Street food in Bangkok
I wrote my blog about Khao San road as soon as I had been there because I just loved the vibrancy but I felt I didn’t say enough about exactly what is going on on Khao San Road so I thought I would do another blog post but focus on the food sold on this street and many other similar streets that surround Khao San Road.
I read a recent blog by someone who has been traveling a while who says he hates the tackiness of Khao San Road but I think he is missing the point; it’s the tackiness that is its attraction. Everything is cheap, the clothes are cheap, the food is cheap, a massage is cheap and everything except the beer is cheap, probably same price as back home, and that is why they come in their hoards, they are not looking for something posh, they want to wallow in local culture without paying through the nose, well Khao San Road is the place to go.
I came on Wednesday with the intention of staying only two nights but I am drawn to the road like a magnet, the vibrancy is evident as soon as you look down its length, of course there are people coming at you trying to sell you stuff, this is their living, this is all they have, they want to make a decent living. Sadly many of them live behind their stand or sleep on the street, it is very sad to see them along the pavements at night after their stalls are closed.
I am sure if my life were different I might not go down this road so often enjoying the cheap food, because I am on a budget I have no option but sometimes being skint gets you into all the places you wouldn’t go if you could afford nice places.
Anyway this blog is to talk mainly about the food, you can get a very varied range of things to eat on Khao San Road from the street vendors to the restaurants, it is amazing what you will find each time you visit, I have been three times now and each time I have found something different.
Pad Thai is the main dish being cooked right in front of you by street vendors, perfectly fresh and made to order, it costs 50 Baht which is £1 also you can get chicken and fried rice for the same price and similar. They also have amazing kebab stands which I am going to try next time.
There are lots of fruit stalls selling pineapple, dragon fruit, melon and mango and separate stands selling durian fruit on its own, which is supposed to smell horrible but taste lush, I tried it and I thought it tasted like it smelt! EEWWWWWW! Texture like custard!!
One of my favourite stands is the coconut ice cream stand, I don’t eat dairy products so don’t eat ice cream but this is made of coconut cream and is delicious, the fresh coconut is cracked open in front of you and the young flesh is scraped on the side then the ice cream is added using the shell as a dish, it is really lovely, there are many vendors up and down the length of the street.
For the more adventurous there is the fried insects, some people walk around with scorpions on a stick trying to tempt you (as if LOL) they look vile, there are also stands selling all kinds of other insects from grubs to cockroaches to large spiders, they look terrible and I’m afraid I just didn’t fancy them, I am on this trip t