Thailand

Temples and Pad Thai

November 5th, 2023 – November 10th, 2023

Thailand was the 5th country we visited in our Southeast Asia 2023 Trip. If you want to read through chronologically, start here.

The excitement of finally visiting Thailand was palpable. I had been planning on coming here for years. I had two close friends during High School that were from Thailand, Beer and Mark. The stories of their motherland captivated me. I was fully invested in the culture, food, language, everything. Beer stayed in the USA while Mark was a foreign exchange student and moved back to Bangkok at the end of the school year. Because of this, our time together had been limited to his brief visits to America. Well that was all about to change, it was now our time to visit his homeland.

Pad Thai

We arrived at Don Muang International Airport and after some phone tag and searching around, we met up with Mark. Surreal was an understatement. I knew that I’d be here one day, but the fact that the moment was now didn’t feel real.

After being told we couldn’t check in to our hotel before 3pm, Mark turned to us and said, “Fuck it, I’m going to take you to my favorite Pad Thai place, I can’t wait”. I’d had Pad Thai before in America, but it was never my favorite Thai dish. That would be Pad Kee Mao, also known as Drunken Noodles. But this was Thailand, and Pad Thai was their National Dish.

After a short drive through downtown, we arrived at ICONSIAM, an enormous, modern mall. Inside, there were 10 levels filled with shops of all kinds, restaurants, everything you could image. But most importantly, there was Thipsamai, Mark’s favorite Pad Thai spot.

We waited in a line which had just started to form. It wasn’t long until we were at the front and got our table. In a corner I noticed a fridge filled with Orange Juice, and pointed it out to Mark. In addition to their Pad Thai, Thipsamai is also famous for it’s Orange Juice, which we quickly ordered upon learning. It almost didn’t look real with how orange it was. I felt like I was squeezing a freshly picked Orange into my mouth. It was so refreshing.

The Pad Thai arrived quickly. On our plate was a large ball of thin egg, two large shrimp, and a small pile of crushed peanuts. We took our chopsticks, made a surgical cut down the center of the egg, and out came steaming, orange noodles.

“You eat it the way you want. Squirt some lime on, add bean sprouts, chili, or peanuts. However you want.” It was like a Choose your own Adventure. You determined how the dish would taste.

I fumbled with my chopsticks and took a first bite of noodle and egg. It was unbelievable, so different to any Pad Thai we had eaten in the USA. The bright, fresh flavors struck me immediately. It was citrusy with a little heat. Adding some peanuts gave it texture and nuttiness. Emily shared my shock, “I feel like in America it tastes like peanut butter and noodles. This is so different.”

After stuffing our faces, we climbed to the rooftop bar for a pint of fresh Singha. I feel like this is the Thai beer, the one that is always on the menu at Thai restaurants with a corny caption like “Try a Thai beer!”. It tastes just like Bud Light, but now I was having it at the source, overlooking downtown Bangkok. It was perfect.

I still couldn’t believe I was here. All the years of talking about it. Looking over downtown Bangkok on a rooftop bar with my wife and old high school friend. Little things like that held such meaning to me in this moment. It was incredible.

Hotel ASAI Sathorn

We were dropped off at our hotel and immediately passed out.

Wagyu Beef

That night we had made plans for Ginzado, a Japanese BBQ restaurant. We’d always wanted to, but never been to a Asian BBQ style restaurant. Here, you bought thin slices of raw meat and cooked them on a grill at your table, similarly to Korean BBQ.

Mark and Pang were out to impress their guests, but I was still shocked when the words “Japanese A5 Wagyu” came out of their mouths. For the unaware, A5 is the highest quality grading that beef can achieve and Japanese Wagyu cattle are the most sought after cows, renowned for being raised under very strict regulations. In other words, it’s a beef lovers dream.

We ordered Japanese A5 Wagyu sirloin, tongue, and some some garlic rice.

What arrived to our table was heaven. Plates full of incredibly marbled meat, drizzled in light soy. I took my chopsticks, picked up a slice of tongue and dropped it on to the grill. It immediately sizzled. I couldn’t get over the marbling on it. I mean this slice of tongue was completely marbled. It looked like there was more fat than meat, in the best possible way. Mark and Pang manned the grill, and put a slice on everyone’s plate. I took a bite. You wouldn’t have thought it was meat. It was so tender it completely melted in my mouth like butter. The Sirloin was also delicious. Slightly less tender than the tongue, but with a meatier taste.

German Brewery

After dinner we headed up north to Nonthaburi for, in Mark and Pang’s words, “a real Thai experience”.

This was Tawandang German Brewery. We pulled in to a gated parking lot in front of, what looked like, a small stadium. Inside was a large open floor with hundreds of tables. At the end, a stage with flashing lights and an excited man dancing and singing.

Day 2: Wat Phra

After doing our touristy duties, Pang took us to one of Mark’s favorite spots when he was a kid, Si Yan Beef Ball, to try their signature Beef Ball Noodles.

We parked up and walked down the street until Pang pointed out a small hole in the wall, with a baby blue sign. Inside was quite simple. A few tables each with a couple of wooden stools, various carts holding random kitchen utensils, old photos and menus completely in Thai on the walls. A lady walked over and Pang ordered for us. This was definitely the type of place where English wasn’t spoken, and those are the best places to eat.

I went with the soup version and Emily had the dry version. The Beef Balls were juicy, tender, and packed with flavor. The noodles, were springy and soft. The broth added a different dimension of flavor to the dry version. It was a great, authentic experience.

Jodd Fairs

We headed back to the hotel and immediately passed out. We’d walked quite a bit, but it was the Southeast Asian heat again that had hit us hard. It was unlike anything else.

It was here where I witnessed something truly special. My eyes lit up and suddenly felt relief from all of the pain in the world. In the distance, on a tiny shelf, I spotted a gold can. It stood out from the rest of the cans. Like a light from the heavens was shining down on it. I rubbed my eyes and got closer, could it be? It was. A Singha Reserve Special Edition. Yeah it still tastes like Bud Light. But that’s okay. This was a Special Edition Singha. You don’t get opportunities like this every day.

Mark Wiens

By Day 3 we had mastered the BTS. Each day we bought a $4 pass, and anywhere we wanted to go we simply scanned our card, hopped on the train at the station near our hotel, and . It was so efficient and easy.

Like any rail network, the BTS had different lines that went to different areas. Our station, Saint Louis, was on a line that didn’t really go anywhere, which meant we had become regulars at Siam Station. This was one of the big interchanges, where different lines met together so you could hop off one line and get on another. Because of this, it was usually always packed.

We got off at Ekkamai BTS Station to get to a place we had been excited about since booking this trip.

Emily and I both enjoy watching Mark Wiens’ videos together. The incredible places he visits and exotic foods he eats inspired us to go out and do the same. It’s also a good laugh to see his over-the-top reactions to everything. “Oh wow”.

So obviously, being in his neck of the woods, we had to visit his restaurant, PhedMark.

Here they only serve Phat kaphrao (also spelled Pad Krapao), a spicy pork and basil stir fry. It was around midday and the small restaurant was already full and with a line. Ordering is easy, you choose a meat and spice level. That’s it. Out of the 5 levels of spice, we opted for Level 2 (Very Less Spicy). Mark Wiens is known for his love of spice, we knew ‘Very Less Spicy’ really meant ‘Spicy’. For meat, we went for the classic Pad Krapao style, Pork. After ordering, we were given a receipt and told to wait until our number was called. We sat outside on some tiny stools and sweated a little more in the heat.

Around 30 minutes or so our number was called and we were ushered inside and crammed into a corner. It was a tight fit, but this is the experience in Southeast Asia. Eating is a social event that takes place intimate spaces. Food is enjoyed together.

And then the moment we had been waiting for. A plate donned with colorful Thai text, flowers, and chili’s was placed in front of us. Immediately, the dark orange yolk of the crispy, fried duck egg caught my eyes. Underneath, the plate was split between fluffy, white Jasmine rice and ground pork mixed with wilted basil leaves.

We did what any sane person would do and cut into the yolk. It was perfectly cooked, and the beautiful, orange yolk oozed out all over the pork. I took a spoon and got a bite of everything, the pork, egg, and rice. I felt like Remy from Ratatouille when we mixes the cheese and strawberries. The richness of the yolk, the spice and umami from the pork, the crunch of the basil, and softness of the rice. Everything came together in a perfect blend of flavor. Emily’s eyes lit up and we basked in the tastiness. It definitely was our favorite dish of Thailand so far.

Chinatown Adventures

Later that evening, we met back up with our friends for a trip in to Bangkok’s Chinatown. We were excited, this felt like the real Thailand.

Parking was rough here, so we dropped Pang and Emily to get seats at one of their favorites in Chinatown, Krua Phon Lamai, a small street food stall located in an alleyway.

This was one of those moments where you just take it all in like, “Holy shit, I’m in a completely different place”. We were loving it. We all huddled around a small table at a back alley stall that served our friends favorites.

The first dish was Rad Na. and Hoi Tod

We went looking for another Michelin restaurant and found Guay Jub Ouan Pochana, who had been awarded a Bib Gourmand. We got the Guay Jub Nam Sai, a rolled rice soup, which is what they were famous for. It tasted pretty mid. The pork belly was crispy and great but everything else tasted like bath water.

I also ate Durian for the first time, dangerously without gloves. I told Mark that it was on my bucket list and while walking back to the car he flagged down a guy selling them on the street and got me a bite. It doesn’t taste nearly as bad as it smells. I wouldn’t just eat it casually as a snack though.

We ended the night at United People’s Brewing for a couple a beers. I ended up smashing a glass because I definitely didn’t have too much to drink.

Day 4: Sak Yant Tattoo

Bangkok United

Day 5: Jay Fai

A couple of weeks prior to this trip, Emily and I had watched Street Food: Asia on Netflix, a documentary featuring street food stalls all over Asia. The Bangkok episode focused on one woman’s rise from nothing to Michelin Star. This was Jay Fai.

Getting a place inside this restaurant was like a secret military operation. It isn’t hyperbole when I say, people wait hours and hours to get the chance to eat here. In fact, while we were eating, an American came to talk to us and told us they had been waiting for 4 hours!

Luckily, we had someone on the inside. There is an entire, not entirely legal, business where you can pay people to wait in line at restaurants for you. We had this arranged for us, and were given specific instructions on how to proceed. A lady had put a name down and was given a number. When the number was called, she gave the host our order, finally the name was called, our ‘Waiting Person’ nodded over at us, and we sat at the table. It sounds pretty easy, but all of this is done in secrecy, as not to alert someone at the restaurant that we had used a ‘Waiting Person’. We couldn’t be seen talking to her for too long, and had to be discreet when switching over. I don’t know how long she had been waiting for us, but close to being seated a sign was hung up, “No more customers”. It was only 1PM.

Anyways in the time we were waiting, through a small opening, we saw the legend herself, Jay Fai, in her iconic black goggles and beanie. She was now 76 years old, and still manning a Wok over open flame and cooking each dish by herself. That’s right, every single dish is hand prepared by Jay Fai. It’s this meticulous preparation that earned her a Michelin Star. In fact, Jay Fai is only 1 of 2 ‘Street Food Stalls’ to be given a prestigious Michelin Star. The other one? That’s Tai Hwa Pork Noodle in Singapore, where we have also been. So go check out our experience there.

Eventually, we were sat at a table outside. We had been waiting almost an hour and half since arriving (which means our ‘Waiting Person’ must have been here for almost 3-4 hours!). The hype had been building and we were so excited. We had ordered 3 of Jay Fai’s iconic dishes, Tom Yum Soup, Pad Kee Mao (also known as Drunken Noodles), and her signature, the Crab Omelet.

The first to arrive was the legendary Crab Omelet. On our plate was an enormous lump of crispy egg. We cut it in half to reveal a mountain of tender crab and soft egg. There must have been at least a couple crabs just for this one omelet. The crispiness on the outside perfectly complemented the soft crab and fluffy egg on the inside. It was rich, simple, and exactly what you want in a Crab Omelet. It didn’t need to be anything more.

Next came the Tom Yum and Pad Kee Mao. The Tom Yum was absolutely packed with flavor. It was spicy, citrusy, and salty. Inside was shrimp, fish, and squid, each adding a new dimension of flavor when you got them in a spoonful.

The Pad Kee Mao was amazing. This is my favorite thing to get from Thai restaurants in America and I had waited until Jay Fai to have it here in Bangkok.