nosh nook #41 - monday, may 11, 2009

a snacker's guide to bangkok street food (link)
05.10.09 - the washington post - by nick malgieri

one night in bangkok and the world's your oyster. the bars are temples but the pearls ain't free. you'll find a god in every golden cloister and if you're lucky then the god's a she. i can feel an angel sliding up to me. --murray head

bangkok's known for a lot of things, some savory, some not so savory. the rumor is that given its location in thailand, you can get all sorts of really authentic thai food there, especially in their plentiful markets, which are filled with food vendors hawking a wide array of dishes & snacks.  frankly, i don't see myself making it to bangkok any time soon to verify such claims, so i'm relying on the good graces of the washington post to do so.

nick melgieri recently visited bangkok's markets for the post.  he notes that "thais are inveterate snackers," who fully embrace food-on-the-go.  as a result, you can find vendors everywhere--on sidewalks, off the main streets and right outside their own homes--selling tasty treats.  unlike street vendors here in nyc, whose kebabs are pretty much guaranteed to be cooked in a fine layer of general street dust, "bangkok offers a very sanitary street-food experience."  as one who avoids the nyc street vendors because i'm convinced i'm going to get some sort of food virus, sanitary conditions are a major plus.

while there, melgieri made a trip to bangkok's chinatown--one of the best areas in the city for street food.  with american photographer austin bush at his side, he visited a range of places with crazy-sounding names like "mangkorn khao" and "phat thai ok."  other languages are funny!  at these places, they sampled a handful of dishes filled with noodles & seafood, apparently all prepared by colorful chefs with quaint quirks.  they can prepare their food from high above a pair of stilts for all i care.  as long as they serve pad thai, it's all good in the hood.