let's go to the mall for green curry spaghetti
meals + moments from one hot week in Bangkok 🇹🇭
Hi babes. To recap on this funny thing called life, I spent the first week of May in Bangkok. I walked (and omg, melted) more than I had in what felt like ages.
I rode lightrail, subway, river transit. My appetite returned. I finished plates.
I went to appointments to check on my body, and on a lighter note, scoured second-hand markets for fun pieces (and deals).
Admired so many sights, tiny and mighty, casual and grandiose. And did I mention the food, fruit and spices? Because really - besides the technicalities and personal health assessments - that’s why I went back.
It all helped: I was nourished by the near-nostalgic. Fed, and activated.
Let’s go to the mall…food court.
And with two mere exceptions, I took all my meals in mall food courts and neighborhood vegetarian buffets. So Bangkok. So good. And sometimes, at So! Vegan! So, a real place. A chain, in fact. So, so contemporary and modern, yet traditional (ahem, Buddhist vegetarian-friendly).
Eating like this was convenient, typically tasty as heck, and super affordable.
The food might be already prepared & warm, or hot, and cooked to order. It might be room temp. It could be reheated for a tiny charge, or taken away, and heated in my lodging for dinner over a good read or episode of Masterchef Australia. And across the board, these dishes were so, so enticingly priced. Check-marks.
For those unfamiliar, you can totally still experience and taste the depths & multi-layered realm of Thai food from a supermarket food court basement or the top floor of a mall. The aromas can arise from deep inside the packaging of a GRAB moto delivery, or the tightly rubber-banded plastic bag of what may seem like a muted, varying shade of curried vegetables. Whatever the packaging, this may not strike you as enticing, visually, yet…unless you know. And if you know, you know. Because there’s so much more to Bangkok’s food scenes than the iconic streetfood vendors (or Michelin stars!). There’s flavor, everywhere.
not-so-fast-casual = iykyk
Fortunately, with my limited amount of time, location and recovering body, I already kinda knew.
During the first three months of this zany hiatus and those fortunate visits to Thailand in years prior, I’d been no stranger to mall food courts. ‘Cause if it’s veg-friendly and listed on HappyCow, I’m going. Back in those days (er, 2011-2017), there were somewhat fewer choices, which made options even more must-go. It’s that easy. And then if I learned something, somewhere, was positively reviewed and “low-priced”? Oh, I’m in. I’d very much enjoyed vegetarian stalls (and more!) at malls in Phuket, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. I’d learned just how tasty + convenient it can be to be vegan in “big city” Thailand in the 21st century. And more.
Back to the future.
This past May cemented that it was easier than ever to get good-to-truly GREAT and accessibly-priced and quick! Thai food all over Bangkok. I visited as many mall food courts & vegetarian/jay spots as I feasibly could during this one week in Bangkok.
My mission? To eat deeee-licious food and simply, make things more manageable for myself. I was alone, I was healing, and while yes, there’s Brooklyn in my blood, I will totally admit that I was a little overwhelmed with the mega-urban change of pace. There’s often exhaustion in the exhilaration, and that’s OK.
(Especially, you know - or if you don’t know - I’ll point out that a month ago, I did not think this necessary “trip” would be possible in my condition! I did it!!!)
Moving on. Back to the foodz.
One vegetarian mall eatery, in particular, proved to be my tops. That would be Talalak’s, where the dish and menu photo above comes from. I visited three times, including on Day One, with my carry-on bag at my side. How efficient. Three visits and I ordered and devoured: 1) Spicy Thai Spaghetti 2) Pad Kra Praow Stir-Fry and 3) Green Curry Spaghetti. Suddenly and immediately, I had two new surpise favorite dishes. In life?! Whoa. What an influence.
One week’s utterly casual top eats in Bangkok, Thailand
A return experience so lovely and almost divine, that I could not bear visit again that week. Far too precious. And far.
Looking back / Looking around…
The differences in time, place and official, shiny branding did strike me upon my return to Thailand in December. Things had changed. Of course. The newer street food modernities reminded me of experiencing Singapore’s impressive Hawker Markets in 2016. I recently dug into that history, learning from an informative piece on Roots.Singapore.Gov (go figure) that “after Singapore’s independence in 1965, along with the move to turn Singapore into the region’s business hub, the work of licensing hawkers and relocating them into more organised spaces picked up momentum.” Full piece at the bottom of the 'scrap in the R + R.
May 2025, two weeks prior.
And now… It was 2025 Thailand, after the governmental food inspection crack-downs enacted in 2017, and then, movingly, and mightily, post-covid and the rough blow to a country that has a huge tourism industry focused on food.
The street food offerings both inside & outside of malls struck me as new & improved & incredibly noticeable, approachable, and inviting. Nowadays, you can even pay with a Thai banking QR code if you have one! You can certainly tag, like and leave a review. On a street corner. That’s some sign of the times, and continues the country’s rich cultural and culinary identity.
Thinking about malls and sharking my way to a seat in Bangkok’s food courts earlier this month brings another fond memory to mind. This one is up from the depths of teenage angst & anxiety. Growing into my body, and my brain. Okay, those years weren’t as downer as you may think for me, thankfully. I mostly savored my years at an all-girls high school, feeling liberated, making friends and joining oh, so many clubs & activities I would lose count and double-dip my time commitments! That’s how much fun I was having. Really. And after I turned 16, I had my first real job working at a bakery & cafe, and paychecks to spend…which brings me back to The Mall.
I have this distant memory of figuring out just where to sit, by myself, in the then-recently-revamped ‘nice’ food court at South Shore Mall in Bay Shore, New York. I had a slice of salty white pizza in front of me, and recall thinking, I’m comfortable amongst all these people. I’m cool in a crowded place. Not literally cool. Yet, not that weird. If anything, there were all types at the mall, and I was sorta fitting in.
Related: This was an age I started carrying Christopher Pike and Stephen King paperbacks around, and that company surely helped (I didn’t grasp the intention + importance of reading female authors…yet). So, that was me, deciphering some internal New Yorker-ness. For a moment, my bigger and smaller place in human culture.
A teenage vegetarian, who opted for the pizza that day instead of braving the more intense line and reality of waiting in front of McDonald’s for an order of fries and salad - before it was in a cup, however long that lasted - with extra croutons and the fleeting decision of Italian or Ranch dressing.
And now, three decades later, here’s another version of me, with a tray of made-to-order spicy Thai spaghetti with crispy vegan pork belly from a mall food court.
Way better food, way more me. Still seeing how I fit into everything, and deciding just what I want to order. The parallels and choices remain.
Do *you* have any fond memories of mall food courts?
References + Relevant Links:
Where I ate in this missive →
Chamlong’s vegetarian cafeteria on happycow
Khrua J St. Louis on happycow {St. Louis = the BTS stop I stayed around}
Talalaks at Siam Paragon on happycow
Tien Sin - Si Wiang on happycow
Rabiengboon at MBK on happycow
Consumer trust in Thai street food vendors: implications for the post-pandemic era Emerald Insight - International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy January 19, 2024
The History and Evolution of Singapore's Hawker Culture, Roots.gov.sg
Vendor ban sees city lose flavour, Bangkok Post May 7, 2018
bonus: Robin Sparkles’ “Let’s Go to the Mall”, How I Met Your Mother ~ the inspiration for this missive’s title {& I’m almost at S2 of Shrinking, iykyk}
‘Til we meet again, Bangkok….which I just learned has the nickname “the Venice of the East”.
Cue sharing one more river scene with traditional longboats - and Billy Joel in the background. The fusion of malls, memories, and spicy spaghetti.
Now I am totally starving and ready to book a flight! So great, Jess!
I loved this unconventional guide!