🇹🇭 Bangkok

Bangkok's food

Bangkok is one of the world's foremost "street-stall cities." Burners jutting onto the pavement, plastic stools, woks steaming. From morning to night, somewhere in the city someone is always stir-frying or grilling something. The pleasure of Thai food is that it stands up four tastes — spicy, sweet, sour, salty — at once in a single plate. The heat of chili, the sweetness of sugar and palm sugar, the sourness of lime and tamarind, the salt-umami of fish sauce — that balance is packed even into a stall's plate.

Starting from Khao San

Here, Bangkok starts around Khao San Road. In a corner of the old town (Rattanakosin), the density of stalls is high, and Thai street food — from pad thai to mango sticky rice and fried insects — is nearly all within walking distance. What is more, famous shops like Thipsamai, of egg-wrapped pad thai, and Michelin-starred Jay Fai are reachable on foot. There is no BTS (skytrain) station here, but the Chao Phraya boat, a taxi or a tuk-tuk make it easy to reach. As an introduction to Bangkok's stalls, it is just right.

How to read Thai food

Thai food is eaten on the premise that you adjust it yourself. A stall table often holds four condiments — sugar, chili, pickled chili and fish sauce — and you tune the taste to your liking. Heat, too: say "mai phet" (not spicy) or "phet nit noi" (a little spicy) when you order, and they will usually adjust. If coriander is not for you, "mai sai phak chi." Once you know the salt-umami of fish sauce, the richness of coconut milk and the scent of herbs, even the same stall tastes different.

How to eat at the stalls

Stalls take mostly cash only (Thai baht). Many shops sign only in Thai, so this site lists the Thai for each; showing a photo or the Thai name makes a shop easier to find. Bangkok is hot all year, so don't push it in the daytime — heading out from the evening is more comfortable. Choose a stall with a queue and quick turnover, and it is more likely fresh-made and safe. When worried about ice or raw vegetables, lean on cooked stir-fries and skewers.

More to come

For now, Bangkok starts with one route, around Khao San Road. Bangkok still spreads with stall-and-market streets — Yaowarat's (Chinatown) seafood and congee, Chatuchak market, riverside eateries. Routes will be added over time. For now, take Khao San and walk the "four tastes" of Thai street food, each tied to its shop.