If you are looking for the best seafood in Bangkok, Thailand, look no further than Chinatown. Known by the Thais as Yaworat, it’s the place just about every Thai goes when they want inexpensive seafood that’s only any fresher if you eat it by the beach.
In Chinatown, you will find everything from upscale, air-conditioned restaurants selling shark fin soup (sorry, I’m just not going to eat that as it’s against every environmentally-sound premise in the world), to low-end seafood eateries serving fried fish, prawns, tom yum geung (spicy shrimp soup) and fish cakes.
The best places to eat fresh seafood in Chinatown though are the street stalls. They’re spread all over Chinatown and have a small outdoor cooking area with anything from just a couple to 50 or more tables set up next to it. Wander around a little, then eat at one of the street stalls crowded with Thais as, I’ll guarantee you, if you eat at a seafood restaurant that’s quiet, you’ll wish you hadn’t.
I was in Chinatown a few months ago with some Thai friends, where we ate at a seafood street stall frequented by one of the girls’ families. There were 10 of us in the party and we ordered just about as many seafood dishes as two big tables would hold. Massive shrimp (technically prawns), fried fish with herbs, shrimp fried rice, mussels, sauteed squid, and steaming hot tom yam geung were just a few of the dishes we ate.
The food was amazing (the shrimp literally fell out of the shell they were so moist) and the total cost was only 400 baht each (around $12). Can you imagine eating all that food for 12 bucks in the US?
To get to Chinatown (Yaworat), the easiest way is to take the underground train to the end of the line, Hua Lamphong station, then take a quick tuk-tuk or taxi.