Tag: things to eat in thailand

Ban Mai Chay Nam Novelty Restaurant by the river in Khao Yai

Ban Mai Chay Nam is a restaurant, a museum and a hotel all rolled into one. Located in Khao yai which is just a 3 hour drive from Bangkok, this unique restaurant is one that you cannot miss.

Just a few steps into the restaurant and we knew this place was really special.  

The restaurant is filled with interesting, weird and old things in every nook and cranny, you will never spend a bored second here. There are old chinaware, creepy looking dolls, antiques, old toys, figurines, statues, arcade machines etc.

If you thought that everything is old and just for display – you thought wrong. Some of the arcade games such as Air Hockey and Family Guy Pinball are still playable. If you do not have enough coins, you can proceed to the counter to make an exchange.  

Besides playing the games, you get to take awesome pictures as well!

We had so much fun walking around and exploring the place that we forgot we were there for the food in the first place.

The first dish we got was shredded pork with rice cooked with coconut milk and papaya salad. The sticky rice was fragrant and it went well with the crispy and salty pork. The papaya salad was sweet, spicy, salty and sour all at the same time. It was really balanced out.

The second dish was grilled catfish with sweet fish sauce and neem. I have never tried neem before and was curious to try it. I must say, the taste is an acquired one. When you first eat it, it presents a mild taste but as you chew, it becomes more and more bitter. The neem is best enjoyed with a bite of the catfish and sauce.

Before you leave, remember to take a picture on the wooden bridge over the beautiful river.

If you want to experience something unique in Khao Yai, do head over to Ban Mai Chay Nam. A word of advice was given to us by one of the locals, they said that the restaurant is best enjoyed at night as it could get really hot in the day because of the zinc roofs. Have fun eating, playing and taking pictures!

Hours: 10 am – 10pm

Address: 21 หมู่บ้านเกาะแก้ว Pak Chong, Nakhon Ratchasima 30130, Thailand

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Dancing Shrimps “Goong Ten” in Bangkok

I always had a penchant for trying weird foods and on my wish list was Goong ten. Goong ten (กุ้งเต้น) is a Thai dish that literally translates to dancing shrimps.

Although Goong Ten is a street dish that is normally sold by hawkers, it proved to be very difficult to find in Bangkok! And interestingly enough, instead of finding it on the streets, I found it sold at a stall in Rod Fai Night Market Srinakarin.

It was interesting to find a group of youngsters selling Goong Ten together, I always had the idea that it would be sold by the older generations.

Look at all the shrimps swimming around. I felt a little bad at that time for the shrimps, they were going to be eaten alive – by me!

If I were a shrimp, I wouldn’t be very happy right now! I’m going to guess from this video what the recipe is and what the ingredients are but if you would like a proper recipe for Goong Ten, please search the internet.

Here it goes!

1) Scoop the shrimp out of the tank and place it into a mixing bowl.

2) Add lime

3) Add fish sauce

4) Add chilli flakes

5) Add peanuts

6) Add salt and pepper

7) Add cilantro, mint leaves and red onions

8) Mix well

Now for the taste test! Eating the shrimps was really hard at first, they kept jumping around and some actually jumped out of the bowl. I was really scared to eat them as I thought their hard shells would poke my mouth. I wanted to get through the first bite fast, so that involved chewing quickly and killing the prawns fast. Surprisingly, the prawns were very soft and easy to chew and they did not jump inside my mouth. The sauce was sour and spicy and eating the prawns with the cilantro and mint leaves was really refreshing. After the first bite, subsequent bites became really easy, the prawns were also losing their vigor and only the strongest were still alive. This was a unique experience and I would definitely try it again. I urge you to try it too!

If you are having a hard time searching for Goong Ten, head over to Rod Fai Night Market Srinakarin.

Hours: 5pm – 1am , closed on mon and tue

Address: ถนน ศรีนครินทร์ Khwaeng Nong Bon, Khet Prawet, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10250, Thailand

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The Chocolate Factory @ Khao Yai

Everyone needs chocolates in their lives. And where better to get your chocolate fix then to visit The Chocolate Factory at Khao Yai.

They have a great selection of brownies, cookies, chocolate bars, cakes and others to take away with you.

Watch how they prepare the chocolates! It’ll make you want to eat them even more.

Get your fill of cakes and chocolates.

They even have a restaurant on the second level.

Mushroom ravioli – creamy light and very mushroomy.

Charcoal grilled Australian rib eye steak with peppercorn sauce – so tender and juicy.

Giant river prawn with brown rice – it looks like a lobster but it’s a lot tougher.

Choco banana – what could go wrong when you mix bananas and chocolates?

The Chocolate Factory at Khao Yai had so many things to eat that we visited the place twice! We would have loved to try more of the food there though we just didn’t have the time. We hope you will enjoy this place as much as we did.

Hours: Mondays – Thurs 9:30 am – 9 pm, Fri – Sun 9:30 am – 10 pm

Website: http://www.chocolatefactory.co.th/

Address: 352 หมู่ 2 Mu Si, Pak Chong District, Nakhon Ratchasima 30130, Thailand

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Affordable Dim Sum At Chok Dee Dim Sum Hatyai

It all begins with choosing your dim sum! With so many choices to choose from, you won’t have to worry about not getting your fill. 

The prawn crystal dumplings had a chewy skin filled with fresh juicy prawns. The siew mai had a good skin to filling ratio and the meat was cooked to perfection. The chicken feet were seasoned well with a good amount of ginger and dried chili which gives it that little extra kick. And, if you notice, we had three dishes with salted egg yolks in them as we absolutely loved any dim sum that had them. Yummy!

Besides being famous for dim sum, bak ku teh is a must try and it is the signature dish of this restaurant. When we got there, every table had ordered bak ku teh along with dim sum. The soup tasted strongly of herbs and it had a good amount of pork, beancurd skin and enoki mushrooms. It was really delicious.

Lastly, it was time for dessert. But because we were already so full from what we ate, we decided to share one custard bao. We quickly realized how awesome this bao was. The custard was a salty and sweet golden liquid that kept oozing out. One bite of the bao and we knew one wasn’t enough. So, don’t be like us, get one or two custard baos per person at least!

Visit Chok Dee Dim Sum if you want to eat dim sum. Visit Chok Dee Dim Sum if you want to have Bak Ku Teh. Visit Chok Dee Dim Sum if you want to have breakfast, lunch, dinner or even supper. Just Visit Chok Dee dim Sum!

Hours: 6am – 12pm, 5 pm – 10 pm

Address: 58 25 ซอย ละม้ายสงเคราะห์ 1 ตำบล หาดใหญ่ Hat Yai District, Songkhla 90110, Thailand

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