Came back from 20 days traveling around Thailand, the time to put in place the ideas and here I am with the story of my travel experience, starting from Bangkok.
In this post you will find my suggestions for dishes to try, some spots to eat, markets not to be missed, and some experience to do.
Typical dishes to try in my opinion
Thai cuisine is very diverse and differs depending on the region, even if the cooking mode is almost always fried. Thai people often eat street food, or maybe they have theirs banquet where cook large quantities of meat and fish, noodles, vegetables.
My favorite thai foods are:
♥ Papaya salad: a salad of green papaya seasoned with lime, raw green beans, tomatoes, chili and peanuts;
♥ Pad Thai: noodles stir usually with eggs, bean sprouts and shrimp, but there’s also the vegetarian version with tofu and vegetables;
♥ The curries: green, yellow or red curry soup, served with boiled rice;
♥ Meatball curry rice, white rice balls super spicy;
♥ Fried bananas: a delicious snack, slices of fried bananas;
♥ Litchi: delicious red fruit, white in the inside. They call then Rambutan;
♥ Mangosteen: hard to find them in our country, the fruits are very special, try it;
♥ Mango with sticky rice: cut mango, accompanied by sticky rice and coconut sauce;
♥ Coconut icecream: coconut ice cream served in coconut itself. They sell it on the street, look for those who do it by hand;
♥ Coconut juice: water of young coconut, delicious, refreshing and good for body because it is rich in minerals.
Small general advice
♥ A good Thai massage (the classic one) can cost from 300 to 400 B (10 euros), if it costs less is not professional, it costs more you can assess whether it’s worth it based on the location but it’s really hard to cost more. Generally choose centers where the masseuses have the uniform, they will certainly be more professional. A good massage centre is the Dahra in Silom, but there are so many everywhere;
♥ If you take a taxi ask always to the driver to turn on the meter, it will cost less than the price initially proposed by him; if you choose the tuk tuk because folk ok, but if you think you save money it isn’t;
♥ I know hygiene maniacs will regret, but you find the real Thai food on the street, just like they do. Look at the cart that most inspires you and choose to eye on what you feel like;
Where to eat
As mentioned above, I invite you to experience the food in Thailand just like its inhabitants: on the streets, among the steaming carts and strong smells of spices; that’s where you will taste the real Thai food, and although you will not know the exact name of what you have eaten, you will remember the faces of those who gave it to you prepared and unmistakable flavors.
But you can’t always eat on the street right? We want to try someplace nice? Here’s a list of restaurants that I liked more.
For breakfast or snack
“Tea for heart”. Japanese matcha tea with sweets in a minimalist and totally inspiring place.
Go there for breakfast, snack or lunch, just order one of their beautifully presented desserts, maybe sitting in the green of the garden.
An iced matcha shake takeout or to taste there with a cake, if you bring your computer you can work from there.
Cakes and original drinks with beautiful fruit popsicles.
Tea, coffee and cakes in all their facets, cannot miss the green tea latte. Lots of wood and relaxing atmosphere.
For lunch
For a curry rice and matcha parfait in a nice place.
Breakfast with delicious mini cakes like the one Carrots and walnuts with lemon frosting. Or light lunch, but with mandatory dessert.
A light wood place with attention to every detail, couldn’t be more beautiful. Also suitable for breakfast, for lunch featuring sandwiches to the plate, original salads and other dishes multicolored, with a slow juice.
In its two locations Samsed Road and Dinso Road, serves authentic Thai cuisine. I tasted here the best green curry . The atmosphere is a bit “tasteless”, but the Thais choose this place for formal dates.
For dinner
Restaurant and cocktail bar in a historical pink painted villa of the beginning of 20th century. Revisited asian food, rooms decorated with classic bright red walls.
Thai cuisine with a predilection for the papaya salad, in many different ways. Among the fashion streets of Siam Square.
Sky Bar and Sirocco
For an after dinner drink on the terrace of a skyscraper.
Markets and shopping
Chatuchak Market
Open Saturday and Sunday, is one of the largest markets in the world and sells everything from clothing to pottery, from Made in China to handmade items. Among so much chaos, knowing and walking a lot, there You’ll find very nice sections, in my opinion the best shops are in section nº3 in a narrow alley. In this section there is also the shop – cafe called My Name is Pat Na, named after the owner, who is considered a real character there. Within the market, in addition to banquets around, there is a very good section dedicated to food, called Or Tor Kor. You get there by skytrain, not recommend the taxi for too much traffic in the streets nearby.
A more sophisticated version of the classic Thai markets, it looks like a open mall but is a real chic market, which can be reached by boat. Designers shops, souvenirs, accessories, restaurants and much more. If you love stickers, stamps and colored paper, you can’t miss the shop Wink2. For dining, there is a good Japanese named Kacha Kacha.
Siam Square
In addition to vast shopping malls, Siame Square hides a maze of narrow streets where young designers display their creations from the Western taste.
Sampeng Market in Chinatown
Claustrophobics will challenge their limits in these tiny streets submerged by people and objects at bargain prices. I did real businesses buying fabrics, threads, materials, paper, pens, colors, notebooks. The children’s toys and dolls of Hello Kitty have the greatest! To give you an idea, fantastic smartphones covers cost just 20 B (50 cents). Do not forget to take a trip to the folk Chinatown, including food, herbs stores and shops, in a continuous chaos.
Pak Khlong Talat and Flower Market
Wonderful. During the day a wholesale market of vegetables, arriving later in the afternoon you will see more bright flowers: lotus flowers, roses and other colorful flowers in bunches.
