Yaowarat Road in Bangkok might be the single greatest place for a food crawl on earth. By day Chinatown’s main road looks like a pretty standard Bangkok thoroughfare. But around 6pm the sun goes down, the neon signs light up and the street is transformed. Street carts roll in and fill the road as far as the eye can see. Pork belly, dumplings, noodles, seafood, pad thai – you could probably eat here every night for a year without repeat. Hordes of people crowd around to watch the spectacle as lobsters sizzle on grills, noodles are tossed in the air and woks catch flames high enough it feels like the fire department should be on hand.
I have never seen anything that matches the variety of foods on offer in such close proximity. Strolling from one end to the other (not to mention the side streets it all spills onto) could easily take an hour or more. Several of the vendors have won awards that hang proudly on their cart. For a group of food lovers, there’s no better place to spend an evening in Southeast Asia.
