One thing that I really love about Bangkok is that it is never short of pop-up markets. Even if you come back twice a year for holiday, there’s always new things to see, eat and buy. No wonder E mentioned that he wanted to live in Bangkok, haha.
Anyway, if you’ve been to this city, you should be quite familiar with CentralWorld Bangkok which is one of the largest shopping complexes in the main shopping district of Siam Square/Ratchaprasong.
No, I’m not featuring the mall in this post. It’s just another mall – nothing extraordinary. ?
I’m actually more excited to write about the pop-up market just outside CentralWorld.
In that one week I was here in Bangkok, I had probably visited this market/street fair at least 4-5 times. Wanna know why? Read on. ?
This street fair was like a mini version of Artbox Bangkok with many chic stalls selling fashion wear, accessories, customisable items, jewellery, etc.
You would see a lot of black-coloured clothing on sale because Thailand is still in a year-long mourning period following the passing of King Bhumibol in October last year.
As usual, I would always be drawn towards the food section. They had a great selection of street food offerings here.
Khao Kriap Pak Mor (sweet & savoury steamed dumplings)
I always love Thai fishcakes from these street stalls. ?
This was a BBQ seafood stall that had grilled gigantic river prawns, crabs, squids, etc.
These fried crabs looked amazing but we didn’t get any because it would be a hassle to eat. Next time if we see this again, shall buy back to the hotel to enjoy.
Imitation crab claws and prawns
Braised pig trotters and eggs that would be served over white rice
Mixed rice with plenty of dishes to choose from
Different kinds of meat balls on skewers
More fried snacks
Grilled chicken
Orange/Lime juice stall
Stir fried squid eggs – yummy! ? ?
Only 10 baht (approx. SGD0.40) for each skewer of meat balls or sausage – so cheap! Couldn’t understand the words so we just picked whatever we fancied, haha.
I must say I wasn’t a big fan of these balls which were overly-processed. Very floury kind of taste with no meaty flavour. Texture was rather bouncy and springy though.
Same went for the sausage. Nothing to shout about.
This stir fried pork and water spinach with egg on rice (60 baht) was delicious. Spicy, savoury and very yummy.
One must try when in Bangkok is fresh pomegranate juice. Take note you’ll have to pick a stall where you can see the vendor peeling pomegranates and squeezing the seeds to extract the juice because there are some who use ready-made ones that are not totally the real deal.
Prices for the pomegranate juice were 50-100 baht depending on size of cup or bottle. This small bottle we got was 60 baht. Not very sweet but so refreshing. Packed with anti-oxidants too!
Had to order this because the pancakes were just too colourful and pretty.
Had to wait for a while because the lady boss would make them upon order which meant freshness was guaranteed.
We were told that no artificial colouring was used – everything was natural. The flavours included strawberry (pink), honey (white), pandan (green) and butterfly pea flower (blue).
They were pretty good. It was like eating nyonya kueh with a pan-fried crust on the outside and they weren’t overly sweet too. Worth trying!
Lemonade Stand
While we were waiting for our pancakes, we saw this lemonade stand on the opposite side.
The word ‘lavender’ caught my eye, haha. I love anything lavender whether it’s for eating/drinking or not so we got the Lavender Lemonade to share.
It was basically a pack of regular lemonade with a touch of lavender infused syrup at the bottom (see that tiny purple patch on the bottom of the pack?). Well, we couldn’t really make out the taste of the lavender because the lemon flavour was very overwhelming. Nonetheless, it was a very cold and refreshing drink to have. Thirst-quenching too! And I would give this stall an extra brownie point because the lady boss (pictured in background on right hand side) was just so warm and friendly!
And this was the reason why I kept coming back to this market. This is moo ping or grilled pork skewers.
I had tried moo ping in many places but this particular stall was the best I had because the meat was always juicy, fatty, moist and smoky. And the sweet marinade that penetrated the meat was so tasty and flavoursome. Only 10 baht per stick. Forget about those processed meat balls or sausages and have a dozen of this instead! If you want to make this a meal, you can also buy the sticky rice to go with the meat.
Not far away from the moo ping stall was this moo yang stall. Moo yang also means grilled pork. This stall had other meat options like duck and chicken too. We bought one of each to try. 10 baht per stick as well. Very cheap.
This moo yang was different from the moo ping as it was made of minced meat whereas the moo ping was made of sliced pork meat. This really tasted like a meat patty on a stick.
At first bite, all 3 meats seemed to taste the same but as I chewed them, I could taste the textural difference. The duck (no gamey smell) and chicken ones were the best as the pork was just too fatty for my liking. Marinade of the meats tasted pretty close to our local SG satay.
This market didn’t open till very late. We saw vendors closing shop from 8.30pm onwards.
By the time, I’m writing about this pop-up market and street fair, it’s no longer there at CentralWorld Bangkok because the markets change periodically. However, I’m sure whichever market is there now, it’s bound to have plenty of food and non-food stuffs to offer. So if you’re shopping in the vicinity, don’t forget to swing by CentralWorld Bangkok to check out the market – additional option to shop and eat. ??