A Midnight Food Tour by Tuk Tuk with Bangkok Food Tours

I did it again. I took ANOTHER food tour. In Bangkok, a city where I’ve taken a food tour before. What?!

I just can’t stop eating here, I’m sorry.

The food in Bangkok is that good. And that plentiful. You wouldn’t be able try it all in several lifetimes, let alone find all of the amazing hole-in-the-wall spots that exist here, like the ones that Bangkok Food Tours can lead you to.

Last time I was super impressed with these guys, so I was hell-bent on doing another one of their tours. This time though, a different one. And what’s more different (and ridiculous) than a “midnight food tour by tuk tuk”?

I have a kind of natural hate for the tuk tuks in Bangkok since being conned by the fake tourist police, sent on a ride to a tailor shop, and followed around by our driver for blocks (you can read that story here). So I was happy to know that these tuk tuks were under our control, driven by respectable guys who HAD to take us to our desired and pre-arranged destinations.

To start the tour, our group of nine met our guide, Phang (pronounced “pang” and not “fang” just FYI), at Sam Yan MRT Station near the entrance of a large mall around 7:30 PM at night. I’d arrived too early and passed an hour in that mall, which actually ended up being more of a huge food court. I withheld from temptation, got my mind right with a coffee, and was incredibly ready to eat by the time we jumped in our tuk tuks.

After a short ride, we pulled up to a crowded open-air restaurant with women in pink shirts cooking and serving guests as a line for tables slowly formed. This place is famous for its chicken rice, and supposedly the owner selects only young female chickens to get the most tender meat. (Hey, I’m not sad about it.)

Not to jump right to the main course, our table was greeted with som tam (spicy green papaya salad) and a spicy pork salad. I’d tried both of these Thai staples before, but was happy to take one for the team and sample some different versions. Obviously.

We followed these up with the famous chicken rice, which was accompanied by a bowl of chicken broth that you’re supposed to sip before and after eating the chicken to get the flavor’s full effect. A spicy soy sauce with chilies, garlic, and ginger was also meant to be poured on top of the chicken rice. I could pour that stuff on anything.

By this point, I’d eaten enough for a proper dinner in Thailand, but we still had a few hours of eating to go. And we weren’t even done at our first stop yet! We ended this round of food with mango sticky rice, which contained possibly the ripest mango I’ve ever tasted. All so sweet and so good.

And then off we went, as I gave myself a pep talk about how I was going to man up and eat the rest of the night’s food… no matter what.

At our second stop, we were allowed a behind the scenes look at the “kitchen” of the restaurant, which was located in the back alley behind the small but crowded dining area; this was clearly a popular place among locals. Here we were tasting kuay teow kua gai, a dish I’d never tried or even seen before.

And it was my favorite.

So what’d we get? Fried thick rice noodles with chicken and a runny egg, all of which soak up all the smoke of the charcoal grills out back and the flavor of the well-used woks that the pros here use.

You can request your egg scrambled too, but then you wouldn’t get the effect of mixing the yolk with the noodles and chicken. I may have Googled this dish and found that it’s nicknamed “Thai carbonara” –  and not for no reason.

So for the love of God, get your egg runny!

I really tried not to eat it all, because I was getting dangerously full. But it was impossible. I’d never had anything like it and I didn’t know when I’d see it again, so I ate every bit of it.

The next stop was a surprise: the flower market! I’d long heard about these in Bangkok but had never visited one. This is where the massive quantity of flowers that grow in Thailand are prepped for sale to hotels, boutiques, and religious institutions. And it was so busy, even at night.

Even cooler were the food stalls on the other side of the street that were supplying sustenance to the folks at the market. I knew we’d come for a reason.

We tried two street food snacks here:  grilled dried squid with spicy tamarind sauce and grilled pork marinated in sweetened condensed milk. The former was weird, a bit fishy, but somewhat better than expected. The latter should be a staple in my (and everyone else’s) everyday life.

Our next stop was unexpected as well: Wat Pho. I was kinda like Ahh man, I’ve been here before, but oh no, I had not been at night. During our last trip to Bangkok, we’d made the sweaty trek from Grand Palace to Wat Pho to see the giant, golden, reclining Buddha. But this was different. The inside of the temple is closed during the night, so no Buddha this time, but we got to wander around all of the stupas which looked incredible all lit up. And then…

We tuk tuk’d over to a rooftop bar to have a beer (or a mocktail) while overlooking the golden Wat Arun and the many boats passing on the Chao Phraya river. Pretttty gorgeous.

I chatted with a couple of honeymooners, as my solo self sipped a Singha and snapped photos. How romantic…

But really, we had a great group. One German family, one Filipino mother-son duo, a newly married Hungarian couple, and myself. I think that shows that everybody loves a good food tour.

Our final stop was a forty year-old establishment serving up Pad Thai, also crowded with locals. Since it was Monday, the original Pad Thai joint was closed, so this is actually the tour’s back-up… and it’s still fabulous. They use the traditional method of enclosing the rice noodles and shrimp inside of the thin egg casing (yeah, and you thought you were fancy just breaking up some cooked egg to put in yours).

Did you know that Thais didn’t even eat noodles until the Chinese brought them over? (Or pork for that matter.) Phang kept the evening interesting by dropping tidbits of culinary knowledge at each stop.

Of course, we ended with a couple of desserts because we were also taught that Thais love sugar, and unless you are lower class in Thailand, you must end a meal with something sweet. Wouldn’t want us lookin’ low class right?

My favorite was the slightly salty, slightly sweet coconut custard wrapped and steamed in a banana leaf and handed to us in a nice little package. I’m not a huge sweets fan, so for me this was perfect.

After we were all completely full, we conveniently ended the evening with an individual tuk tuk ride back to each of our hotels… well, hostel for me.

I’m still such a food tour fan! I think they’re a great way to get to know a new city, or even one you’ve already visited. Do them early in your trip so you feel more comfortable walking around and ordering food from local establishments, because you’re gonna have to do that to get the best food!

I was a guest of Bangkok Food Tours, but all opinions are my own. I’d never steer you guys wrong!

The Midnight Food Tour by Tuk Tuk lasts about four hours. You can buy your tickets with Bangkok Food Tours, and they offer several other tours as well (I’d love to do Chinatown!). This particular tour was cool because it ventured through several neighborhoods of Bangkok, visited non-food stops, included a beer, and you got to ride in a reliable tuk tuk! Expect some waiting times at a few of the different establishments because these spots are popular.

Are you guys on the food tour bandwagon yet?!