Where to Eat in Chinatown Bangkok, Our Yaowarat Road Eating Itinerary. Bangkok street food, Yaowarat Road, Chinatown, Bangkok, Thailand. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Where to Eat in Chinatown Bangkok, Our Yaowarat Road Eating Itinerary

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Where to Eat in Chinatown Bangkok overwhelmed us on our first visit to the Thai capital over twenty years ago. There were a bewildering number of eating options then and there are even more now, from old-school seafood restaurants to lane-way noodle joints and glam shop-house fine-diners. To ensure you eat well, follow our Yaowarat Road eating itinerary.

If, like us, you went to Chinatown on your first trip to Thailand‘s capital and were overwhelmed by the mind-boggling number of restaurants, shop-house eateries, food stalls, and mobile carts to feast at, then our guide to where to eat in Chinatown Bangkok should make your eating a lot easier and a lot more satisfying.

If you haven’t been to Chinatown Bangkok, then make it a high priority to eat your way along Yaowarat Road and make sure you follow our Chinatown food walk. If you’re not familiar with Thai food, then click through to this post on the best Bangkok street food dishes first, which includes some Chinatown specialties.

Where to Eat in Chinatown Bangkok, Our Yaowarat Road Eating Itinerary

Known as ‘Yaowarat’ to Thais, Chinatown Bangkok is one of the best neighbourhoods in Thailand’s capital for eating. But while where to eat in Chinatown Bangkok is a no brainer for locals, deciding where to eat can be daunting for first-timers to Bangkok.

Serious feasting needs to focus first on Yaowarat Road, the main thoroughfare of this endearingly chaotic district, which should be a must-visit for food enthusiasts planning to eat their way through the Thai capital.

Atmospheric markets hidden down laneways and incense-filled temples tucked into buildings make Chinatown Bangkok a fascinating place to explore by day. But it’s around dusk and after dark, when the plastic chairs come out and the neon lights go on, that this culinary hot spot really comes alive.

Around 5pm nightly – except Monday when everything is closed – street food cooks set up their mobile cooking carts, stainless steel tables and plastic stools on the inner lane of Yaowarat Road and surrounding streets and sois (lanes). They stay open until late or when the food runs out.

When it comes to where to eat in Chinatown Bangkok, these are the street food spots where we loved to eat when we lived in Bangkok and the food we love to eat on and around Yaowarat Road whenever we’re back in town.

Where to Eat in Chinatown Bangkok

If you’re heading to Chinatown purely to eat, start around 4pm, unless you’re making a day of it and punctuating your eating with explorations of Chinatowns markets and temples. Note: we’ll soon be publishing a long overdue guide to things to do in Bangkok’s Chinatown and when we do, we’ll link to it here.

If you are allocating a full day and evening to Bangkok’s Chinatown, and we highly recommend you do, then you might want to punctuate your day with lunch at chef David Thompson‘s Chop Chop Cook Shop, then pick up our itinerary below from the beginning at around 4-5pm.

If you’re starting in the afternoon and coming from Ratchawong Pier begin with kanom jeeb jiao gow. If you’re already in Chinatown, start with curry rice on Thanon Mangkorn then walk along Thanon Charoen Krung, turn right into Thanon Plaeng Nam until you get to Yaowarat Road and walk in the direction toward Lamphun Chai Road.

Note: since we first published this Yaowarat eating guide, an underground train station has opened in Chinatown called Wat Mangkon on Charoen Krung Road. It’s part of Bangkok’s MRT train system and is super-handy to many of the spots on our Chinatown eating itinerary below.

Khanom Jeep Jiao Gow

Some of Chinatown’s best kanom jeeb (steamed pork and shrimp dumplings), sprinkled with deep-fried garlic, fish sauce and a lethal homemade chilli sauce, are sold by a smiling lady in front of the 7-Eleven on the corner of Thanon Song Wat and Thanon Ratchawong. Ten for 30 baht; 2pm-midnight.

Continue along Thanon Song Wat and turn left into Thanon Mangkorn and continue until Thanon Charoen Krung, then cross the road.

Khao Gaeng Jek Pui

At 4pm each day (except Monday), Chinatown’s most famous curry stand, pictured above, starts trading on a footpath in front of two sets of much-photographed green shophouse doors, plastered with stickers. (Update: sadly the shutters were repainted after a renovation.)

Nicknamed ‘musical chairs khao kaeng’ by locals, Khao Kaeng Jek Pui has no tables, only two rows of red plastic stools, which are pounced upon each time someone leaves. The specialty is khao gaeng (also written as ‘kaeng’), ‘curry rice’ in Thai, and there an array of them.

The best of the lot is the kaeng kari moo (yellow curry with pork). Avoid the insipid khiew wan gai (green chicken curry). If you want to play musical chairs, nab a stool as soon as you can. The owner’s English-speaking son will come and take your order.

Only line up if you want to take-away. Note: if you’re looking this stand up on Google, it’s also written as Khao Gaeng Jek Puy or Jake Puey while one local Thai hotelier jotted down ‘Jay Puy’ for us.

While the weather-beaten doors are still there, sadly, we recently returned to discover the building repainted a dull cream. On Thanon Mangkorn, near the corner of Thanon Charoen Krung.

Continue walking along Thanon Charoen Krung until you come to Thanon Plaeng Nam.

Khao Tom Jay Suay

This popular century-old khao tom shop is of a kind that are slowly disappearing. Khao tom is the Thai-Chinese rice soup, which is not as thick as jok, which is more like the Chinese rice porridge, congee.

Traditionally these old fashioned shops didn’t only sell khao tom, as it was always eaten with side dishes, which is why you’ll find an array of cooked dishes piled on trays out front. The ped palo (duck stewed in Chinese five spice juices) and jap chai (vegetable stew) are very popular.

It opens at 4pm and stays busy all evening with locals dropping by to pick up take-away. Corner of Thanon Charoen Krung and Thanon Phlab Phla Chai.

Instead of continuing along Thanon Phlab Phla Chai, do an about-face, cross the road, and walk down Thanon Plaeng Nam.

Khanom Jeeb Wat Yuan

Half-way down Thanon Plaeng Nam, you’ll spot another of Bangkok’s best kanom jeeb (steamed pork and shrimp dumplings) being sold from a small push cart on a lane in front of Wat Yuan. This old guy’s been at it for over 50 years. Trust us: he knows how to make dumplings.

Khun Thot’s Kun Chiang

A little further down the street, take a look at this traditional ‘kun chiang’ or sweet Chinese sausage shop. Still handmade, still delicious.

Turn left onto Yaowarat Road.

Bua Loy Niew Thong AKA ‘the Durian Lady’

Back on Yaowarat Road, you’ll spot the elegant old durian lady who sells durian from stands set up on the inner lane and from the back of her truck, and she has been doing so for well over 20 years. If durian isn’t your thing, near her you’ll spot several stands selling sweet Thai desserts. Thanon Yaowarat, in front of Tok Yang Gold Shop.

Kuay Jap Nai Ek

The dish to try at this busy, fluoro-lit eatery is pork, stewed or grilled, served in a clear broth, on rice, or with flat rice noodles. Delicious. 442 Thanon Yaowarat Soi 9. Daily 7am-midnight.

Nai Liew Ped Yang Yaowarat

Back on the footpath, a mobile stand, dripping with glistening roast ducks, with stainless steel tables set up around it, sells the most amazing duck on the street – and we’ve tried them all. Thanon Yaowarat Soi 9, in front of Thong Bai shop. Nightly, from around 5pm.

Nai Jui

There are a few crispy pork and BBQ pork stalls around, but this is hands-down the best crispy pork on the strip. Try the speciality of the house: steamed rice topped with crispy pork and a sweet sauce. Thanon Yaowarat, after the stall above.

T&K Seafood

On the opposite side of the road, on the corner of the next block, you can’t help but see this footpath seafood joint packed with locals and tourists picking out fresh seafood to be cooked to order. Cnr Thanon Yaowarat and Thanon Phadung Dao.

Kuay Tiew Lod Pra Thep

Further down, a serious man in crisp cook’s whites methodically makes up dishes of some of Bangkok’s best flat noodles with pork, shitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, and deep fried garlic – until he runs out. He doesn’t speak English, so just point and smile if you don’t speak Thai. Thanon Yaowarat, in front of Seiko shop.

Chop Chop Cook Shop

If you need to retreat from the heat of the streets or fancy a bottle of wine with your meal, make a beeline for Australian chef David Thompson’s Chinatown restaurant Chop Chop Cook Shop, a fun spot for a casual lunch or dinner.

Located on the ground floor of an iconic Art Deco building called Goldsmith, which has been transformed into a retro-cool diner, Chop Chop Cook Shop pays homage to Bangkok’s nostalgic mid-century ‘cook shops’. If you’re here in the evening, there’s a glam bar called Goldsmith upstairs.

Established in Bangkok in the 1930s by Hainanese chefs from China’s southern island of Hainan, cook shops were the most popular type of restaurant in the Thai capital from the 1930s to 1970s, serving up a Hainanese-style of comfort food that was a delicious fusion of Chinese cuisines and Western food.

If you’re familiar with the Chinese-Western fare that Hainanese chefs cooked in the former British colonies of Hong Kong, Penang and Singapore – think of Hong Kong’s cha chaan tengs where prawn toast and pork chops reign supreme – then think of Chop Chop Cook Shop as the Bangkok take on the concept.

The concise menu changes regularly but has featured starters such as marbled eggs and crab Marie Rose; mains like eggplant schnitzel, curried sausages and braised ox tongue; noodles and rice dishes, from wonton soup to pineapple fried rice (to which you can add spring rolls, barbecue pork, roast duck, egg noodles etc) and desserts (try the ginger milk curd with candied Chinese plums if it’s on the menu). 328 Yaowarat, corner Thanon Mangkorn,  097 008 0519. Open Wed-Sun noon-9pm

Published 9 January 2017; Updated and Republished 3 March 2024

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A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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