eating our way through asia

So as you may be able to imagine (or tell from our photos), one of the things rIAm and I are focused on during our travels is food. And perhaps we’ve talked about food a bit on this site; we’ve definitely shown photos and made commentary on flickr. But when we had a question come in about food, it seemed to make perfect sense to write a bit more about food, and how we approach the culinary adventure that is Asia.

The question was posed by good friend Eric, and went about like this: “what’s been your experience with varying food quality? I’m sure Thailand, like any other country, has its greasy spoons as well as great little finds, and am curious whether you’ve had good instincts for selecting eateries so far or have run afoul of anyone.”

Well, one thing is for sure, we impress locals with our (ok, especially my) willingness to try most all the food. Admittedly, some things are simply not appealing — just about any form of protein is consumed here, and just about every part of the animal is considered edible. So while I’ve tried fried bug and had parts of animals I normally don’t eat included in some dishes, I perhaps haven’t stretched as far as I could. Even though I say we impress the locals, it’s more like bonded with locals. And we’ve definitely eaten at a full range of food serving establishments, from ramshackle to swanky.

The photo above is from a night market in Phitsanulok, Thailand, at a vendor that sells many different dishes, most of which are some kind of curry. As you can see, I blend right into the scene and have become so darn local you can’t even pick me out of the crowd. Or not. But you can, plainly, see that this vendor is frequented by many Thai people. This doesn’t make it more authentic than anybody else, but it is a good indication that it’s tasty food. So that’s one thing we do — go to a place that’s busy, because then it must be good. And if its locals eating there, then locals must think it’s good (and it’s probably not pricey).

But the other benefit of a busy place is that it’s also a safe place to eat. We could pick any old vendor, but if we pick a non-busy person, then we run two risks. One is that the food isn’t as tasty. The other is that the food may have been sitting for a while and now is full of not-so-tasty bacteria that cause not-so-pleasant reactions. The vendor pictured above refilled several dishes while I was waiting to order and then waiting for my food. So the result was extremely tasty, fresh, safe food.

I should add that it’s really easy to pick these vendors. Often, many (or all) vendors are busy. And it’s fun to check out the market before buying, although in Nong Khai we bought at the first four or five vendors we got to (but it was also a relatively small market). The other thing is that with many vendors, things are made up fresh (and quickly) for each patron. This is the case for somtam, fried rices and fried noodles. In other cases, foods are partially or mostly cooked, but then reheated or finished upon ordering. The other way to get fresh food is to eat at normal meal times; there’s more food turnover, and in turn, safer food.

Of course, we also don’t eat at vendor stalls all the time. Restaurants give us a great opportunity to sit down and relax and also try some dishes that maybe don’t lend themselves to being street food. Some of these restaurants look pretty shabby, but crank out great food. Others look great and serve ok food, and others still look great and serve great food. (We try to avoid the places that look bad and probably serve bad food!)

We have a guidebook, traveler recommendations, local person recommendations and our own instincts and sense of adventure to help us. For the most part, we’ve been very happy with our food choices. One thing we learned in Thailand was that even though many guesthouses serve food, and that those places are often in guidebooks, the “Thai” food tastes about like it does in North America. Which isn’t to say it’s bad, but, well, we came here to eat Thai food the way Thai people would eat it. So we figured out how to assess a restaurant or at the very least find much more satisfying meals. Meals that had the chance to “wow” us.

The big shift to consistently better meals happened in Nong Khai. In the south it was hard to avoid tourist food (even if it was Thai food) and on the farm we ate most of our meals on the farm, which was good food for sure. In Prakonchai we ate well, too, but then when we got back out on the road we were feeling underwhelmed. But we figured it out in Nong Khai, righted the ship, and ate really well (and usually really cheap) the rest of our stay in Thailand.

In Nong Khai it started with a place serving local specialties alongside the Mekong and quickly accelerated at the night market, especially with the grilled chicken and somtam. In Phitsanulok and Sukothai the night markets and restaurants we chose were more than satisfying, and then in Chiang Mai we pleased our palates regularly. The noodle soups were consistently fantastic, sometimes from a streetside cart and other times from a sit down place. And the very best Thai food either of us has ever had the great pleasure of consuming was at the most wonderful of restaurants just outside Chiang Mai.

The restaurant outside Chiang Mai had many private nooks outside where you could dine in privacy in the open air — even ring a bell to beckon your server (who would otherwise leave you alone). There was also aircon indoor seating, but really, who wants that? Each dish we had, which will have pictures up on flickr eventually, with detailed description, was one of the best things we have ever had. I can still taste the garlic fried spare ribs. And if only green curries tasted like that everywhere…

So in my rather roundabout way, I have tried to sum up that there are all manner of ways to eat here, and rarely do they disappoint. You cannot go by looks, although peeking at the kitchen isn’t a bad idea. We toss in the occasional western food place, and while we can taste a difference at different places, a good noodle or curry dish isn’t wildly different from place to place. The local people we interact with while ordering or dining love that we’re trying local foods, and they love that we try to speak their language, and we love seeing their smiles.