This one is for my family and friends back home who ask me what I eat over here in Thailand.
On a daily basis, it’s not too exciting. Usually I have a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich for breakfast, although I tried for a couple of days to eat oatmeal before I realized that involved neither peanut butter nor Nutella. What kind of breakfast is that?
Pipe down, nutritionists.
Lunch and dinner depend on where I am and if I feel like going out, but if I eat at a street stall I’ll spend about $1 for dinner. At a restaurant, without drinks, I might spend $3-5. I’d say I eat Thai food about 50% of the time
Most of the food above is from Phitsanulok. SO. GOOD.
Most of that is from Surat Thani.
Mostly from Surat Thani also.
I was on a kick for a couple of weeks where I wanted to document everything I ate for a week. Then I would forget for a day and decide I needed to start over. So, you know, repeat that a few times and you get a very incomplete view of what I ate sometimes when I was away for work and Thai people were ordering things for me, which means I got the most delicious food always.
Most of that food is from Hua Hin.
What I’m constantly struck by is how much variety there is in Thai food. Back home we only see the same noodle and rice dishes over and over, so I had no idea how many different kinds of food there are.
Oh, and by the way, I’m never paying $14 for pad thai again. Are you kidding me? It’s ONE DOLLAR. people. I’d pay up to $5 if I was at a fancy restaurant, but come on! $14? Seriously? It’s noodles and some sauce!
Final Score
Eating ALL the Thai Food: 1 Megan: 0
Let’s be honest, I only branch out when I have somebody else ordering for me. Plus, I routinely crave pizza and Western food…does that make me a bad ex-pat? *Sigh* So many ex-pat rules to remember!
Bangkok Reality Smackdown 
That really does look like a lot of variety! There’s so much color… what in the world are those pastel-colored noodles on the bottom?
They’re called kanom jeen (spelling?!), and they’re some kind of rice noodles that you eat with sauce. They’re soft and delicate and delicious, but they’re not usually that color. I was at a restaurant in Hua Hin that’s known for their different colors of kanom jeen–usually they’re just white noodles.
Love to read your observations. Looking forward to meeting you sometime. Reading you blog has inspired me to at least start to set one up. Thanks!
Aw, thanks! :)
Hooray for starting up a blog!
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Stomach. Growling….
I do what I can! :)
Drooling…seriously…as a guy, I’m genetically predisposed to think of food (most of the time), and these pictures are my ticket to culinary Heaven – one more reason to visit Thailand (and upon leaving, stuffing my luggage with spices and recipes and what nots)
Yeah, definitely one of the top reasons to visit Thailand is the food. It’s just not the same in other places–at least in the U.S.
Looks delicious! I really, really wanna try the colored rice noodles at the bottom. They look like fun :)
PS: I don’t think it makes you a bad expat to want Western food once in a while. If you were in the Western world, you’d crave Thai food once in a while. So…. just enjoy whatever you feel like :) BTW, maybe I’m just rationalizing since I made Knoedel & Gulasch (very German!) yesterday while I am living in Texas (BBQ-land :))
Good point, Sabrina. I always feel bad because I talk to so many people who always eat Thai food and then I start to think maybe I should be better…sigh.
I find oatmeal to be super delicious when mixed with peanut butter and honey. Be sure you use a 1:1:1 ratio. I’m sure that makes it extra healthy too.
I was going to post pictures of what I ate today, but then I realized everyone knows what slimfast and a bottle of wine look like.
1:1:1 Oatmeal, peanut butter, and honey…trying that out tomorrow, for sure.
Slimfast and wine–sounds delicious!
Really, it does.
You had me at “peanut butter and Nutella sandwich.” I’m seriously planning on going to Thailand with my main purpose being eating all the food. And I really want some of those pink coloured noodles . . . because they’re pretty. What are they called?
Thailand is definitely a place to come for food-oriented tourism. The pink noodles are called kanom jeen, but usually they’re just boring ol’ white ones.
Thanks, I just discovered your blog and I’m loving it.