The central Bangkok food court experience
Clean, air-conditioned and swarmed by Bangkokians, the Thai capital’s indoor food courts provide some of the city’s more underrated dining experiences.
With anywhere from 15 to 50 different stands serving a variety of cuisine from around Asia, and with most plates priced at 75 baht or less, these are great spots for a quick, tasty, authentic lunch.
One of the city’s best and most densely concentrated food-court hopping areas is the madhouse commercial center of Siam Square, Pathumwan and Pratunam: here are five worth checking out.
1. Food Center at Platinum Fashion Mall
While Petchaburi’s traffic is bumper-to-bumper, Platinum’s popular sixth-floor Food Center is food-tray-to-food-tray during weekday lunch hours. Despite the relatively quick turnover in the massive dining area, on especially busy days you’ll have to hunt for an open table.
Though most of the 28 main stands serve hot, fresh and cheap Thai food, there is a handful of Japanese, Malaysian, Vietnamese, and Chinese stands as well. There's also a small (and rather uninspiring) bakery and a number of stands on either side of the escalators offering takeaway bites, desserts, drinks and smoothies.
Eat This: Try the fish ball noodle soup at P23 (35-55 baht), the som tam at P25 (35-70 baht; watch out -- they go heavy on the garlic) and the assortment of vegetarian plates at P8 (two selections with rice for 45 baht).
The rice noodle spring rolls at F4, available with six different fillings and served with a spicy green chili sauce, are light and refreshing (45 baht). Grilled pork skewers (12 baht each) at F5 are also a personal favorite.
Platinum Fashion Mall, 6th Floor, 222 Petchaburi Road, +66 (0) 2121 8000. 9 a.m.-8 p.m.
2. Flavour Food Court at CentralWorld
Somewhat hidden in the back of the store, past the bakeries, the salad bar and small outposts for Mrs. Balbir’s, Sunrise Tacos, and Fries Me To the Moon, Flavour Food Court is one of the more stylish spots on this list, with its wood-paneled floor and a long section of leather couch seating. (These best seats in the house not just for the comfort, but also for the views of Wat Pathum Wanaram and Siam Paragon).
This place is packed on weekdays with mall and office workers on lunch break. As expected, many of the 24 stands serve Thai food, but Japanese, Chinese, and Vietnamese are well-represented too.
If you’re craving American-style carbs, there’s also a pasta and personal pizza stand.
Eat This: Though the young chefs working the woks at all-vegetarian Talalask always seem distracted, the food is excellent.
This is one of the few places in the area with faux beef, duck, fish, ham, and sausage on the menu -- and nothing is bland.
Stir-fried glass noodles with veggies (50 baht), tossed in a zesty sauce and served on a hot plate, are delicious and filling, but I’m a sucker for the veggie beef with black pepper (60 baht).
Kai Tong Khum has plates of fluffy egg chiffon with salmon, pork, or chicken for 45-70 baht. Fried crab rolls with tofu skin (45 baht) at the stand next door are light, crispy and served with a side of sweet sauce.
On the other side of the court, rich egg noodles with tender pork wontons and barbecued pork (55 baht) at China Tasty!! are so good that one exclamation point clearly isn’t enough.
CentralWorld Plaza, Central Food Hall, 7/F, 4/1-2, 4/4 Rajdamri Road, +66 (0) 2613 1629. 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Note: There’s another, teen-friendly food court down the hall on the seventh floor, at CenterPoint.
3. Food Park at Big C Supercenter
With pillars covered with foliage in a slick, black fountain, neon-green accent lighting, and curved ceiling panels, the main seating area has a surprisingly contemporary feel.
Food stands are now grouped together in a block of three main islands, each with four or five different vendors. Bonus points for the small pots of hot water for sanitizing utensils: this still isn’t as commonplace at city food courts as it should be.
Like most food courts, everything is paid for with e-coupons that can be pre-loaded with baht at one of two booths; unused balances are refunded. A number of chain restaurants are also located on the fourth floor, including Yum Saap, Yayoi and the ever-popular Shabushi and Hot Pot Buffet.
Eat This: They’re a little sassy, and by default will throw a heaping handful of chili peppers in the mortar bowl unless you instruct otherwise, but the katoeys at the court’s only som tam stand do it right.
The spicy pork or fish ball soups are also fantastic, and there’s usually a line for the fried mussel plates.
The “Amazing Fish,” from the easternmost island of stands, isn’t, well, as amazing as it sounds, but it’s a guilty pleasure when I’m in the mood for fried fish.
Even with two plates, lunch here will usually cost less than 100 baht.
Big C Supercenter, 4th Floor, 97/11 Rajdamri Road, +66 (0) 2250 4888. 9 a.m.-11 p.m.
4. City Palace Food Court at City Complex
A wholesale shopping relic that’s clearly seen better days, City is a place where unsuspecting tourists might stumble in by mistake, take a patronizing spin past a few shops, and then scramble for the nearest exit.
Honestly, it’s a little depressing in here and the fifth-floor City Palace Food Court has in recent years been downsized to just 15 food stands.
So why bother? Surreal food-court karaoke, of course.
Mostly a quick, convenient lunch spot for City Complex workers, City Palace doubles as an afternoon concert hall for amateur vocalists, many of them seniors, who take to a stage decked out in twinkle lights to perform highly off-key renditions of classic Thai songs.
In true Thai spirit, everyone is recognized with a polite round of applause as they leave the stage, regardless of how harmonious their singing was (or in most cases, was not).
Eat This: Choices are limited to Thai standards like noodles, stir-fries, soups and grilled meats. The food is perfectly fine, and this is one of the cheaper food courts on the list, but there’s nothing particularly noteworthy about the victuals here. The main draw is the karaoke.
City Complex, 5/F, Petchaburi Road, across from Platinum Fashion Mall. No phone. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.
5. Food Hall Food Court at Siam Paragon
Open tables can be scarce during the lunch rush and on weekends and prices are slightly higher than others on the list, though still reasonable.
Still, the overall quality of food available from the court’s 24 stands (plus one pricey sushi counter) is undeniable and helps make the mob scene tolerable.
If the food court is just too crazy, an array of other food stalls, fast-food chains, and restaurants, including a branch of Café Fish, one of CNNGo's picks for Bangkok’s best fish and chips, are located elsewhere on the floor.
Eat This: There are some delicious street-food style eats to be had at the stalls located between the food court/restaurant area and the Gourmet Market.
Sun Moulin bakery also has a particularly great array of rolls, pastries and cookies.
Within the food court itself, try the pad thai or fried radish cakes (both 50-75 baht) at No.16, steaming bowls of udon (65-85 baht) at Shimanto No.5, heaping sukiyaki plates (65-110 baht) at The Nine Suki No.10 or the stir-fried curry paste with minced shrimp (45 baht) at Prantalay No.3.
Siam Paragon, 1/F, 991/1 Rama I Road, +66 (0) 2690 1000. 10am-10pm
Five food courts not enough? More area options include Siam Discovery, Amarin Plaza, Indra Square, Pantip Plaza, and Central Chidlom FoodLoft.
