Bangkok: Our Epic Street Food Tour of Old Siam
- Ava Lyn
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
I am going to start by saying this has got to be one of the best local food tours I have been on. If you want to experience the famed Green Bowls of Bangkok and the real places that local go to eat, this would be the tour to get on.
Get ready, because this journey spans over 4 hours and 19 dishes.
We started with a trip on the local boat to the Bo Be clothing wholesale market to find out first food stand serving Khao Neo Bing. It is a popular breakfast food of grilled glutinous rice with taro stuffing in a banana leaf. It was sweet and smoky and understandably why a choice for the locals.
After a short Tuk Tuk ride with the driver blasting 'Circle in the sand' in the hot humid Bangkok, we arrived at our next place selling Hoi Tod or mussels omelette. This place has the Thailand Michelin equivalent, or the Shell Shuan Shim Green Bowl Award. If you are a foodie, look out for these green bowls because they are the legit OGs of thailand providing locals delicious and good value food. Unfortunately, Thanadsri Svasti, the critic for the Green Bowl Award passed away in 2019 and our guides told us that since there has not been new Green Bowl Awards being awarded since.
The mussel omelette is very similar to the version we have in Singapore made with oysters called Or Chian. This mussel omelette version is crispy, friend with beansprouts grown in the owners home and pairs extremely well with their sauces.
We then took a little stroll to catch the local bus to our next destination. Open air, bus inspector, wooden floors, it was truly such a fun experience.
Next up was a family-run establishment where the recipe for their roasted pork and duck has been passed down through generations, offering a taste of traditional Thai-Chinese cuisine. There is alot of similarity between the Thai-Chinese version and the version we have in Singapore. However, there were some differences too. For example, the Thai-Chinese sauces are typically sweeter, more herbaceous with a kick of tamarind whilst the Singaporean version takes on the likes of the Cantonese style, focusing on savory, umami flavours which are typically less sweet. Similarly for the pork, the Thai-Chinese versions are more garlic and pepper forward whilst the Singapore version gravitates towards a much stronger five-spice flavour.
Moving over to the Nang Loeng market area into an alley way, we kick off with some Kanom Buang Yuan salad, or crispy mungbean salad with pineapple dressing. We had 2 versions, a crispy version as well as one with duck egg. The crispy version was very similar to Bahn Xeo but had a nice zesty vinegar mouth feel whilst the duck egg version was moist and tender, a little like a breakfast omelette done superbly. Both were very delicious and appetising but the duck egg version came out on top for us. The lady is a Bangkok legend, cooking for the royal family and important state dinners. It is so wonderful when we go around Bangkok and we hear of these stories where the royal family visits on their own accord and then subsequently brings them in to serve at events to showcase what Thai cuisine is all about.
We head straight into Nang Loeng market where we stay for the rest of the food tour. Our next dish is one of our favourites of the day, Miang Kham. These are betel leaves wrapped around toasted coconut, peanuts, shallots, lime and sweet tamarind. Or our guide would just call it, the Thai Flavour Bomb and a flavour bomb it truly was. Sweet, spicy and savoury, you had all the flavours of thailand condensed into one little morsel that leaves you wanting more. As i write this, I can feel myself salivating from the memory of the Miang Kham. If there was one thing I would definitely visit again on another trip, it would be for this Thai Flavour Bomb.
Our next stop is another legendary one. This humble store is operated by a Thai-Chinese owner whose grandfather served as the royal cook in the Thai Royal Palace. Here, we had some massaman, panang and green curry. There has been so many varieties of curries around Thailand and it is so difficult to decide which one you call 'authentic'. I feel like thai curries are a little like a childhood food memory. The flavours you have a fond association to end up being the flavour profiles that you love the most as an adult. In this case, it could be a sweeter curry or one that is creamier and full of nutty goodness. At the end of the day, I say that whatever is delicious is wonderful, however you define authentic. Here, the curries have a certain kick to them but also plenty of sweetness to go around. Our guide tells us that if a Thai restaurant tells us they do not put sugar in their food, there is a 100 % chance they are lying. (:
Finally, we move on to the central area of the market, a little like a hawker stall. Common tables with plenty of stores around. And this is where we start out dessert treats.
As some form of palate cleanser, we had a hearty bowl of noodles. The noodles were starchy and had a nice chew and served with plenty of thai sausage, fried shallots and spring onions. Refreshing on its own, potent once you add some of the chilli flakes sitting on the table. The chilli is definitely not for the faint hearted.
We then started on our never ending khanoms or dessert. 'Khao' means rice and 'Khnom' means sweet and so the word 'Khanom' in thai means snack or sweet food made from flour.
Because obviously one dessert is not enough. We had to have a total of 7:
Marian Plum - A new fruit discovery!
Khanom Krok which are Thai Coconut Pancakes
Khanom Tuay which is a steamed coconut pudding
Khanom Nap which is a sweet sticky rice coconut dumpling
Khanom Chan which is a layered coconut milk and pandan cake
Khanom Mo Kaeng which is a mung bean and coconut flan
Longans
Our guides were incredibly generous with the desserts and brought plates after plates of the desserts. We were completely stuffed by this point, but the food was good. So what could we go? Go with the flow and get into a food coma, I say.
Before I go ahead, I just wanted to share more about our new fruit discovery - the Marian Plum! The Marian Plum is a tropical fruit which is likened to a cross between a plum and a mango. It is sweet and has the texture of a mango, but at the same time, has a slightly sour and appetising taste like a plum. Super juicy and delicious!
We were so stuffed at this point, but when our guide told us we couldn't miss this last dessert, Chor Muang. Chor Muang is typically considered a royal dessert served on special occasions due to its intricate preparation and elegant appearance. Interestingly, it is a savoury snack. These dumplings of rice flour are coloured with butterfly pea flowers and filled with a sweet salty filling. And all I can say is, I am so glad we didn't tap out and got to try this dish.
Overall
This tour was phenomenal. We have now been on both the Chef's Tour series in Bangkok and both were so fantastic. At any point, there is only a maximum of 8 pax on the tour, one guide who is always with us and explaining and another runner who heads to the restaurant earlier to make sure that we have seats available for when we arrive. They also keep ice cold wet towels and bottles of water and tissue readily available during the tour. We were so well taken care of. Not to mention, we were completely in a food coma after this tour. We dragged ourselves back to the hotel and had the best naps of our lives.
Would We Recommend?
Yes Yes Yes! Without a doubt! This has got to be one of the best food tours around. The guides are friendly and genuinely want to make sure you have an amazing experience. The food is crazily local and fantastic. They made sure you were extremely well fed and always offered seconds or thirds, that is if you can fit more food in! We also got to experience the local bus as well as the local boats, which we would have otherwise never gone on. All in all, a really amazing way to venture into Old Siam and support the locals.
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. However, it contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through the link above, at no extra cost to you. If you choose to book through our link, thank you for supporting our little travel blog!
Commentaires