Petchaburi Rd. at Petchaburi Soi 30
no phone
HOURS: Daily 11 a.m.-3 a.m.
COST: Entrées less than 100B
There’s only one dish on the menu here: khao mun gai, the Thai version of Asia’s ubiquitous chicken rice. The rice is cooked with chicken broth and the chicken boiled ’til it’s moist and tender, and it’s all served with a spicy garlic sauce, transforming two mundane ingredients into something sublime.
A plate of it, with chicken broth, only costs 30 baht, and many first timers go for a second helping.
Everything is served on melamine plates in a busy open-air (i.e., not air-conditioned) shophouse restaurant.
There are a handful of khao mun gai restaurants in the area, all of which serve up an excellent rendition, although this one is the favorite. To make sure you get to the right one, look for a large restaurant filled with waitstaff wearing pink. The place is always crowded, but can be especially so around 2 a.m., after all the clubs get out.