Mobile Dining

There is no such thing as an authentic Thai restaurant.

OK, that might be a strong statement, but the dining culture around Thai food is really something quite unique. In the first 10 days we have been here we have not seen a "Thai" restaurant that does not cater almost exclusively to foreigners. Rather, Thai food is almost exclusively served in numerous carts which appear on the streets sometimes at lunch time but usually around dusk. Some carts are free standing, but others are a scooter sidecar. The carts are also thankfully accompanied by plastic chair and table setups, also on the street. At most there are restaurants that are just a few tables in a storefront which has a permanent kitchen set up on the sidewalk.

It is very strange because there seems to be no fancy Thai food. Everything at all these places only costs 20 to 40 baht (50 cents to a little over a dollar). Don't get me wrong, the food is often very good, but it is unusual that eating with motorbikes and buses buzzing past you is the pinnacle of authentic Thai food, at least outside of someones house.

The other odd thing is that many places, especially the ones that are a storefront with a sidewalk kitchen, do not have a menu. It seems that basically Thais just walk up and order something from a list of standard Thai dishes that everyone should know how to make. It is almost like going to someones house and someone just asking you what you would like, assuming you know the ingredients that are present in the average American kitchen and what is reasonable to cook.

The best approach we have been able to take when eating at the food carts is to first walk down the sidewalk behind the row. If you cannot read the signs telling you what type of cart each one is, the affords you the opportunity to see what equipment and ingredients they have, and what type of food they likely prepare. For example, if there is a big vat of broth, it is likely a noodle soup cart. If they have a big wok, then they probably specialize in fried rice and pad Thai. Hotel trays of curry mean that curry of top of rice is a popular option.

I know to people at home it probably seems gross to be eating, very often, from food carts in a developing country. However, so far we have had a lot of luck with these carts, never having any problems at all. The one nice thing, and perhaps why Thais consider this the normal means of dining out, is that you can very clearly see the cleanliness of the area where the food is prepared. Usually it is very clean, much better then most Indian or low end American restaurant kitchens that I have snuck a peek into.

The only catch is what happened to Nisha when she was hungry. She pointed at a cart of fruit and said she wanted to go over and have a snack. However, before we made it over the proprietor fired up his scooter, and the sidecar full of fruit was soon speeding down the road.