21 Thai Street Foods That Will Make You Say "Pad Thai Who?"

Leave space in your belly for these delicacies.

Obviously, when you go to Thailand, you're going to want to eat pad Thai. And I don't blame you: it's delicious and it's hella cheap.

All photos taken by BuzzFeed

But once you've had your pad Thai fill, it's time to step outside your comfort zone. The streets of Bangkok are teeming with food vendors, selling a whole heap of different snacks and meals. Before I went, I tried plotting out the best areas to get street food, but I ended up finding it everywhere. I reckon the best places are definitely Chinatown (at night), around markets, outside major subway and skytrain stations, and around big shopping centres. Also the vendors around Khao San Road and near the Grand Palace will be more likely to speak English, if you want to know more about what you're eating.

Here are some of the best foods which you can't miss.

1. Mango sticky rice with coconut milk

This is HEAVEN. Hands-down one of the best desserts and snacks known to man.

2. Deep fried dough with pandan sauce or condensed milk

This shit is GOOD. There was a long line for this vendor cart in Chinatown, and they've been included on a Michelin list of Bangkok hotspots. It's still only 40 Baht ($2AUD) for a tray of these bad boys, though.

3. Big vats of stir-fry

There are a ton of stalls which just have big platters of different stir-fries and curries. Before you make a decision, you might want to ask the vendor "mai phet" which means "not spicy" and hopefully they'll point you in the right direction. This ginger chicken meal was BOMB and I'm high-key going to try to replicate it at home.

4. The best fucking soup I've ever had

I was walking through Chinatown and a guy yelled "soup!" at me and I said "yeah OK", and he gave me this bowl. I'm pretty sure it was pork, crab, and dumplings, with noodles and greens. Hot damn this was SO good. I 10000% recommend spending an evening sampling all the food available on the streets of Chinatown.

5. Bags of fresh fruit, which you can find on every street corner

If you lived here, you'd never bother going to a fruit shop because there's cheap as hell fruit sold everywhere you look.

6. Fresh coconut

When you've been walking around all day in the humidity of Bangkok, there's nothing more appealing than cracking open a fresh coconut and rehydrating.

7. And coconut ice cream

Uhhhhh I want to eat this every damn day. It's just ice cream made out of coconut cream, so it's got no dairy and no sugar added to it. You'd pay $10 for this at a fancy vegan market in Sydney, but in Bangkok I got this for 50 Baht (about $2.50AUD).

8. Fried bananas

I've been hearing about fried bananas for years, but this is the first time I'd tried them. The batter is sweeter than I expected, but definitely worth trying.

9. Or grilled bananas, or banana skewers covered in syrup

These guys love bananas. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

10. Mango with a mix of sugar, chilli, and salt

I thought I loved mango, but when I tried it with this addition, it took it to a whole new level.

11. Mushrooms wrapped in bacon

This dish subscribes to the whole "vegetables taste better when they're wrapped in bacon" theory, and it's definitely something I can get on board with.

12. Some kind of seafood that I couldn't identify but it tasted really good. I think they were scallops

I'll be honest, there's a lot of mystery meat going on on the streets, if you don't speak Thai. Some vendors will have photos of pigs or cows that they'll point to to show you what you're eating and some... don't.

13. Fish balls

These fish balls are eeeeeverywhere, and are usually sold alongside chicken or beef skewers as well. They're served in curries or on their own with sauce.

14. Rice paper balls

These were essentially just mini rice paper rolls – pork and veggies wrapped up in a rice sheet. The sauce that came with them was MIND-BLOWINGLY spicy so take care before pouring it over everything.

15. Assorted curries, which came in a bag when I asked for it to be "take-away"

Once I'd singled out the one I liked, she gave me two separate bags – one with rice noodles and one with curry – and a paper bowl. Be careful of spice levels with these ones!

16. Sweet egg crepes

This was... interesting. It's basically just a crepe filled with coconut cream and these strands made up of egg and sugar syrup. Definitely an experience.

17. Fish curry

If there's someone on the street selling curry, and you can see locals lining up to eat there, it's always a safe bet. This one paid off, though it was a little on the spicy side.

18. Dried tamarind

Even when the lady selling this told me that it was tamarind, I still had NO idea what it'd taste like. Turns out tamarind is a fruit, and when dried and covered in sugar, it's a pretty delicious snack. It tastes like a cross between an apricot and a date. Just be careful of the stones in the middle.

19. Peanut flour balls (I think)

I was told this is "Muslim Thai" food and though I still don't really know what it was, it was pretty bloody yum. It's usually served with some kind of sweet-chilli-tasting sauce.

20. Banana leaf wrapped around pork, veggies, egg, and rice

This personally was not my fave, because of the textures. But I know people who love this as a snack, so I guess it's worth sampling. When in Rome, etc.

21. And water chestnuts in coconut milk

This is sometimes called "rubies in coconut milk", for obvious reasons. I have no clue what a water chestnut is, but this dessert is AMAZING. It's the perfect amount of sweet, with the crunchy chestnut texture, and enough ice to cool you down on a humid day.

I flew to Bangkok as a guest of Air Asia for their Half A Billion Guests Flown celebration.