A food Tour of Bangkok part 1

Rob Ryan's rundown of the beat eateries begins in Chinatown, with celebrated chef David Thomspon in tow

Why did my trip around Bangkok with David Thomspon start in Chinatown, rather than a Thai area?

Well, Thomspon is not just a Michelin-starred chef, he is also an archeologist of Thai cuisine, an Indiana Jones of the palate, delving into the distant origins of dishes and the evolution of Asian cooking methods.

Much of his knowledge derived from his habit of buying ancient cookbooks from the royal kitchens or 19th-century memorial volumes for high-ranking individuals, which often included the deceased’s favourite recipes. (When he first visited Bangkok, these were relatively cheap).

His fascination with Chinatown stems from these explorations, tracing how ingredients and techniques were adopted – and improved – by Thais, to create a whole new repertoire of recipes.


Plus, Chinatown has some of the most atmospheric, intact streets in the city (but look up as you walk about – most of the tell-tale detail is on the second and third floors).

For a soft-landing in the midst of Chinatown, start at T&K Seafood (49-51 Thanon Phadung Dao, aka Soi Texas, at the junction with Yaow’arat), just to get your bearings.

Big, brusque and bustling, it doesn’t have the best food on the strip – quality has dipped as popularity has grown - but for a beer and maybe a plate of crab fried rice (there is an English menu or garish photos), it does service as somewhere to get your bearings, as a meeting point when converging from different directions and for people-watching. There is a similar establishment, Rut & Lek, on the opposite corner.

If you head west you will come to Thanon Plaengnam, with its variety of pungent street stalls. Look for the one making the offal soup. It will be a huge bowl of broth with spleen, liver and intestines and is powerful stuff. ‘Coolie food,’ David Thompson calls it, made with the leftovers the Thais didn’t want and ground zero for all street stall dishes: a cheap, fast way to feed the workers. (If you baulk at the ingredients, there are plenty of other options flanking that outlet).

From there head north, down increasingly crepuscular streets, with a stall seemingly at the head of each gloomy soi or alley, backed by a collection of rickety tables, with shadowy diners slurping in the dark. We picked up some delicious chive spring rolls from one vendor.

Cross over busy, lethal Charoen Krung (New Road) and you will be on Thanon Phlappia Chai, home of the crispy oyster omelette. (Note that the Thais aren’t good on addresses – they tend to give directions, using landmarks such as temples, monuments or stores.)

The bustling restaurant on your right (number 547) is the one for smoked duck (bpet rom kwam) and the minced pork (muu sap nahm liap); expect to pay around £3-4pp, with beers, for a couple of large plates of each to share, plus rice. English is far from the lingua franca, but much of food is displayed in pots or on slabs and you can simply point. But it might be a good move to ask your hotel to write down the names of some dishes in Thai script.

Also consider picking up a copy of Nancy Chandler’s Map of Bangkok (available from Stanford’s or Amazon or see www.nancychandler.net), a colourful and chaotic product that, nevertheless, once you learn how to navigate it, has invaluable close-up displays of several city sections, including Chinatown


source :: from timeonline