Right now, I’m a little preoccupied while finishing my manuscript with my editor, but I know it’s important to keep feeding my blog readers with some juicy meat. So here you go—
I used to be afraid of the roadside food in Thailand, but then I tasted it …
Since then, this meat platter has become my standard lunch.
If you’re a traveler, do you eat roadside food, or do you listen to the advice of guidebooks? Many of them warn of debilitating stomach bugs and explosive bodily functions if you so much look at roadside meat.
I haven’t had that problem so far—touch wood!—but I did get explosive bodily functions in Bangkok when I saw a weathered sixty-something English man pushing a baby in stroller alongside his twenty-something Thai wife. Bleehhhhhgh!
……..
Next week, I’m going to write about my new little home. The bungalow is perched up in the hills overlooking the Gulf of Thailand and it’s STUNNING. Best of all, it’s costing us only $5 a night. Meanwhile, follow me on Pinterest while I gather inspiration to turn our lovely nest into a Thai writer’s retreat!
It depends a bit on where I am… Often they say those little places with a high turnover are better as the food’s cooked fresh (not reheated etc). But… if there’s not likely to be any refrigeration available I might think twice re meat.
I was in a rural province in Cambodia years ago and the meat was just hanging in front of the store, so I was a bit nervous about how long it’d been there, flies etc (ate onion soup and bread and cheese a lot while in that particular place!).
Though, I had salmonella poisoning in Africa (3 times) and mostly from ‘decent’ places.
That platter looks delicious!
Deb
I just visited your Pinterest boards. Talk about eye porn! You have an eye for gorgeous pics. x
I LOVE street food and will eat it just about anywhere! I love that the cook usually makes only one thing really, really, well and has usually been doing just that for years and years. I love that I can see exactly what is happening to my food. I love sitting on the curb, or low stool, or communal table to eat. I just can’t pass it up.
Ohhh – can’t wait to see more about your bungalow and I, too, am a believer in roadside food … carefully chosen … as I’m sure yours is. I absolutely can relate to your preoccupation with your manuscript. Having just finished the one for my new novel, I felt the past few months gave new meaning to the term “self-absorption” and was surprised to find I still have a husband! I’m about to head into edits in another few weeks so am taking full advantage of having a life again – golfing and playing tennis as well as spending time with grandchildren. Write on, Torre! Liberation will come! (p.s. How do you like Pinterest? I’m just about to dive in.)
I always eat roadside food when I travel! It’s the best!!! And yeah I totally can’t deal with the old Caucasian men and their barely legal wives in Thailand. Creeps me out!!!
I eat a lot of street food… like, a LOT. Honestly, I don’t have much choice, really. Most of the “restaurants” in the area where I live in China are merely stalls with a few plastic tables and chairs set up in the roadside rubble. Sometimes, they get fancy and set up a plastic tarp tent around the “dining area”.
I guess I’ve been lucky as I’ve never gotten sick from any of my street side eats. In fact, the only time I got food poisoning in China was when I went to a fancy restaurant in Shanghai — one with walls and stuff. That’ll teach me to get fancy.
I have a hard time with roadside food only because I don’t eat meat, and roadside food tends to be very “meaty”. We had a bad experience in Morocco with roadside food, but I have seen some delicious dishes on the road as well. In the states we have food trucks and there is beginning to be a rise in Vegan/Vegetarian trucks. I love it. It’s great and cheap!
Yes, yes I do. I have also had a box of immodium in the top draw of my desk at work for 5 years for this very reason! 60 year old man with stroller comment made me snort! Funny lassy!! Cannot wait to see pics of your crib. I hope those snakes have disappeared for good?! xxx
5 dollars a night??? I thought such places didn’t exit any more. Can’t wait to learn more about it and how come it costs so little! Is it very basic?
Denise
Street food is the best, as long as you go somewhere busy you will be fine – locals tend not to eat at dirty places.
We took a friend we had picked up at the airport, just returned from a year in the highlands of New Guinea, to a nice, upscale restaurant in Carmel, California, and he got horribly sick. He just wasn’t used to the local fauna.
I think after you have been in country for a while and your body has adjusted to the local microfauna you can worry less about it, and some of it is amazingly good. Just use common sense.
Street food, street food, street food. I love it!
Street food? Eat it? Why yes, all the time. My staple in Thailand is som tam (it’s important that you speak enough Thai to say “hold the crushed crab and just one chilli please” otherwise it will be crunchy and tear-inducing) and a barbecued egg. I love how they just put a whole egg on the barbie:)
Happy days for you! Enjoy every second of it.
x A
Not sure if the roadside food you’ve mentioned is the equivalent of street food, but I absolutely cannot wait to try Thai street food one day!!
I love street food. I try to go to the places that cook it when you order and have no shortage of locals dining there. I only eat the already prepared food if it’s early in the serving period (say 11 a.m. for lunch). The only time that I’ve had food poisoning in SE Asia was from an Italian restaurant at a 5 star hotel in Singapore, so I decided it didn’t matter where I ate.
I loved the street food in Thailand! I am cautious about what street food I eat, but as long as it is hot and fresh, I am all for it. I am a little paranoid, and upon the advice of my mother in law, I usually take one of those pink pepto tablets before consuming anything sketchy looking.
I was stomach bug free in Thailand, hubby got sick for a few days. We ate the exact same things. Go figure.
I eat street food! Once, In Mexico, I had no choice and ended up with a vendor that looked a little sketch but it was actually fine, just extra greasy. I have never had serious issues, but I think it’s just a risk you have to be willing to take!
Eating street food is a regular habit on my travels… I just go for stands that are crowded
Even though local stomachs are probably more adjusted, it’s not impossible for local people to get sick from street food, so popular stalls tend to be tasty and safe to eat. I actually hear more stories about travelers getting sick from food at restaurants rather than street food stands!
I am not quite as adventurous. I will eat in local restaurants in Mexico but seeing bugs like flies and bees on those side road dining carts always gives me the heebie geebies. Just can’t do it yet. Though I did get sick on my last trip to Mexico which was Cancun. Out of all my travels there the one place I figured something like that wouldn’t happened, it did. Will it stop me from trying something there again? Absolutely not. I’ll just chalk it up to unlucky experience.
By the by, that plate does look good.
Absolutely! I think street food is a big part of the culture. You’re missing out if you don’t. But yes, it’s a big risk and you might end up spending the rest of your vacation in bed. Or worse, in a hospital – touch wood! haha
As a rule, i love eating at roadside/street food places!! I will normally go to the most crowded or busiest spot that i see locals at [or i'll ask a police officer...they seem to know the most...]
Do u know that I like to eat roadside food much then food in a five star hotel. Because I enjoy it very much. And it is also not much costly.
You should try Filipino street food to if ever you visit the PH. It’s similar to the meat platter you posted… And no travel is complete without some local tasting of street food right?
Is it so creepy with you seeing the Caucasian and the Thai girl? O_O
If you’re a traveler, do you eat roadside food, or do you listen to the advice of guidebooks?
It depends where I am. But most of the time, I try eating at one of the places in the guidebook and also try eating roadside food. The best of both worlds!
I’m a vegetarian so the fleshy risks of roadside stands aren’t a big risk ( joke’s on me, I’m quite sure I’ve eaten plenty of things that contained random body parts!) in any case, that is where one finds the very best, tasty treats! All over the world, I have eaten at these little gems and along with the food comes a taste of authenticity because you know they aren’t catering to “tourists”, this is the real deal… what the local people eat. Not just food-the best damn piña colados I have ever drank in my life came from a dusty roadside stand in Cuba, and for less than a $ each. I have only been sick a few times which ( besides amoebic dysentery) wasn’t a big deal. Just, for the love of god and all good things, never eat lukewarm beans in Mexico or central/south America or you will learn the true meaning of “shitting through the eye of a needle!” love your blog!!! Just found it after a Friday night g& t in the bathtub and now I am feeling nostalgic for the nomadic life I lived for so many years!!! I love your wit and hey… I lived and worked (and fell in love) in st. Kilda many moons ago. Melbourne was my favorite city while living for 14 months in aust.!Keep up the great writing!! I look forward to reading more, Cheers, lulu/Lori from vancouver island Canada.