Day 328 of 400: Eating street food in Bangkok – Thailand
There is so much of Bangkok to see and just not enough time to see it all! Every nook and cranny has something to offer. As we thought about needing a little “pick me up” to get the day going, we remembered energy drinks were invented in Asia…we of course went straight into a 7-11 to buy a couple. Instead of cans, they had little mini glass bottles with writing we didn’t understand but they were next to red bull so we assumed it was an energy drink. As we started walking around, we cracked the bottles open and took our first swig…it was very syrupy and sweet. Giff finished his like a shot and I sipped mine a few times before deciding I just couldn’t get it down my throat-Ick.
We were walking through what looked like the jewelry district of Bangkok which a local informed us was of poor quality created for tourists. As we kept walking through the crowds of people under the many power lines crisscrossed along the streets, we saw a street food vendor on the corner and there was a line of people waiting to get a bite. Giff insisted we join the line and it was a good thing he did. The vendor had a huge bowl of oil, a huge pile of bananas still on their stalk and a bowl of various nuts mixed together. Inside the bubbling oil were sliced banana pieces which were first battered with the nut mixture. Even though the vendor had a line going down the street, she would not pull out those bananas without the perfect golden crispness to bite into. There was also a magazine clipping not in English clipped to the cart…we were clearly not the only ones who found out about the great banana stand. Giff finally got to the top of the line, handed over his $2 for a bag of the deliciousness.
We also bought a few slices of pomelo (fruit) from another vendor because it is all over the place…but it is not on our favorite things to eat list. We kept walking checking out the different areas of the city. Everywhere we turned there was food…is it time to eat again yet? Yes…we found a small restaurant serving duck soup, we ordered one to try it and ended up ordering a second one. It was fresh made broth with all kinds of Thai spice and fresh herbs not to mention sliced of duck and it was so cheap but oh so good! After lunch we continued walking through the streets, there was a cute silverware store selling all kinds of stainless steel silver sets…the one we wanted was sold out. We also found a little shoe shop which had really nice workmanship on leather shoes…it was small and family owned. How could we not buy shoes to help stimulate the economy here?
After spending the day walking around, we found our way back to the tailor shop for Giff’s final fitting. Unfortunately they had some things wrong and we spent more time there than we planned…and now we have to return again tomorrow which we were disappointed to have to do. We made arrangements with the tailors and were on our way to find dinner. We actually decided to go right back to that vendor who grills the salt crusted fish and serves it with that amazing sauce made fresh with a mortar and pestle.
We drank our beer as they cooked our fish sitting at another small plastic table and watching the buzz of the street. We ordered a fish each this time…no more of that sharing stuff and we grew quiet as each delicious piece of fish was shoved into our mouths. We had a long day so walked down the street to our hotel to unwind after dinner for the evening.
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