Thai food is well known and loved all over the planet. You probably have your favorite Thai restaurant at your hometown. But once you set your feet in Thailand you will be amazed how many varieties of places to eat this country has to offer. You can always find some german-thai or American-thai restaurant that has a mixture of local and western food. But we recommend you forgot about what you got used to and dive into tastes and weird combinations of street food.
Street food is the most popular way to eat in South Asia and here in Thailand.
It has a lot of advantages: the food is already cooked or is being cooked right in front of the client, it’s cheap, tasty and ready to eat.
The main disadvantage is you never can be sure if the man who is cooking your food obeys any sanitary rules. And those rules in Thailand are much milder that the ones you are probably used to. So you’d better stop thinking the western way and just take a risk and try it yourself.
Here in Koh Phangan you can see three types of street food.
Carts on the streets
Usually you can see them moving along the road – than you will have to wave to stop it - or parked near the most popular touristic places. The owner, the cashier, the vendor and the chief is always the same person. Here you can buy snacks – like grilled meat or chicken on sticks, sausages or raw fish to cook it yourself. Or even a soup in a small plastic bags. No worries, you’ll get a spoon. The main problem is that the sellers usually don’t speak any English, so you will just have to point and try. But you are on an adventure – so why not trying more?
Stationary carts
That carts look more like restaurants. They are always in the same place, usually they even have a table for the customers and offer food in real plates. You can guess this carts by glass display with some food inside. Here you can find traditional Thai dishes – fried rice with chicken or shrimp, fried rice noodles, spring rolls. Prices usually start from 30 THB.
Food markets
That’s the main attraction to all the travellers here in Thailand. And also it is one of the best places to eat if you are going with a big company 0 here everybody can find something they like.
It can remind you of a food court, but with a lot of different carts.
Sometimes they work as pop-ups – one day you can find a market on a parking lot. Others are always in the same place.
Usually they open at noon and work till late night. And we recommend visiting this markets in the night, when the heat is off and you are pretty hungry after a long day exploring the island. So you will be able to try as much food as you can.
Here you can find everything, we mean EVERYTHING.
Sushi with fresh fish and shrimp.
Chicken sauté with a sauce, which contents you would never guess by the taste.
Green dumplings with vegetables under coconut milk.
Huge portions of rice with different types of sauces and meat.
All that will be ridiculously overpriced at a restaurant at your country, here prices start from 20 THB.
And as a nice finish touch to the dinner we recommend trying coconut pancakes with a fresh squeezed juice from local exotic fruits.
Go crazy, mix it up.
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