Buakhao Market Street Food

Think food hall, not restaurant. A row of small kiosks sits under a metal roof beside Buakhao Market, each one cooking its own short list of Thai dishes, and the vendors happily let you order across several stalls and eat it all at the same table. Menus are posted out front with photos and prices, so you can point and pay without a word of Thai. Portions are generous, prices are low, and takeout is as normal as sitting down.

Go in the morning or after dark. Fans run throughout, but a metal roof in Pattaya at two in the afternoon does what metal roofs do, and you'll be eating in a sweat. Evening is when it comes into its own anyway, especially if you've spent an hour wandering the bars and clothes stalls along Soi Buakhao and want somewhere unfussy to sit with a drink. One vendor, Wan, gets named repeatedly in reviews for her phanang curry. Her stall is on the left, right in the corner as you walk into the covered market.