Chatuchak Market and Food Tour

This morning we got to sleep in! I don’t know the last time that we did that. Anyway, we were still up at 7:30 because the midday gets so hot that you almost have to break your day up.

We had a quick breakfast at the hotel and then took the metro to the Chatuchak Market. This is supposedly the largest outdoor market in Asia and I believe it! It had everything you could ever need: serving ware, dishes, clothing, makeup, art, antiques, massage places, cafes, and of course, food stalls! We wandered the maze of shops for several hours and picked out souvenirs for others and ourselves. We also tried the Thai tea iced latte (it is orange in colour!), pork meatballs with tamarind, and ate a whole bowl of little octopi! On our way out, we grabbed a little bowl of malted Biscoff ice cream as well. We had such a great time there!

Back on the metro, which was way busier, we headed back to Chinatown and took some time to do a load of laundry and cool down. Our street good tour was at 4:30 and we were so excited as our street is absolutely lined with vendors (and it goes on for blocks)!

We met our small group of 6 people and were immediately swept down a series of small alleyways to a street we hadn’t even come across. We popped into a small restaurant and tried Chinese chive cakes and some incredibly tender pork with garlic, chilies, and a spicy sauce. Then it started to absolutely pour! We got out our umbrellas and rain ponchos were handed out so we could weave our way to the next stop.

Next, we had a chicken satay with peanut sauce followed by a chicken soup made with mung bean glass noodles. We were sitting under a tarp-like overhang, so it felt like a true street food experience as we tried not to get wet while perched on tiny plastic stools.

We stopped briefly at a cart to have a “healthy green drink” that tasted like spinach before moving on to curry. We actually went to the place that is on Netflix’s Street Food Asia show to have this Chinese version of curry, which had winter melon and a Chinese sausage. It was excellent! This was followed by a brief stop to eat slices of deliciously sweet jackfruit! Then we went to the sketchiest alley to drink rice wine with a green mango as a chaser. I’ve had rice wine several times on this trip and still can’t say I’m a huge fan. Boy, does it burn!

Next up was a very peppery soup with rolled noodles and pork, followed by the craziest thing ever - soy sauce ice cream. Sounds crazy, but was so, so good!! Almost like a malted milk or salted caramel.

Our second to last stop was at T and K Restaurant, known for its seafood. We had huge prawns with a spicy green sauce, morning glory in oyster sauce, chicken drumsticks, and a sour soup with sea bass and squid.

We were so full, but we still went to two more stalls to have Chinese donuts with pandan sauce and sticky rice with mango. Whew.

A little wet, but a lot full, we went back to our hotel to rest before turning in.Baca lagi