In my mind, the exploration of street food is one of the best way’s to put yourself into an opportunity to have a spontaneous travel experience.

One of the reasons I just can’t get enough of Bangkok is that it’s a never ending city with infinite neighborhood streets…

… and the streets are filled with not only delicious Thai street food but also a broad range of international street food.

One day as I was exploring the tangled market walkways of Bangkok’s Phra Khanong district, I noticed a number of stalls selling Burmese products and all signs were written in Burmese.

My Food Mind

Now let me tell you that I sometimes have an over obsession with cuisine, so when I noticed Burmese signs, I had no idea what they read, but I thought “food.”

Lo and behold, where there are people, there will be food – that’s the way human’s function!

Just a few moments later, I was sitting on the folding chair and tables provided and contemplating what scrumptious Burmese dishes to order.

I had spent a few weeks in Yangon months before, so I knew a few Burmese foods and that’s about it.

Luckily Mona, the owner of the restaurant was ready, willing and super excited that we had stopped by to get a taste of her Burmese street food cooking in Bangkok!

After mentioning that we were interested in eating Laphet Thohk (a Burmese tea leaf salad), she took motherly care in the preparation of the other dishes – just like Mama Chapati in Tanzania.

Of all my previous street food endeavors, I have never had a vendor take so much care in making a dish look so perfect so I could take a photo of it.

I first took a photo and then Mona came running over saying “wait, wait, wait.” She proceeded to sprinkle the dishes perfectly with cilantro and add just the right amount of chili and other condiments.

She really took pride in her Burmese street food – I loved seeing that!

Along with mohinga (click link to watch a video), the restaurant is a popular spot to eat Khao Swè Thohk, a dish of mixed noodles covered in a tomatoey sauce and garnished with slices of chicken, peanuts, pickled cabbage and chilies.

It was mouthwatering fantastic, Burmese street food that radiated with motherly food love.

Not knowing what else to order, Mona escorted me into the kitchen and presented a huge platter of vibrantly yellow something.

I did remember eating it in Burma, and though it’s known as “tofu,” it tasted a little more like mozzarella cheese than the Chinese style tofu I grew up eating.

Mona explained to me that this variation of tofu is actually made from ground daal (yellow lentils), giving it a hearty starch. When  chopped up and made into a salad, the Tohpu Thohk was outstanding, so amazingly tasty!

I wasn’t going to ever leave a Burmese street food restaurants without a plate of Lahpet Thohk, a mixed Burmese salad made with pickled tea leaves.

Along with the pickled tea leaves, Mona added cabbage, sliced tomatoes, a handful of fried chickpeas and a generous amount of sliced red chillies and garlic.

The combination was spectacular, perhaps the best Lahpet Thohk I’ve ever experienced.

The Burmese meal was outstanding, the ambiance was fantastic, and the motherly love of Mona’s cooking could be felt with every single bite of her food!

Looking for Burmese street food in Bangkok?

Mona’s restaurant is actually not on the map, I tried to locate it on Google Maps with not much luck, so I just added it to the map about where I think the location is.

Just start walking through the clothing section of Phra Khanong Market and you’ll eventually comes to a small Burmese section. This Burmese street food restaurant is located right in the midst of all the clothing, kind of at the market crossroads.

I know this isn’t that clear, but part of the fun is the exploration, right?

View Burmese Street Food in Bangkok in a larger map

Have fun!