tried, roast pork egg noodle dumpling soup, then bbq’d chicken skewers with a peanut sauce, followed by fresh prawn cakes with a dipping sauce, a bbq’d pork and roast belly pork wonton soup and finally a sticky rice and mango dessert, all washed down with a few cold beers. Street food heaven.
Soup, beer, dumplings, noodles and pork. Nothing wrong with that combination
Great value for money and an easy destination to get to, hop off the skytrain at the Thong Lo stop, exit number 4, and it’s right in front of you.
Mango sticky rice
If we’d found Soi 38 at the beginning of our Bangkok stay instead of the end, I dare say we would have indulged a lot more in the street food scene with a bit more confidence.
Soi 38, short, sweet and tasty.
What beautiful pictures!
When I was in Bangkok I eyed the street food, but chickened out – if you’re travelling alone, you don’t want to be sabotaged by a dicey prawn cake ….. but some of it looked, and smelled, great!
Hi Alison, I agree, some of the street food can look a bit intimidating at first, best to dive in with the locals and follow their lead, one tip we found is the vendors seem happy to re-heat things if you’re a bit worried about them.
wow guys! i’ve been exactly there! i loved it! the best fruit shakes at the corner store. love soi 38!
it looks like you guys have been having so much fun! awesome!
Hi Monique, thanks for the fruit shake tip, next time we’re in Bangkok we’ll give them a go.