What can you expect at a Thai food festival in Bangkok? Amazing Thai Taste Festival shows you
You may have eaten at a Thai food festival in your own country, and eaten all kinds of food you had never tried before. But, if you have never eaten at a Thai food festival in Bangkok, and are wondering what you can expect if you go to one, boy are you in for a treat.
Thai food festivals in Bangkok have just about every street food you have ever seen anywhere in Thailand, followed by a slew of dishes typical Thai restaurants in Bangkok serve.
Plus, unlike Thai food festivals in other countries, most of the food you will buy in Bangkok will be about the same cheap price as anywhere else. Why? Because Thais simply will not pay more.
I would also say in the 15 years I’ve lived in Bangkok I have probably been to over 50 Thai food festivals and, yes, most of them are pretty similar.
That is why I’m pointing you in the direction of a new video from Pailin from the Hot Thai Kitchen YouTube channel, as she is currently in Bangkok where she filmed her recent visit to the Amazing Thai Taste Festival — a 4-day food festival that covers everything from street food to fine dining.
Pailin, by the way, is Thai born and raised in Bangkok, but speaks fluent English due to working overseas.
Food at a typical Thai Food Festival in Bangkok?
As you will see from Pailin’s video, there is a huge selection of food. Some of the food she discovered was:
Thai Fish Cakes — at Amazing Thai Taste Festival they also sold the actual fish cake paste, so you could take it home and fry it up fresh.
Yum Naem Kao Tod — rice salad with fermented sausages. It is served cold and is delicious, particularly if you get one that is not too spicy as the flavor of the sausages really comes through.
Thai Nuts in Syrup — You get a lot of nuts as Thai desserts that are nothing more than nuts soaked or cooked in a light syrup.
At this festival, Pailin spotted chestnuts, Chinese jujube beans, ginko nuts, lotus seeds and more. They are generally served over a huge glass of ice, and then have a light syrup poured over them. You eat the nuts, syrup and ice with a spoon and they are so incredibly light and refreshing in the Bangkok heat.
Related: Best Thai food for westerners to eat — not too spicy but so delicious
Kanom Gui Chai — Garlic chive dumplings.
Kao Haw Bai Bua — Rice cooked in lotus leaves — usually with sausage.
Gaeng Tai Pla — A fermented fish innards curry. It’s a Southern speciality, sounds disgusting but, honestly, if you like curry it is very good. Although it is usually very spicy so be warned.
Yum Graton Gai Grob — Chicken salad with santol (a fruit I have never seen outside Thailand), although apparently it is also very popular in the Philippines.
Stuffed buns — Stuffed buns have become hugely popular in Bangkok in the 15 years I’ve lived here. Pailin found a booth that served them stuffed with fillings of custard, strawberries, salmon and cheese, chocolate, nutella and pandan custard (which is my favorite).
These are just some of the types of food you will find at a typical Thai food festival in Bangkok. Each one will have hundreds of different dishes, so take a huge appetite with you and at least a few hundred baht.
As for where you can find the Amazing Thai Taste Festival if they do run it again next year? Well, it’s in mid-June, and this year it was at the Makkasan Airport Link Station, which has become a very popular spot for festivals of all kinds throughout the year.
Check out the Google map below so you know how to get there and, of course, watch Pailin’s excellent Thai Food Festival video below that.