A Tale Of Three Cities

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“It’s good … but it’s not the best,” is Diamond Thongsaem’s verdict on the pad Thai we have just sampled. When you’re in Thailand, this is the dish with which to start your food quest. I have enlisted Diamond, a Streetwise Guru tour guide from the Anantara Riverside hotel (see Where to Stay, page 109), to help me find the finest in Bangkok. If you listen to Google, the best in the city can be eaten at Thip Samai on Maha Chai Road. But online acclaim comes at a price, and the lines often stretch around the block.

“No need to queue! Few tourists bother to look just a few doors down,” says Diamond, ushering me towards Leung Pha, where they have been coalfiring pans of pad Thai since long before Thip Samai hit Tripadvisor. The noodles are delicious indeed, the lines are short, and a generous portion will set you back just THB60 (R28).

We had started our foodie wanderings that morning at the rough-and-tumble Bangluck market. It’s best experienced at dawn, when the market is jammed with stalls and shoppers, but Diamond’s favourite sweet seller was still open when we arrived just before lunchtime. We wandered away bearing a carton of Thai desserts: jelly with coconut milk, and more elaborate options topped with coconut shavings and custard.