A few weeks ago a friend of mine made the observation that he thought I was "going Thai" ... in the sense of throwing aside all my western psycho baggage and enveloping myself in all things Thai, all the time.
This of course is an impossibility, but I guess I'd concede that in certain specific areas of the Thai experience I may just have crossed over the line (to my great pleasure): That is to say, the luscious World O' Thai Food. Many farangs don't go there ~ at least full bore ~ but this farang eats 95% Thai food, with the odd exception being given over to pizza once every couple of weeks, and a Swensons fat-filled glory once a month (all averages).
Although I'll try just about anything once (excluding bugs thanks but no thanks) I thought perhaps a short rundown of personal favourites might be of interest to those who are not really comfortable with going further afield than chicken fried rice ('khao pad gai').
None of these dishes are in any way exotic or rare or Haute Thai ... most of them are pretty standard Thai nosh, eaten all the time by Thai folks. I'm sure you have your own favourites, but below find mouth-watering dishes, none of which are missed during any given week.
I've included photos of favourite stalls, restaurants etc etc which in my opinion put out the best of each dish that I've tried.
(The English phonetic spelling of these dishes vary, but I've tried to get the 'sound' as close as possible)
'KHAO MUN GAI'
This dish is a Thai favourite for breakfast and lunch. It's not common to find khao mun gai places open at night, although at food courts you'll alway find it.
The chicken is boiled in broth slowly, sometimes up to three hours. Out pops tender white pieces of skinless chicken breast, sliced in long slivers and placed artistically along plates of steamed rice. Best served very hot (which is hard to find in a food court) ... you slather mounds of semi-hot brown sauce over the chicken and pour on some of the chicken broth which always comes on the side. Always served with generous (or sometimes not so generous :blackeye: ) slices of fresh cucumber.
This has become a breakfast staple, and has the happy side affect of being filling but quite healthy. On offer at most khao mun gai places are some variations on the theme, with BBQ'ed or deep fried chicken ... but the basic boiled is far and away the favourite.
(Cost: 30-40 baht)
Below is a photo of The Best example (in my opinion of course). This road side little restaurant is open on 3 sides and sits a few meters away from Sukhumvit Rd in Bangkok, right next door to a giant Tesco Lotus store almost underneath the On Nut Skytrain Station.
This is not the same place as noted above (I forgot to take a shot of the place unfortunately) but gives you a good idea what to look for when hunting down khao mun gai. If you see a few dead skinned chickens hanging on hooks, garroted, and a lady standing behind with a serious meat cleaver and wood block, you'll know you've stumbled across this simple but delicious treat.
GRILLED CHICKEN, STICKY RICE, & PAPAYA SALAD
This luscious lunch (sometimes dinner) is the Fun Food to end Fun Foods. Almost always found being cooked at road side stalls or wheeled carts, this is North East (Isaan/Lao) cuisine at it's most finger lickin' good.
The lady and husband (I think) who park their cart at the entrance to our Soi in Hua Hin (pictured below) are constantly busy, and by the looks of it rake in a small daily fortune, and their grilled chicken is the best I've tasted.
Always served with this threesome is sticky rice ('Khao Nieoew') and papaya salad ('Som Tum') . . . the latter of which is possibly my favourite Thai dish of all, and is probably the one item I normally eat daily, either accompanied by the chicken and rice part, or often just by itself.
Be cautious about ordering your Som Tum. Thais usually order it very spicy indeed, but I'm not there, and frankly for me the addition of 4 or 5 chilli peppers takes away from the fresh papaya taste. I always order it "mai pet" or "nit noi pet" (generally one or two chilli's only) and that's just about right. Isaan folks order it blazing hot ... but being a farang, usually the seller will ask you what level of spicy you'd like.
This chicken and rice is always eaten with the fingers ... the grease from the chicken will get washed away magically when the sticky rice is cooked correctly. One is often a gross mess when it's finished, but a nice gross mess. This triumvirate, with perfectly grilled chicken and fresh salad made only for you is a tour de force of comfort food.
(Cost: 80 baht for the serving below).
The smoke from this cart/stall meanders gently in the wind down our Soi and drifts through the open living room window from three blocks and one left hand turn away. Then, it's just a question of "should we, or shouldn't we?"
'PAD THAI'
Hard to turn down 'Pad Thai' any time of the day, and especially hard to ignore to big plates served at the Summer Beach Restaurant & Beach Chair place on Hua Hin Beach.
I'm a bit biased on this one because our landlady owns the place and is also the cook. But no matter, we're talking about delicious food here, and she makes a plate of 'pad thai' without equal. Everyone to their own tastes, but I like her variety because of her use of big flat noodles . . . many pad thai cooks prefer the skinny noodles, which are fine, but I prefer the big boys.
Very generous helpings here, and most importantly the noodles seldom cake together at the bottom, and the whole plate is very much lacking in the overly greasy texture of a lot of pad thai.
The plate pictured below is 'Pad Thai Gai' (chicken), but you can also order it with 'Moo' or 'Goong' (pork or prawns). It's dappled with little pieces of fried egg, and comes with a very generous amount of crushed peanuts on the side ... the latter of which adds the very essence of the pad thai taste. Spray the whole array languidly with lemon juice.
There's a particularly gentle-faced beach dog at Summer Beach who loves pad thai as well ... especially the chicken part. He'll be your friend for life if you slip him a few fat boys, and he'll sleep happily under your chair all day and fish you out of the raging surf if you get all cramped up.
(Cost: 35-60 baht depending on where you buy it. The beach chair places are usually more expensive than the regular Thai restaurants.
If you happen to stop at Summer Beach for lunch, tell her 'Khun David' sent you and you'll get the royal treatment. Nice strong massages next door as well. (250 baht an hour)
GREEN CURRY CHICKEN WITH LITTLE FISH
There's a pleasant, green-leafy, almost-European in ambiance street in downtown Hua Hin named Sasong Rd. Just down from the Hua Hin/Bangkok bus station you'll find a big open air restaurant named 'Top Place' which takes over an entire corner of the block and is always chock-a-block full of customers dining on the most authentic and delicious Thai food going.
There's almost nothing on the menu over 50 baht here (except for a whole grilled fresh fish which goes for 150) and we eat here very regularly and escape with a bill less than 140 baht for two including two small Leo's.
At this terrific place dwells a tiny Thai lady owner/manager who's staff quiver at the sight of her wrath, and who knows every single dish on the menu as well as it's cost. No need for a 'check bin' at this joint . . . just leave all the empty plates (and they will all be empty!) on the table and she runs over at high gallop and adds up the bill by just checking the colour and consistency of left-over sauces. I go there simply for the entertainment.
But ~ forgetting the side show ~ you should go there for the Green Curry Cicken and the plate of Little Fish ('Pla Lek') with steamed rice. The curry is 'penang' style (i.e. less 'soupy', more 'gravy') and, ordered 'nit noi pet' (make sure you do that!) is quite sublime in it's own right. But add to that the little fish salad with it's hundreds of tiny dried and smoked fishys with their eyes looking straight up at you (yep, you eat the eyes without even a blink) ... all mixed together with onions and 'some herb' dressing, and oh my god.
The curry sauce, the salty fish, the pungent small onions, the grilled chicken pieces ... well, I think I have a hard on.
What a grand meal ... with beer ... 100 baht. Say no more!
This is only a corner of the restaurant area. Full of Germans and Scandinavians in Very Large Groups and many many Thai folks seriously chowing down, this place is a Hua Hin moment ... not to be missed.
'PENANG GOONG'
Yellow curry with prawns is one of my all time favourite Thai foods and thankfully Hua Hin has 'Friend House Restaurant' which serves the ultimate. I first discovered this dish here a few years ago, and although I've tried it at many other places I seem to always come back to this little restaurant just down the street from 'Top Place' above.
It's owned by a pock-faced Thai man who looks very much like a Mafia Don, and seems always to be surrounded by other Don types, and all his family seem to work there. Very much a favourite with Thai folks, the odd farang walks in here as well and is smiling broadly in a short time ... so good is the food here.
But above all others, the 'penang goong' is king. A teriffic yellow curry ~ which actually appears more orange than yellow (saffron??) ~ it comes stuffed with a plateful of great fat prawns. The size of the prawns vary (I assume because of the all round size of catch of the day right at the dock in Hua Hin) and in fact I've had much bigger ones than those photographed below just the other night. But size ain't all it's cracked up to be, and the mouth watering taste is always just damn fabulous.
Mix it up yourself generously with a plate of streamed rice and one is presented with a risotto of just-spicy-enough creamy-ness to take you away to Shangri-la for 20 minutes or so ... a stupid looking grin and a ting tong inability to put words to taste.
And add to THAT!: just getting to 'Friend House' ... knowing beforehand the treat which awaits ... the accompanying walk is quite beautiful and surreal (two beers under the belt already) as we pass in a cloud by the train station which is all decked out in a lovely light show, just for us.
'CHOCKY CHEWY SUNDAE'
For dessert at 'Swensons':
(Cost: 50 baht)
Some years ago now I made an off-hand observation to Suphot that Thai folks seemed to be able to sleep and eat anywhere, at anytime, and that instead of the Land of Smiles, it would be more in keeping with reality if we re-named the country the Land of the Sleep.
He thought of this and said (something along the lines of) " ... no, not really. People cannot sleep all day and all night. But Thai people can eat anytime, all day. So more better call Thailand the 'Land of the Eat' ... "
I've gone along with that since then.
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Originally Posted by Copper Pheel
