Yaowarat street food: what to order on your first night in Chinatown

For Bangkok street food after dark, Yaowarat Road is the place, and the plan is simple. Take the MRT to Wat Mangkon at about 5pm on any night but Monday, and eat your way along Yaowarat Road until the dessert shops fill up. If you only do three things, have kuay jap with crispy pork at Nai Ek, grilled river prawns on the Phadung Dao corner at T&K, and a bowl of fish balls at Lim Lao Ngow before it shuts at 9. Then finish with black sesame dumplings in hot ginger at Sweettime.

That's the short version of Yaowarat street food. The long version is below, stall by stall, in the order we'd eat it on one evening: curry by the station at five, noodles at eight, dessert at nine. Every stall here was open when we checked in October 2026. Hours and prices move, so tap the map link before you go.

Chinatown also has a place on our Bangkok night markets list. This page is only about the food.

Yaowarat street food at a glance

Prices are in baht and come from recent menus and bills. Closed days are the ones the stalls list; a few don't say.

How does a first night in Yaowarat work?

Get there by five. The stalls set up from about 5pm, the road is full by 7, and from 7 to 10pm on a Friday or Saturday you'll shuffle more than walk. Two of the best stops, Jek Pui and Lim Lao Ngow, close at 7:30 and 9pm, so the early start isn't optional if you want them.

Use exit 1 or exit 3. Take the MRT Blue Line to Wat Mangkon. Exit 1 comes up at the Plaeng Nam junction, and Plaeng Nam Road takes you down to Yaowarat Road in 2 or 3 minutes. Exit 3 comes up by the Wat Mangkon temple, which is the nearer side for the curry stall. The Blue Line runs until about midnight (MRT hours), so stay later than that and it's a Grab home.

Bring cash in small notes. Most stalls show a Thai QR code, but paying it usually needs a Thai bank app. The Thai government's payment page still calls cash essential at street food stalls. Visitors with a bank in Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong or a few other nearby countries can scan Thai QR with their own app; everyone else, bring baht.

Skip Monday if you can. Plenty of stalls take Monday off, the toasted buns and Sweettime included. There's a Monday plan near the end of this page.

Ignore the Michelin stickers. Older lists call several of these stalls Michelin picks, and some still have the sign up. When we searched the MICHELIN Guide's Bangkok listings in October 2026, most of them weren't in the current Thailand selection. Lim Lao Ngow was a Bib Gourmand in the 2025 guide and isn't listed now. The fish balls taste the same.

October is still rainy season. Carry an umbrella, and expect a few carts to pack up early if it pours.

5pm: curry rice by the station

Two good stalls close before Yaowarat Road gets going, so start with them.

Jek Pui curry rice

Jek Pui (ข้าวแกงเจ๊กปุ้ย) has been ladling curry over rice on Mangkon Road for decades, and there are still no tables. You sit on a plastic stool facing the road with the plate on your knees, which is half the point. Ask for kaeng kari moo, a mild yellow pork curry, with Chinese sausage and a braised egg on top. The green curry with chicken is the other one people order, and the roast pork ribs are worth a look. A plate costs about 50 to 60 baht.

It opens at about 2pm and stops at 7:30pm, or sooner when the pots are empty, so come before 6. It's a 4-minute walk from MRT Wat Mangkon, in the soi beside the temple. One older listing has it closed on Mondays; its current one says every day. Map

The pots have Thai labels and nothing else. It's the stop where a Bangkok friend earns their place: they ask what's in each one, order in Thai, and the two of you get to try three curries instead of pointing at one.

Odean Crab Wonton Noodle

If you come in from the Chinatown gate end instead, start here. Odean (โอเดียน) is on Charoen Krung Road near the gate at Odean Circle, 6 minutes east of the station. Order the egg noodles with crab and prawn wontons. The famous bowl comes with a whole steamed crab claw priced by its size, and recent bills run from about 250 to 600 baht for it, which some people find steep for Chinatown. The noodles without the claw are the better deal.

Odean opens at 8:30am and closes at 7:30pm, and it's shut on Tuesdays. Map

6pm: fish balls on Song Sawat Road

From Jek Pui, walk back past the station and down Plaeng Nam Road to Yaowarat. Turn left, then right into Song Sawat Road, which runs down toward the river. It takes about 13 minutes, and you'll pass the first carts setting up on the way.

Lim Lao Ngow

The family behind Lim Lao Ngow (ลิ้มเหล่าโหงว) has made fish balls here for more than 60 years, and the menu is close to one dish: fish balls with egg noodles and wontons, in soup or dry. The fish balls are made with fish and no flour, so they're springy rather than soft. Bowls are small and cost about 50 to 60 baht. Get one dry and one in soup and share them, or just order two each.

A few people find the broth salty, so taste it before you add anything. It's open from about 4:30 to 9pm every day, and some evenings the stall is still setting up at five. Map

7pm: grilled prawns on the Phadung Dao corner

Walk back up Song Sawat to Yaowarat Road, 5 minutes. Where Phadung Dao Road meets Yaowarat, two seafood places face each other across the corner, one with staff in green shirts and one in red. They've been rivals for years, and the menus are nearly the same.

T&K Seafood

T&K (ต๋อย & คิด ซีฟู้ด) is the green-shirt side, with plastic stools on the pavement and an air-conditioned room inside. Order the grilled river prawns first, then a tom yum or steamed sea bass with lime, and fried rice to go with it. This is the dear stop of the night. Most dishes cost 300 to 400 baht, and prawns and crab are sold by weight, so ask what the plate will come to before it goes on the grill.

The queue starts around 7pm, so come before then or expect to wait. It's open every day from 4pm until about midnight. Map

Lek & Rut Seafood

If T&K has a line, cross the road. Lek & Rut (เล็ก & รัตน์ ซีฟู้ด) is the red-shirt side, with the same grilled prawns, curry crab and steamed fish with lime at similar prices, and it stays open later, until about 2am. Its map listing calls it Lek Seafood. Map

8pm: noodles and woks on Yaowarat Road

By now the road is packed. Walk west from the seafood corner. The next two are a minute away, and the third is just up Plaeng Nam.

Nai Ek Roll Noodle

If you only eat one bowl in Chinatown, make it this one. Kuay jap is rolled rice noodles in a clear, peppery pork broth, and Nai Ek (ก๋วยจั๊บนายเอ็ก) puts crispy pork belly on top, which is the reason people queue. The pepper is gentler than at some of its neighbours. Add a plate of crispy pork over rice to share. A bowl is about 70 baht.

It's open every day from 7:30am to 12:30am, in Yaowarat Soi 9. Around 8pm you'll wait for a seat in a cramped room, but the line moves fast. Map

Xie Chinatown

A few doors along at 446 Yaowarat Road, Xie (เซี้ยไชน่าทาวน์) is the sit-down option, a small restaurant with Chinese and Thai plates. Get the stir-fried Hong Kong noodles with crab, about 320 baht, and fish maw in red gravy if you like soft, rich things. It opens at 3:30pm and closes after midnight. One listing says it's closed on Mondays and another says it isn't, so check on a Monday. Map

Krua Porn La Mai

Turn up Plaeng Nam Road for Krua Porn La Mai (ครัวพรละมัย), a wok kitchen with tables in the lane. Order rad na over crispy noodles in thick gravy, and the oyster omelette that arrives sizzling on a hot plate. The dry suki is the other dish regulars name. Plates cost about 130 to 140 baht.

It keeps cooking until about 2am, which makes it the fallback when everything else has shut. Its opening times differ between listings, so treat early evening as "probably". Map

Between stops, graze from the carts: grilled squid on a stick for about 40 baht, pork satay from about 25, fresh pomegranate juice for about 50, and roasted chestnuts in a paper bag. Follow the smoke and the longest line.

Are the queue stalls worth it?

Three places get the long lines you see in every video. Here's our call.

Nai Ek: yes. The wait is for a seat, not for the food, and seats turn over quickly.

Yaowarat Toasted Buns: only if the line is short. A bun costs 25 baht and it's a fun thing to eat walking, but Thai reviewers give it a middling score and the fillings are very sweet. Don't give up half an hour of your night to it.

Guay Jub Ouan Pochana: try it if you like heat. It's the other famous kuay jap, at 408 Yaowarat Road by the old Chinatown Rama cinema, and its broth has a lot more pepper than Nai Ek's. Recent reviews are mixed, though, and its own listing has it closed on Mondays. If Nai Ek is full, we'd walk 3 minutes west to Nai Lek (below) before we'd join this line. Map

9pm: something sweet

Sweettime

Look for the big neon sign at 436 Yaowarat Road. Sweettime has made Chinese-Thai desserts for decades. Order bua loy nam khing, black sesame rice dumplings in hot ginger syrup. It sounds wrong for a hot night, and it's still the one to get. For something cold, get sago with cantaloupe in milk. A bowl is about 40 to 50 baht. It's open 5:30pm to 1:30am and closed on Mondays. Map

Yaowarat Toasted Buns

The cart in front of the Government Savings Bank, at 452 Yaowarat Road. Buns are toasted over charcoal until the outside is crisp, then split and filled. Butter with condensed milk is the classic; pandan custard is the other one to try. They're 25 baht each, from 6pm to about 11pm, closed on Mondays. Bring a tissue. Map

Ba Hao Tian Mi

A few steps up Phadung Dao Road from the seafood corner, Ba Hao Tian Mi makes Chinese-style puddings: black sesame, goji berry, Hong Kong milk tea. At 130 to 150 baht they're the priciest dessert here. But it's open every day, Mondays included, until 10pm, or 11pm from Friday to Sunday, so on a Monday it's the sweet stop you can count on. Map

Pa Tong Go Savoey

Patongko is the Thai-Chinese fried dough stick, and Pa Tong Go Savoey (ปาท่องโก๋เสวย) serves it in small pieces with a pot of pandan custard for dipping. It's on Yaowarat Road, open 5 to 11pm and closed on Mondays. There are several shops with similar names, so use the map link. It gets crowded and orders can take a while. Map

After 10pm, and on Mondays

Nai Lek (Uan) kuay jap

At the west end of the strip, by the old market at the mouth of Yaowarat Soi 11, Nai Lek (ก๋วยจั๊บนายเล็ก (อ้วน)) does kuay jap with crispy pork fried fresh, for about 60 baht. Thai food lists put it alongside Nai Ek, and the crowd is smaller. It's open 6pm to 12:30am, closed on Mondays. Map

After midnight, the late ones are Krua Porn La Mai and Lek & Rut, both until about 2am. The MRT stops at about midnight, so that's a Grab back.

On a Monday, the toasted buns, Sweettime, Nai Lek, Pa Tong Go Savoey and Guay Jub Ouan Pochana all list Monday as closed. You can still eat well. Do Jek Pui at five (check first), Lim Lao Ngow at six, T&K or Lek & Rut at seven, Nai Ek at eight, and pudding at Ba Hao Tian Mi to finish. Odean is open on Mondays and closes on Tuesdays instead.

One evening for two, start to finish

Here's how we'd do a first night with two people, about 2 km on foot in total.

1. 5:00pm. MRT Wat Mangkon, exit 3. Jek Pui: one yellow pork curry with Chinese sausage, one green curry.
2. 5:45pm. Walk 13 minutes to Lim Lao Ngow on Song Sawat Road. One bowl dry, one in soup.
3. 6:40pm. Five minutes back up to the Phadung Dao corner. T&K: grilled river prawns and a tom yum.
4. 8:00pm. Nai Ek, one minute away: one kuay jap with crispy pork, one crispy pork over rice.
5. 8:45pm. Graze down the road: a squid stick, a pomegranate juice, a toasted bun if the line is short.
6. 9:15pm. Sweettime: bua loy in hot ginger, two spoons.

By the prices above, that's roughly 1,200 to 1,600 baht for two, and about half of it is the seafood. Leave out T&K and it's under 700.

Do this plan with a Thai friend

Yaowarat is a street for two people at least. On your own, you're full after the curry and the fish balls. With two of you, you make it to the prawns and the dessert. Take this plan, pick a friend in Bangkok, send the day and the time, and meet at exit 3 of MRT Wat Mangkon. They come along, read the Thai-only boards, order and split every plate with you. It's booked by the hour and always platonic. Their time is the booking; the food, the drinks and the Grab home you pay on the night. Here's how booking works.

Questions people ask

What time does Yaowarat street food start?

The stalls set up from about 5pm, and the road is in full swing from 7pm until around midnight. Jek Pui closes at 7:30pm and Lim Lao Ngow at 9pm, so start with those two.

Which MRT exit is best for Yaowarat?

Wat Mangkon on the Blue Line. Exit 1 leads onto Plaeng Nam Road, which reaches Yaowarat Road in 2 or 3 minutes. Exit 3 comes up by the Wat Mangkon temple, nearer Jek Pui's curry stall.

Is Yaowarat street food open on Mondays?

Partly. Many stalls take Monday off, including Yaowarat Toasted Buns, Sweettime, Nai Lek and Pa Tong Go Savoey. Nai Ek, T&K, Lek & Rut, Lim Lao Ngow and Ba Hao Tian Mi are listed as open every day.

How much money do I need for a night of eating in Chinatown?

Noodle bowls cost 50 to 70 baht, a curry plate 50 to 60, and most desserts 25 to 50. Seafood is the big one, at 300 to 400 baht a dish. Two people eating well spend about 1,200 to 1,600 baht, so bring that in cash, in small notes.

What should I eat in Yaowarat on my first visit?

Kuay jap with crispy pork at Nai Ek, grilled river prawns at T&K, fish ball noodles at Lim Lao Ngow, and bua loy in hot ginger at Sweettime. If you arrive by 6, add the yellow pork curry at Jek Pui.

Are the Yaowarat street food stalls in the Michelin Guide?

Mostly not any more. Lim Lao Ngow was a Bib Gourmand in the 2025 guide, and older lists say the same of Nai Ek, Guay Jub Ouan Pochana and Jek Pui. None of them was in the guide's Thailand listings when we checked in October 2026. The nearest current Bib Gourmand is Urai Braised Goose on Song Wat Road, a daytime shop that often sells out early.