Meat on a Stick…And Other Tasty Treats

Meat on a stick vendor

After the India/Sri Lanka half of the trip was spent with a primarily vegetarian diet, I was very excited to arrive in Bangkok and find the streets filled with street vendors selling sausages, chicken and beef on a stick for around 30 cents each. They make a great snack in between meals and I must have sampled nearly every variety. Some were delicious and some I actually spit out and threw away.

Pretty much everywhere you go, there are street vendors selling amazing food for dirt cheap prices. In addition to Pad Thai, which is a staple, many stalls sell noodle soup with your choice of chicken, beef, meatballs, pork or veggie…though I suspect that all broths are meat-based. Streets are also filled with fish, prawn and squid-based foods for sale: often with rice. I tried a crispy fried egg with shrimp over rice: it was gross. I have also tried red and green curries with veggies and various meats: those are spicy and quite good.

In absolute heaven at the $3 all you can eat, cook it yourself BBQ in Bangkok

During our five days in Bangkok we only ate at one restaurant: the all you can eat, do it yourself BBQ for $3. On every table there is a clay bowl with burning coal. On top they place a metal sombrero-shaped cooking station that has water in the brim for boiling and a section atop for cooking meat. I walked around and chose from a huge variety of raw meats, veggies and noodles, brought them back and cooked them.

Actually, Carrie cooked the meat, as she was not eating and wanted something to do. I rather enjoyed having my meaty meal cooked by my vegetarian girlfriend :) The one problem I encountered was not knowing what most things were or what to do with them. As I walked back from the raw bar with my plates of the few foods I could identify, I saw the locals cooking up amazing looking meals. Mine, as delicious as it may have been, paled in comparison.