Crowds of office workers are a good sign when it comes to street food. In areas with heavy lunch hour traffic, more competition means only the best street food stalls and restaurants are left standing. That’s why Soi Saint Louis 3, surrounded by the towering offices of Sathorn, is the perfect destination for a satisfying lunch break.
Kaa Muu Trok Gai Bang Rak ขาหมูตรอกไก่บางรัก
This small shophouse is packed on weekdays between noon and 1pm. We suggest coming a little earlier or a little later to secure a table.
Kaa muu, stewed pork leg, is the main attraction here. The pork is tender to the point of falling off the bone, packed with flavor from hours of stewing in a huge vat of spices and gravy. Ask for lean if you want a healthy version – otherwise be prepared to savor a side of delicious, but artery clogging, pork fat.
Tables of white shirted office workers, IDs dangling around necks, will order big plates of kaa muu to share. Pickled Chinese spinach, hearty boiled eggs and springs of coriander balance the flavors of the kaa muu. Adjust accordingly with condiments of fresh garlic, chilies and crushed chili in vinegar.
Although kaa muu is the namesake of the restaurant, the real hero is the fried crispy pork – muu krob. The salty, peppery pork has a perfectly crunchy texture. Order it by the plate for a snack or on top of rice instead of stewed pork.
Another must-order dish is seaweed soup with pork meatballs and tofu. Dried black seaweed gives the soup a great savory, briny flavor that goes perfectly with the sweet, five-spice taste of kaa muu.
Expect standard prices of THB35-40 per dish.
[JUICEBOX_GALLERY]
Hia Wong Buh Mee Giew Gung เฮียโหงว บะหมี่เกี๊ยวกุ้ง
The owner of this renowned establishment will eagerly greet you at the door to set you up with a table and push the crispy wontons. The highlights at this already famous restaurant are steamed or fried shrimp and pork wontons, pork ribs with gravy on egg noodles and shrimp wontons with fresh crab on egg noodles.
The rack of pork ribs is juicy and tender on top of a bundle of egg noodles with just the right amount of chewiness. But it’s the freshness of the crab here that keeps people coming back again and again. That, and the homemade wontons – a practice that has remained as the restaurant gained popularity.
Prices are a little higher here, in line with the premium ingredients and hefty portions. Noodles with wontons plus crab or pork ribs will set you back THB100. Not that this spot is closed on Friday. Map and Facebook Page
Delicious Pad Thai
Pad Thai – it’s a staple on the menu of every Thai restaurant around the world, but in Bangkok we can go weeks or even months without ordering it. It’s so ubiquitous that it’s hard to remember what made it so great in the first place. Try the pad Thai here for a reminder.
Despite having been here for 19 years, this pad Thai cart doesn’t seem to have a name. Still, you can’t miss it. The cart, situated weekdays on the corer of Thanon Chan Soi 18/7 Yaak 22, has a bright orange sign with a menu in Thai.
Maybe it’s the process of stir-frying the noodles until the sugars are browned and caramelized and flavors meld together, or maybe it’s a secret proportion of lime juice to fish sauce. Somehow, the owner manages to create a pad Thai that packs an amazing range of flavors into a single dish.
Prices range from THB35 for basic pad Thai to THB50-55 for fresh shrimp or mixed seafood.
View Street Food in Soi St Louis 3 in a larger map
Photos: Tara Chanapai