Eating in Khaosan

Pen Thai Food is an establishment specializing on Thai food from the kind “dish-on-rice” as it is served on the regular markets all over the country. Red and green curries are the first to catch the eye, but there are many dishes here allowing a thorough exploration of a big and important part of the Thai cuisine. Popiang House is a video-restaurant which works every day, all the day. It has an extremely varied menu, with Western, Thai and hybrid dishes, but its epitome are the fish grilled in front of the customers during the evenings. The Coffee Stall offers an awesome opportunity to meet the real Thai coffee at the doorstep of the biggest backpackers’ center in South East Asia. The colorful preparation is as enjoyable as the event itself. Noodle Soup is a staple of the Thai cuisine and no visit to Thailand is complete without trying at least one of those. They are available everywhere and tasty enough to become a main dish during the stay here.

Quick Tips:

Try everything, but with care at the beginning. Be especially careful with the chilies and their sauces; try a little bit on rice before you lushly pour them over your food. Simple local dishes in the local fashion are a good way to get to know a new culture, and are mainly available on Soi Rambuttri, the road north and parallel to Khaosan. They are cheap and tasty: noodle soups, steamed pig’s knees, and curries of all colors rule here. Westernized local food and western food are served in restaurant-like establishments which sell variations of tom yum kung and pad Thai, as well as adaptations of Western staples; the last would ease the casual longing for a known dish. The video Restaurants are one of the preeminent characteristics of this area. They serve basic variations of local and Western dishes and count on your watching the free videos on giant screens to distract you enough from the food’s quality. Many snacks are served from stalls placed all over the place. Fruits, pad Thai (the local dish is very different from the version served here), banana pancakes, fried insects… everything is available.

Best Way To Get Around:

Bangkok is a huge metropolis and covering it by foot is not easy. Foreign letters, strange sounds, and many variations of public transport do not transform the task of traveling around into an easy one. Taxis and their local mutants, the tuk-tuks, are not recommended; sometimes you will find yourself at the driver’s tailor uncle instead than at your desired destination. The great diversity in buses and the need to make a quick transaction on them without understanding the language may sound frightening, but there is no reason for that feeling. Traveling in an air-conditioned bus is more comfortable than in a taxi and both advance at the same speed. While boarding the bus, do not pay. A ticket seller will approach you during the trip, expecting to get approximately the right fare; do not attempt to pay a B7 fare with a B1000 note. Buses in Bangkok are very cheap and effective, and they will take you anywhere at anytime. At peak hours it may take hours to cross the city; planning is the answer.

Noodle soup is the most basic food in the Thai culture and can be consumed as a breakfast, a lunch, or a dinner. The ingredients are varied and can partially be chosen by the consumer. One type of noodles--usually rice noodles--is to be chosen; the wide rice noodles are the hardest to manage with the chopsticks, so take care. Fish or meatballs can be selected from a wide range, and you should be aware that part of those is prepared with the addition of ground insects. Some places will add some tiny omelettes and chopped green onions and dried-out chillies will always be sprinkled on top of everything. If that is not nutritious enough for you, all the places offer liver chops to be added.

Thais usually add chillis till the noodles get a pink hue, but you should be careful and not mimic that action till you are sure you can stand the fierce local mutations. To avoid ‘losing face’ in front of the locals by not adding chilli, you can add lemon juice from the fresh lemons always present on the tables and a few mint leaves placed near them. This spicing is typical of certain zones and will transform you in the eyes of the many local watchers into a well-travelled Farang without burning your tastebuds.

The proper way of eating the soup is to pick up the solid bit with the chopsticks and the liquid with the short and deep oriental spoon. You can enjoy the experience everywhere; even touristy Khaosan Road hosts at least to small restaurants, one at each end (towards the palace at the western end and away from the palace at the eastern one). The regular price is twenty baht or less.

Pen Thai Food is located on Soi Rambuttri, in the part of this street running parallel to Khaosan Road and not far from the Chana Songhkram Temple. For years, Pen Thai is a bastion of excellent Thai food amidst the international blends served by other establishments in the backpackers' regional capital.

It isn’t just the food; the place would fit in any local market across the country: this is the authentic thing. Placed in a shop-house, the interior of the entrance floor is used as a kitchen, the entrance itself is where the dishes are displayed and the tables are placed on the sidewalk under some protection from the scorching sun.

It offers a wide variety of food; some of the dishes are prepared using an over-generous amount of chili and others adapted to the mild taste of tourists. On the tables, there is a bowl of "chili-water," with tiny chopped chilies swimming in a clear liquid for those interested to taste the full fury of the Thais. The food here is of the dish-on-rice type: the client chooses one of the dishes on display and then the choice is pored upon a plate full of rice.

Most dishes cost just B20 (roughly half an American dollar) or B30, three or four times cheaper than the same ones served in the nearby tourist restaurants, and are served in relatively small portions. However, the accessible price allows eating more than one dish or asking for a double ration to be put over the rice. For example, the "meatball on sweet and sour sauce" includes only one large, tasty, non-spicy meatball and costs B30. The dish is great but too small; adding another meatball adds to the price only B20, and an extra fried egg will add another B10.

However, the staple-foods of the Thai cuisine are the curries, which here cost B20 each. Gaang is the generic name for chili based curries and if those are served over rice, as in Pen Thai Foods, then the dish is called gaang raht khao. There are many kinds of curries; the main ones and the easiest to recognize are the red and the green. Gaang pet is the red curry, which, as hinted by the fiery looking red chilies swimming in it, is quite spicy. Gaang keeo wahn is the green one, which asides its color can be recognized by the small squashes moderating its taste. For a first time experience, I recommend the green one.

Overall Pen Thai Food offers an enjoyable and accessible introduction to one of the best cuisines in the world and is strongly recommended while visiting Bangkok.

Popiang House is a classic tourists’ restaurant in Khaosan Road. Well, almost, since technically is on Soi Rambuttri, on the northern side of the Chana Songhkram Temple, which is on Khaosan’s western edge. This is an advantage, since Soi Rambuttri is better looking, quieter and safer than Khaosan. The place operates on a 24/7 basis, though some of the menu, specifically the grilled fish, is available only during the evenings.

The place is open to the street and offers many tables put too close to each other, as well as a huge television screen perpendicular to them, so that watching the occasional video movies or the Muay Thai – Thai Boxing – matches is not easy. Nevertheless, that is never the reason for visiting a restaurant. The staff is friendly, eager to please and does not push additional items on the visitors.

Popiang’s menu can be divided in two parts. The first is the traditional international blend so popular in the area and is prepared in the inner kitchen. It includes breakfast (for B40 to B60; $1 to $1.5), spaghettis (B60 to B90), desserts (B40 to B60), salads (B40 to B55), sandwiches and baguettes (B40 to B70) and a great variety of Thai foods (B40 to 100). The Thai foods are better sampled at local restaurants where they are more faithful to the originals, the salads are somewhat small and unimaginative, and the desserts can be bought at the stalls in front of the place for a quarter of their price inside; but the sandwich club (at B55) makes an excellent and cheap lunch.

However, Popiang House is not the kind of place you enter for eating a regular menu; it is suitable for a quick snack, but the main attraction is the grill placed at its entrance. The grill is opened a bit after the sunset and next to it, a big tray with ice displays a handsome variety of fresh fish. Thailand has an extensive fish industry and those are safely transported across the country in refrigerated trucks; hence, the fish here are fresh and safe. The big daily consumption is another safety valve promising that the fish in display are not a 26th of December Christmas cake.

The most expensive item is the red snapper (B100), mackerels follow (B90) and shrimps are available for just B35 the unit. After choosing the desired fish, it is cooked in front of the customer’s eyes and is served with a complimentary salad and chili. If carbohydrates are a necessity, then a baked potato can be added for an additional thirty bahts. From my experience, the fish are cooked to their exact point and provide a healthy opportunity for remembrance.

Trying to do something positive with my jet lag, I visited my favorite coffee stall in Bangkok at 04:30am. Surprisingly, it was open and full of customers; and so, this entry was written.

The nameless place is operated by a friendly couple who try their best to make customers feel at home; it is located at the outer corner of the lottery esplanade between Khaosan Road and Rajadam Avenue. With such a prime location, it benefits from the wholesale lottery tickets buyers and from the travelers using the parking lot as an improvised trucks' terminal in the early morning. I have visited the stall, on and off, since the year 2000 and have never spotted another tourist there, except for my guests. Such an authentic place at the doorstep of the backpackers’ center in Thailand should be visited more often by those wanting to meet the local culture.

Amidst a few tables, where the coffee buying hordes compete for a sitting place, is a stall than in its compactness and complexity is a work of art. A square box on two bicycle wheels accommodates a water boiler, filters and all the ingredients needed to prepare the different variants of the perfect cup of Thai coffee.

The main drink sold here is the Thai version of coffee; “kafe tung” is the general name for all the coffees prepared with a cloth filter and here it can be bought for B10 (roughly $0.25). Thais seldom drink it black; usually a thick layer of condensed milk is poured into the cup first and then is followed by the coffee and some water to dilute it down to a drinkable concentration. To end the process in a neat conceptual circle, some evaporated milk is added; the coffee is so dark that the milk added in such a way does not have any effect on its color. After the blend is stirred, the thick, solid brown color of perfection is achieved. The result is much thicker than any coffee in the West and tourists drinking it for the first time often compare it to thick chocolate.

Not only the texture is different, the taste is also unusual. Before I continue, let me comment that Starbucks serves vanilla and chocolate flavored coffees; adding flavors is a common practice everywhere. However, Thais prefer other flavors, and to the ground coffee, they add ground tamarind or pickled plum. The specific flavor is decided by the staff, since due to the nature of the process, all the coffees at a given moment are prepared from the same filter. As well, the condensed milk contains palm oil. The result is quite attractive and features that lush richness of the tropics.

To accompany the coffee, small fried buns resembling French beignets are available for B2 each. Healthy green tea is always given for free at the end of the event, or is available in a big pot at the table, depending on the number of customers crowding the place.

Seeking for a safe place after recent events in Bolivia, I returned to Thailand. I found a quite different Bangkok, with most shopping and cultural areas having been upgraded and modernized; combining that with the strong Baht - the local currency - the general picture was one of prosperity.

However, that was not all. Another major change was the massive appearance of surveillance cameras, mainly - but not only - on Khaosan Road. The place is now crisscrossed with an oceanic number of surveillance cameras, as if the authorities were assuming the tourists were criminals. As per the other possibility, that the cameras were placed in order to provide protection to the visitors, anybody who had ever complained about a theft or another violent attack to the Thai police understands it is pure nonsense; the local police task is to protect the local businesses, period. If another country asks to surveil foreigners and is willing to pay for that, they will forget about human rights and the international conventions Thailand had signed on the issue and place the violators.

Anyway, once aware of the annoyance, avoiding being unwillingly photographed is easy. My attempt to re-check Prakorb's House was nobody's business; except of course - of IgoUgo readers.

A Place with History

Prakorb's House is one of the oldest establishments in Khaosan Road. I have visited it since year 2000 and can testify it had hardly changed, and that says a lot in such a highly volatile place. Serving the same food as most restaurants in the area, Prakorb's is a good model for testing what Thais thing that travelers like.

Location and Setup

Located on 52, Khaosan Road, Prakorb's House enjoys a superb location. However, the relatively narrow structure and the many gewgaws stalls by the entrance make finding the establishment a bit difficult. The restaurant was placed in a long corridor featuring two rows of simple tables. At its end is a counter that doubles as the reception desk of the attached guesthouse; Prakorb is one of those popular South East Asian guesthouse-restaurant establishments.

Menu

The menu in this kind of places includes several layers designed to provide suitable food for the different times of the day and tastes; here are the highlights.

Breakfast
Several set breakfasts, pancakes and salads are offered for three dollars or less each. The special breakfast is the most expensive item in this category; it includes French toasts, bacon, orange juice and coffee. Prakorb's was the first place on Khaosan Road to serve decent coffee; it was there years before Starbucks and Coffee World opened their branches.

Curries

Curries are an important part of the Thai cuisine; Prakhorb's features green, red and the less popular yellow curry. They are served over white rice and the meat served with them can be chosen by the customer.

Noodles

Thai rice noodles are served natural or in soup. If in soup, they are rather spicy, while on a plate they are spiced mainly with soy sauce. Poultry, beef, pork, fish and shrimp can be chosen to accompany them.

Rice

Rice dishes are a important component of the Thai cuisine. Here it is served cooked or fried with meats and vegetables.

Som Tam Salad

One of the best Thai dishes, this salad is made with shredded green papaya, peanuts, chili and lime. For some unclear reason, Prakhorb's adds meat.

Tom Yum Kung

The flag dish of Thai soups is served here; due to the adaptations and simplifications performed at Prakorb's, it is not recommended.

Fast Food

Answering the craving for bread that Western travelers develop after a while in Asia, Prakhorb's has a large selection of sandwiches, baguettes and burgers. A recurring issue is a somewhat tasteless product which is heated in a microwaves oven, leading to chewy sandwiches. The Sandwich Club is the leading option in this category.

Italian Food

Under this category, Prakorb's includes only garlic bread, macaroni stir and spaghetti. Where was my pizza?

The Meal

We chose two of the special dishes served here: Salaman Kai and Sukiyaki.

Salaman Kai

Salaman Kai is an unusual and somewhat festive dish in the Thai cuisine due to the use it does of potatoes and carrots. This type of curry includes also chicken chunks, coconut milk and the tasty Salaman paste. Prakhorb's version was faithful and tasty.

Sukiyaki

Sukiyaki arrived at Thailand with the kind help of Japanese travelers and adapted well to the local conditions. Meat, tofu and vegetables are served in a hot pan swimming in a special broth, which is the key to the dish.

Here Prakhorb's failed. They offered a "soup version" of the dish and other version served over vermicelli. Gone were the pan and the broth, thus the dish became indistinguishable from a soup or a noodles dish. The result was superbly spiced and very, very tasty; I loved it, but it wasn't Sukiyaki.