Our final day in Bangkok we had booked onto a food tour with Gary Butler aka The Roaming Cook from Youtube. After enjoying his content where he finds amazing street food places all over Thailand, specifically a lot in Bangkok we were keen to book this as a special treat. We were just about to leave to walk to the pier when we had a message off Gary saying to hold fire as he wasn’t feeling well and he was waiting for Covid tests to be delivered! We hung around for a while and just as we had decided to get a coffee nearby we got the all clear from him that he was good to go. So instead of coffee nearby we headed down to Ratchawong pier to catch the local orange flag Chao Phraya river ferry. We didn’t have to wait long for it and after buying tickets on the pier we boarded onto the busy commuter ferry. These ferries are still some of the best ways to travel around Bangkok- you get a fantastic view of the river and banks of the river- sights like Wat Arun and the grand palace plus it is only 16B each for a single journey (and that is to any stop!). To meet Gary though we got off at Phra Nok pier- the jumping off point for Thonburi and Wang Lang market.
First thing first was to grab an iced coffee from Karin coffee (120B) on the banks of the river, which was also where we met Gary. Gary runs tours in a number of locations/ markets around Bangkok but we had chosen the Wang Lang market tour as it offers a selection of food from all areas of Thailand, plus it is mainly covered so it was perfect in the unpredictable rainy season. We spent some time chatting with Gary and with him telling us some of the history of the Thonburi side of the river as we weaved our way into the middle of the warren that is Wang Lang market. We passed 100s of sellers- fruits, cakes and street stalls but Gary navigated the market confidently until we were suddenly at our first stop for the day.
First on the menu was northern cuisine- to a restaurant where the Auntie is originally from and brought her Khao Soi noodle dishes to Bangkok. She is widely regarded for her dishes and we could see why! From her Gary ordered a Khao Soi with beef and another different northern thai soup- this was much more tomatoey. Both were delicious, and Khao Soi is still a firm favourite as best thai dish with so much flavour and different textures. Gary was very knowledgeable about the Auntie and the dishes themselves, which was impressive. We didn’t realise that Khao Soi had originated from a Laos dish originally, that has been adapted by Thais.
After enjoying these hearty soups we wound our way through more bustling back alleys to a small corner that belongs to Fat Auntie (as she calls herself). This lady is renowned for her dumplings, making hundreds by hand a day. We shared some pork ones and some whole prawn ones, of course accompanied by an amazing chinese black vinegar and crispy shallots dip. They were sublime and really packed a punch.
Next we found ourselves really in a back alley in front of a small restaurant where the woks were hot and sizzling. We were here for a seafood omlette/pancake. The shop didn’t look like anything but the lady that owns it has been running it for a long long time. We watched as the lard was put onto a searingly hot wok and then came the batter and mixed seafood, which was really fresh. There were muscles, prawns and oysters. I eat seafood but it is never my go too and I had never had an oyster in my life. That is why doing things like food tours are great, it allows you to experience new dishes, food and flavours that you wouldn’t necessarily get by yourself without a knowledgeable guide. The whole dish was absolutely delicious, with the seafood melting in your mouth, with the very subtle saltiness of the sea. The pancake itself had lovely crispy bits whilst it was still soft on the inside.
After wandering around the streets a bit longer we ended up at our last destination for savoury Thai food- this time Southern Isaan food. Known for being spicy all though I think they did it milder for us so as not to scare us away. Here Gary ordered 3 different types of Issan salad. They were all very simple but very fresh and a perfect way to counteract the heaviness of the other foods. We talked for a while about various things- travel, youtube, film making as well as food of course.
To finish our tour we had to try something sweet so we got a larger almost taco size version of a thai pancake filled with meringue and pandaan flavoured egg yolk. It was nice but incredibly sweet and sickly.
Overall we had a fantastic few hours with Gary. He was incredibly easy to get along with and showed really passion and knowledge for the food he took us to. He also has developed some great relationships with some of the vendors and this is really good to see. It took us on a whirlwind tour of Thailand and despite having travelled various areas of Thailand for several months we still discovered new information, new foods and some delicious tasting foods! We would highly recommend Gary’s tours- you can PM him on Instagram (under The Roaming Cook) for more information. Also check out his Youtube channel if you are interested in street food in Asia. He finds some hidden gems so people can just go up and order from them rather than having to figure out what's good and whats not.
Following our food tour we made our way back to our hotel via the river ferry, thoroughly stuffed. In the evening our plan had been to go out for some drinks at a nice bar in the area as it was our last night in Thailand. Unfortunately the weather had other plans though and there was full monsoon rain for hours. After waiting for an hour or so in our hotel room for it to stop we decided to try to brave in and go out anyway. After only getting half way we gave up- there was water flooding the streets and we were drenched from just crossing the road. Dave did manage to find a mango sticky rice stall though as he hadn't had any so far on this trip! Instead of heading further out in the rain we grabbed bao buns and beers from the local 7/11 and had them in our hotel room watching the rain and world go by from our balcony. Probably more of a fitting end to our Thailand trip that has been very wet in places and definitely on a budget! We have absolutely loved being back in Thailand even with all the rain. It is a spectacular country that's so diverse and so easy to travel. I am sure we will be back again another time.
Follow our journey to Malaysia in the next blog.
Thanks
Alex
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