Chinatown And Pahurat

Eat and meet

Chinatown

It's nearly impossible to walk around Chinatown without noticing all the food. It's everywhere, roasting chestnuts, barbecued pork skin, fresh fruit, and whole fish. What you don't see on every other street corner you certainly will smell. To many it's a turnoff, to others it's far too fascinating to turn away.

Double Dogs Tea Room

A Chinatown oasis

406 Yaowarat Road, Bangkok
T: (086) 329 3075; (080) 439 2227

This soothing, air-con tea room/restaurant/bookstore that also sells booze is set in a spacious, bright and airy space that almost feels like a Japanese calligraphy studio. Soft, simple lamps stand beside clean, white walls and hardwood tables of varying sizes. A lovely bookstore with English, Thai ... read more
R & L Seafood and T & K Seafood

Red shirts or green shirts?

Phadung Dao Rd (Soi Texas), Yaowarat Rd, Bangkok

On one side of scraggly Soi Texas off Yaowarat Road are the 'red shirts' of R & L, and directly on the other side are their rivals, the green shirts of T & K. We're not talking Thai political demonstrators, but rather mouth-watering street seafood joints. Both R & L and T & K get it done with ... read more
Coolie Noodles (in Thai: ba mee jap gang)

Everything a coolie needs

Half way down the alley from Charoen Krung Rd, Right-side, close to Wat Mangon

From the corner of Charoen Krung Rd and Plaeng Nam Road, turn left into the first alley on the north side of the road and look on the right for a man slinging big bowls of noodles around under a sign with a picture of yellow noodles on it. Coolie noodles descend from a time when Chinese immigrants ... read more
Hua Seng Hong Restaurant

Excellent roasted pork

371-373 Yaowarat Rd
T: (02) 222 0653

Hua Seng Hong serves up classic Hong Kong-style Chinese food. Don't come for the atmosphere, but do come for the roasted duck and dumpling noodle soup, the excellent roasted pork steamed buns, and the tung hoon claypot prawns. Diners have to decide for themselves if eating shark's fin soup is ... read more
Streetfood: Yaowarat Rd

An Asian food lover's dream

Yaowarat Rd

Yaowarat: dumplings piled high, sides of roasted pork, roasted ducks, boiled chickens, frying trays of filled pastries, roasting chestnuts, Chinese-style seafood restaurants, dim sum and more line this street. The street side seafood restaurants set up in the late afternoon, and by the time the ... read more
Viva & Aviv The River

Flash drinks riverside

River City, 23 Trok Rongnamkhaeng (Charoen Krung Soi 30), Bangkok
T: 02) 639 6305

Set right on the Chao Phraya River in the otherwise sleepy River City shopping complex, this playful and popular spot is a splurge for the senses (and your wallet). Viva & Aviv pulls off a mix of relaxed and romantic riverside dining, Sunday afternoon DJ beats, fruity and rum-heavy cocktails, ... read more
The Canton House

Solid dim sums

530 Yaowarat Rd, Bangkok
T: (02) 221 3335

The Canton House is a chain of dim sum restaurants in Bangkok, and arguably one of the best. It's not handcrafted splendour in each and every bite, but most of their dim sum is solid and a great value. Plus, it's a fun place to drink beers and kick it with the rest of middle class Thailand. ... read more
@Siam

Try the pad krapao neua

Directly opposite Hualamphong Station Main Entrance
T: (02) 259 7209

This little shop house restaurant does a smashing job of providing exactly what a train traveller needs. That would be: good food, reasonably-priced, very cold beer, and an understanding that people do, in fact, have a train to catch. @Siam serves up Thai classics, including a range of curries, ... read more
Laap Paak

Solid Isaan favourites

518 Hualumphong Subway Station Gate 3, Rama 4 Rd
T: (02) 613 9661

Laap Paak is a pleasant respite from the energy of Hualampong Station, with a cool air-con dining room and a leafy green wooden patio tucked away to the side. The food is solid Isaan favourites — laap (different types of chopped meat dressed with fresh herbs, shallots, garlic and chiles), ... read more
Hong Kong Noodle

Convenient to the train station

Directly opposite Hualamphong Station Main Entrance
T: (02) 613 8977

Hong Kong Noodle is a Bangkok chain with a few locations around the city. A popular spot with students and young Thais, Hong Kong Noodle has a good selection of decently prepared dim sum, roasted duck and chicken dishes, and noodles. This is an especially useful noodle shop, as it is directly ... read more