It’s well-known that we’re big-time foodies, and the chance to do A Chef’s Tour food tour of Bangkok was a must-do for our latest trip to Thailand.
After doing food tours in several areas of Mexico, we thoroughly looked forward to embarking on a similar adventure in Bangkok. With Asian newbies in tow, we also wanted to introduce them to Bangkok street food with the help of a local guide. After some research, A Chef’s Tour got the most positive reviews for what we were looking for.
What is a Food Tour?
In cities around the world, local guides and chefs are happy to take tourists on a walking tour showing off the best of the street food and small restaurants that make their city and its cuisine great.
Most walking tours walk less than two miles and typically take about four hours. Four hours of impossibly good food, visits to local markets, and insider tips. My best tip: Come Hungry! By the end of your food tour, you will have happily eaten more than you thought possible.
Why A Chef’s Tour?
I did a fair bit of research while deciding which food tour to book, and found many appealing companies offering walking tours. I went with A Chef’s Tour because of the wonderful reviews, but quite honestly, also because of their high-quality website that had several videos submitted by travelers who had done their tours, so really got a feel for the pace of the tour.
The size of the group, the location in Chinatown, and the pace of the tour all fit what I was looking for.
The FOOD!
Oh, the food! Our little pack all adore Thai food, and A Chef’s Tour food tour took in a remarkable range of foods from those we were already familiar with to a few far outside our normal repertoire.
We met at the gorgeous Shanghai Mansion hotel, smack dab in the middle of Chinatown. Having arrived a bit early, we enjoyed an overpriced cocktail in the beautiful lobby of the hotel while waiting for our group. We knew immediately that, along with great eats, it was going to be an evening of fabulous people watching.
Our guide for the tour was Ai, but she said we should just call her Annie. She was absolutely one of the most enthusiastic and delightful guides we’ve ever had.
We headed out and, after a brief walk down a side alley, got to our first stop. Even before we sat down, the aroma of the succulent pork had our taste buds twirling.
While we know many who believe the best food comes from luxurious restaurants complete with white linen tablecloths. As we’ve traveled the world over the years, we disagree. By far, the majority of our truly memorable meals have come in much more humble settings, and often didn’t even include walls and a roof.
As with the majority of our stops on the A Chef’s Tour food tour in Bangkok, we have no idea exactly where this restaurant is located, or even its name. Chinatown is immense and packed with people, and much of our tour route involved alleys.
Dish 1: The lovely owner of our first stop had a typical, small menu with a handful of options, all including the amazing roast pork she slow-cooked in a rich stock. The pork was just right. Just salty enough with highly flavored sauce and fall-apart tender with fresh cilantro scattered on top. A wonderful start to the tour.
Dishes 2, 3 & 4: A short wander down the street brought us to our second stop, which was a small food court of sorts with several food carts.
Dish 2 was unique. Zucchini and onions were molded into small squares and sautéed until crispy on the outside and topped with crunchy green onions. I found them somewhat basic with the first bite, but then found they were a bit addictive when dipped in soy sauce.
Dish 3 arrived, and I happily noted it was one of our favorite dishes. Satay, basically the art of putting meat on a stick and grilling it before serving with a dipping sauce, is ubiquitous to several regions of the world, from India to Greece. This Thai version featured chicken as the protein. It was well-seasoned on its own, but when paired with the incredible peanut sauce, it became fantastic. This delicious bite was accompanied by a refreshing salad of marinated red onion, cucumber, and sweet Thai peppers.
Dish 4 kept us at the same table as another food cart joined in the fun. Whenever I spend time in SE Asia, I am reminded of just how amazing soups can be. And every time I’m inspired to eat more soup upon returning home. This dish was no different; a lush bowl of glass noodles with chicken and white radishes, and yet another amazing broth.
At this point, we needed to walk a bit! We were already feeling full and started to wonder how on earth we were possibly going to continue to feast.
Dish 5: Thankfully, in addition to walking for a few blocks to aid digestion, Dish 5 was a shot of pennywort juice. Now, for those who don’t know, pennywort juice is made from, that’s right, pennywort! It is a green plant indigenous to Asia and is reputed to have excellent health benefits. The flavor was… interesting. Not good. Not bad. After a couple of sips, it reminded me a bit of celery, perhaps?
We followed Annie further down the street before turning back to the maze of alleys that make up so much of Chinatown.
Dish 6 was at a restaurant with a name I can pronounce! Jok One Table is one of several restaurants we encountered in Thailand that are “Michelin-mentioned”. I don’t pay great attention to Michelin stars, and the “Michelin-mentioned” was a new term for me. These spots don’t rate an actual star but are uniquely delicious enough to warrant a mention.
Jok One Table originally did have just one table, although they are now up to five squeezed into their tiny footprint in the middle of a wet market. Our dish here was a small paper bowl of spectacular shrimp dumplings. Dumplings are a weakness, and something I make occasionally at home. These were simply fantastic, filled with large, expertly poached shrimp in yet another great broth, wrapped in a homemade dumpling. Perfection. And, a perfect example of my theory that amazing food does not require fancy kitchens and that anyone who says they can’t cook because they don’t have the right gadget or stove, simply can’t cook well.
On a side note: I’m not sure it’s possible to make dumplings look great in a photo.
We rolled out of Jok to continue down the alley to our next stop, truly sitting in the alley next to the young lady hand-washing the plastic dishes in a large tub.
By this point, we were all feeling the massive amounts of food we’d consumed, and I admit to not eating more than a few bites of Dish 7. The dish was a green chili chicken with Chinese sausage and quite delicious, if not the prettiest plate I’ve ever seen.
We headed back to Yaowarat Road, THE main artery through Chinatown, for our next stop.
Dish 8 was a very nice, crispy pork with rolled rice noodles, which was something I’d never heard of before. Basically, it’s fresh rice noodles that are wide and flat, somewhat like Italian lasagna noodles. Because they’re made with rice flour, when they are added to the hot broth, they roll up.
Once again, the dish was just fantastic, but we were bursting at the seams and had the full dinner and dessert to go!
We bravely rallied on to what turned out to be my favorite stop. Not only because, well, it was ice cream, but because it was absolutely unique.
Dish 9 was Black Soy Sauce ice cream. What, you ask? Ice cream made from soy sauce? YES!
First, Annie had us taste the ice cream as presented. It was delicious. Extremely creamy and similar to a salted caramel, with a touch of coffee. Then, she poured a small bit of the Healthy Boy Black Soy Sauce Formula 1 over the top and WOW…it totally took it to another level!
This soy sauce was thick, like a good quality balsamic vinegar glaze, and unlike anything we had ever had before. Scrumptious.
We almost reluctantly continued down the block to our “dinner”. How on earth could we eat dinner after all we’d already consumed? Great question!
Our 10th Dish was, in fact, an entire dinner! We climbed two floors of very steep circular steps to our table before the feast began. We started with green papaya and a sambal-type dipping sauce, a mix of sauteed greens, a chicken-mushroom soup served like a Korean hot pot, steamed clams, giant grilled river prawns, and mangosteens. So. Much. Food. And yet, it was all too good to not keep eating.
After carefully making our way down the stairs, we thought our grand food tour was done, but alas, no. We had not one but TWO desserts left to go.
We’ll call the 1st dessert Dish 11 since Dish 10 was an entire dinner. We hit the street again for Thai donuts with bright green pandan sauce. Fresh out of the fryer and dipped in the sweet coconut pandan sauce. How could we say no?
Just around the corner led us to our last stop. Dish 12 was that ever-popular Thai dessert, Mango sticky rice. This time served with gorgeous butterfly pea added to the coconut sauce. Decadent at any time, it put us completely over the edge.
We poured ourselves into a tuk-tuk and headed back to the New Siam II, thoroughly sated.
Do yourself a favor next time you’re in Bangkok (or any of the over two dozen locations A Chef’s Tour food tours now operates) and sign up for a truly great and delicious experience.