where and what to eat lah?

Pin It Tweet

At first glance, Kaiton in Pratunam looks like any other street food vendor in Bangkok, with a small stand fronts the eatery and staffs busily prepare plate after plate of food to be served to customers. Located close to the Pratunam intersection and directly across the derelict Pratunam Center, this is a favorite haunt among the night crawlers dropping by for an after-hours khao mun kai (chicken rice). With the strong crowd presents, it definitely shows a good testimony.


With over 40 years heritage, Kaiton is possibly touted as the best chicken rice in Bangkok. Look out for their staff helpers, all clad in bright pink t-shirts that are easily identified from afar.


The dish (THB 30/RM 3.20 or THB 40/RM 4.20 with some chicken innards) comes with a serving of boneless chicken meat, a bowl of soup and a small bowl of dark spicy soybean sauce. Similar to the Hainanese chicken rice but certainly much healthier and less oily. After a few samplings, I noticed that the chicken rice has a milder taste but comparatively less sinful compared to our local version. The soup was good too - it was rich, tasty and very peppery.


On its own, Thai's chicken rice would've been quite bland and ordinary but with the special sauce poured all over it, it transforms into something out of the world! Made from soy sauce, sweet dark soy sauce, soybean paste, chopped garlic and cili padi (birds eye chili), the sauce is simply fantastic! It'll be better if they have some basil in it as well; I remembered having that in Hat Yai when I was young.

Verdict: THB 30/RM 3.20 for a plate of chicken rice, it is definitely a worthy place to eat! Service is responsive and food serves promptly. Opens till the wee hours and sure deserves my repeated visits.


Address:
Petchburi Soi 30,
Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: 02-252 6325
Business Hours: Opens daily from 5.30am - 3pm and 5pm - 3am
Pork Free: Yes
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 13.749619, 100.542106
Map:

View Eat Lah Food Map in a larger map

Pin It Tweet

I've been living in Section 17, PJ for many years and I essentially grew up eating Thai fried rice from this particular aunty from Thailand for more than 15 years!


She was previously stationed at Restoran Say Huat and only recent years, she has opened up another stall in Restoran Jackson (right opposite of Say Huat). The stall in Say Huat is taken care by her husband, both serving the same Thai fried rice. However, I'd still personally prefer her fried rice more.


Since moving to Restoran Jackson, she has extended the menu to offer more varieties. Even so, I'll just stick to my usual Thai fried rice, it'll never go wrong...


The recommended Thai fried rice (RM 5 for small, RM 6 for big), served with marinated chicken gravy, fresh onions, sliced omelette (substituted with fried egg on this day, probably ran out of sliced omelette) and topped with chopped scallions. The portions were generous and humongous for this price! This big portion Thai fried rice for RM 6 was really BIG enough for two.

Requested for another plate and mixed them all up, see how BIG it was, totally worth it! The secret to the fried rice is to mix the marinated chicken gravy, the chili sauce, the fresh onions and the fried rice together. The slight sweetness of the marinated chicken gravy, the spiciness of the chili sauce and the pleasing wok hei fragrance on the rice - it's simply irresistible!


Pineapple fried rice (RM 5), the classic signature dish of Thailand but without the pineapple basket gimmick that will likely to cost you more! The fresh pineapple added such an unexpected sweetness to the dish that really balanced up with the curry powder. While the curry powder brought out the color of the fried rice and gave a special fragrance to this flavorful dish.


Spicy petai fried rice (RM 6), with fresh big petai (stink bean), shrimps, onions and chili. It did not disappoint but it wasn't that superb either, I'm just biased and hooked with the Thai fried rice only!

Verdict: I've never gotten bored of it and I have it almost every week without fail. It's value for money, tasty and it's like my staple food for the past 15 years!

May 16, 2011: Aunty no longer serves her signature Thai fried rice and switched it with other varieties. It was due to the drop of sales at her husband's stall right across and she decided to give up the exclusivity to him. I was extremely sad to hear that but this could be a bad move too.

Aug 2011: Yay! Aunty's Thai fried rice is back!


Address:
Changmai Food, Restoran Jackson
Jalan 17/27,
Petaling Jaya
Business Hours: Opens daily from 11am - 3pm and 5pm - 9pm
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 3.128839, 101.634392
Map:

View Eat Lah Food Map in a larger map

Pin It Tweet

Whenever we're at Bangkok, we'll always stay close to Platinum Fashion Mall in Pratunam. With our non-stop busy shopping schedule, eating nearby to this shopping paradise is a must! Bamee Saeb Khun Song Khamoo (also known as Saeb x 2) is a great place for sinful wantan noodles and braised pork rice. Located in Soi Petchburi 19, which is just across the road from Platinum Fashion Mall and Pantip Plaza.


There isn't exactly a signboard but you can hardly miss it. The shop is situated on the right side of Soi 19, only approximately 20m walk from the main street. Best of all, it's fully air-conditioned! A perfect comfortable eating place in a hot sweaty day in Bangkok.


Big basin of delicious braised pork trotter, you can actually request for less fattening cuts with extra braised pork intestines too.


Braised pork rice (THB 50 / RM 5.20), perfectly braised pork that melts in your mouth with piping hot rice, accompanied with preserved salty vegetables and braised egg - it's the most amazing fling ever!


The same place serving the very tasty and sinful wantan noodles with fried crispy pork lard.


Dry wantan noodles (THB 40 / RM 4.20), served with springy egg noodles, meaty slices of charsiew (roast pork), flavorful wantan (dumplings), vegetables, topped with chopped spring onions and lots of fried crispy pork lard, oh my lard! Totally different from the Malaysian wantan noodles, this was sinfully yummy!


The noodles serving was a tad small for oversize hungry people like us, had to order another bowl of soup wantan noodles (THB 40 / RM 4.20). It was equally delicious! The soup was flavorful, indeed, the fried crispy pork lard is the key magic ingredient!


We never fail to have all these street foods each time I'm at Bangkok! Despite gotten more expensive over the years, but they've added the air-conditioners and it was a real blessing for a hot sweaty day in Bangkok.

Verdict: Strategically located and convenient for those with tight shopping schedules in Pratunam. Absolutely delicious, but again, isn't most street foods in Bangkok are generally delicious too?


Address:
4/32-33 Soi Petchburi 19,
Pratunam, Bangkok
Tel: 02-653 9618, 081-839 5105
Business Hours: Opens daily from 9.30am - 5.30pm
Pork Free: No
Taste:
Value:
GPS: 13.751151, 100.538525
Map:

View Eat Lah Food Map in a larger map