Asia - Best ten cities for street food in Asia... and where to find the good stuff

We know many FTers enjoy, and are often quite knowledgeable about, eating, and one of them is Flyertalk member giblet, who has her blog, MyFatFace.com. She always enjoyed Asian food and went to do a three month Kiva Fellowship, supported in part by FlyerTalk members of the FlyerTalkers Kiva Lending Team. giblet has now been in Cambodia for twenty months and is doing some freelance journalism, etc.

If you are going to visit any of the ten Asian locales she nominates for the best street food (Penang, Taipei, Bangkok, Fukuoka, Hanoi, Singapore, Seoul, Xi'an, Manila and Phnom Penh,) you may wish to read her article here (http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/eat/asia-street-food-cities-612721)on CNN GO (and can even vote your own opinion).

She names names, illustrates with photos and includes maps!

For example:

7. Mi char

http://i.cdn.cnngo.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/inline_image_240x240/2012/03/19/inline-7.phnom-penh_mi-char_lina-goldberg.jpg

Fried noodles are popular with students looking for an afternoon snack once school lets out. Most noodle sellers carry a few options in their cart -- instant noodles from ramen packages, soft yellow egg noodles, or short, thick rice noodles. They're stir-fried in fish sauce and soy sauce with beef and greens, and usually a fried egg is added to the equation. Most Cambodians choose to eat mi char with mild, sweet chili sauce.

Try it at: Central Market, Street 53, Phnom Penh

I got hungry just reading this article, not to mention reminiscing a bit.

Most of the (educated) locals I know in PNH don't eat street food. It's the only country where i don't touch the street food with a (very) few exceptions.

1. Bangkok
2. Bangkok
3. Bangkok
4. Chiang Mai
5. Who cares......

:D:D:D;)

WRT Japan, she names the one Japanese city I would consider as having a very developed "street food" culture: Fukuoka.

When someone requests recommendations for great street food in Tokyo on the Japan forum, it's often a leading indicator that Japan won't match their expectations.

Good list, my personal top five is all in there. Mine would be more like:

1. Singapore (hawker centres aren't really street food imo but close enough)
2. Taipei
3. Penang
4. Bangkok
5. Seoul

I really miss the street food in Seoul... it's been too long since I've been there. I look forward to going back next month.

Although I prefer Hanoi to Saigon, I must say that Saigon has the better street food

Good list, my personal top five is all in there. Mine would be more like:

1. Singapore (hawker centres aren't really street food imo but close enough)
2. Taipei
3. Penang
4. Bangkok
5. Seoul

I really miss the street food in Seoul... it's been too long since I've been there. I look forward to going back next month.

I also have enjoyed many evenings delving into Seoul's street food. Something enjoyable about sitting in an orange tent eating and drinking soju... especially on a cold winter night.

My only recommendation for street food in Asia is to always go where there is already a line up for the food. If you see a line already, then it must be good. Examples are the Shilin Night Markets in Taipei (so much good food there), Chongqing (selling beef (?maybe?) on skewers) or pretty much any Bangkok place with a steady flow of people coming and going.
(Edit: Will 2nd Seould street food - there is heaps about and it is all pretty good!)

You really cannot beat Penang. Excellent of every description food on every street corner.

Bangkok is pretty good too but a lot of it seems to be targeted at the tourist market. I've also had some good stuff in KUL but you need to know where to go.

I wouldn't touch street food in PNH either. The restaurants are so cheap anyway.

You really cannot beat Penang. Excellent of every description food on every street corner.

I haven't been down there in a few years but you're right, the food was quite good and readily available.

Bangkok is pretty good too but a lot of it seems to be targeted at the tourist market. I've also had some good stuff in KUL but you need to know where to go.

I agree with your assessment of KUL but I find Bangkok to be the antithesis of KUL. Most of the food is great with only a small portion tailored for the tourist market.



I wouldn't touch street food in PNH either. The restaurants are so cheap anyway.

You wouldn't grab some slices of cow-on-a-spit? How about snails in salt and/or chili powder (marinated in the sun for a few hours)? :D

Taipei is really great...

Although you can get the same stuff everywhere in China, it is a bit more organized and structured and fun. There are night markets all around Taiwan that have good stuff.


I enjoy venturing out in my spare time to a spot where my girlfriends cousin lives in Shanghai north of the city where there is a lot of street food - it would throw off a lot of the tourist-types, but the food and prices are unmatched. Actually, Chongqing has really good street food, but no one here will realistically go to Chongqing just for street food. What I'm saying is that you can find good street food anywhere in China, you just have to be brave!

Examples are the Shilin Night Markets in Taipei (so much good food there)

Yep, there's those two fried chicken sellers right at the front of Shilin Night Market, the one with the really long line and the one with no line. You know where to go. :D

Best Asian city for street food? It's got to be Lahore by far. That's if you are into grilled meats and spicy food.

Best to go if you have a local guide though.

Best Asian city for street food? It's got to be Lahore by far. That's if you are into grilled meats and spicy food.

Best to go if you have a local guide though.

Probably not the best option for Americans or Israelis.

WRT Japan, she names the one Japanese city I would consider as having a very developed "street food" culture: Fukuoka.

When someone requests recommendations for great street food in Tokyo on the Japan forum, it's often a leading indicator that Japan won't match their expectations.

My cousin used to run a food cart in Fukuoka. It would get real busy after 10 pm and man it was good.

Japan's street food seems more organized and more sanitary than other countries. If you make a straight cost to cost comparison, it is more expensive I think.

But I love Fukuoka's street food.

I cannot comment on Fukuoka, Manila and Phnom Penh, but certainly all of the others have excellent street food. Personally I think Penang, despite its size, wins hands-down on the diversity of cuisine. Yes, this diversity is matched by KL and Singapore, but the execution in Penang is ahead of both of these.

If you do like to salivate over photos of street food across Asia, I would strongly recommend http://eatingasia.typepad.com/ - I have followed various of Robyn's suggestions from Istanbul in the west to KL in the east and they have all been excellent.

Probably not the best option for Americans or Israelis.

There's quite a few Americans already in Lahore. Israelis will have to travel on an alternative passport.

But next best option is Lahori food in London.

If you do like to salivate over photos of street food across Asia, I would strongly recommend http://eatingasia.typepad.com/ - I have followed various of Robyn's suggestions from Istanbul in the west to KL in the east and they have all been excellent.

I agree! When I was traveling around Asia I checked that site for every city I went to and tried everything listed. It's an amazing resource, both for food photography and information and stories about the food and the people that make it.

I'm going back to Penang later this month, definitely a street food mecca.

And re: PNH, many of the items listed are street-ish food, streetside restaurants, etc. Some of my favorite food in Cambodia is served this way. I eat street food here a lot, but then again, I get sick a lot, too.

Thanks for the positive feedback, everyone. :)

Penang! Mmmm! We'll look forward to your latest reports.

Very timely post, JDiver. Thanks!

Heading to Seoul and Taipei next month. Salivating already....

I had a pleasant time in Lahore, but perhaps the most memorable street item I consumed there was sugarcane juice with lime and ginger. I don't typically get sugarcane anything, but hot damn it was quite the combination. Pakistan was on the whole a nice time, just wish I had the chance to get to Hunza. Next time indeed.

As for the OP's topic, IMO, Jakarta (ketoprak, sate with bumbu kacang and even the staid nasgor, among other dishes) and in general <insert Chinese city at night here> fit the bill. Would be rad if I could help out some folk with setting up a street stall scene in NYC, as opposed to the blasted trucks. Perchance requesting the Flushing skewer maestros' help is a good start...

Singularly, kudos go to oysters in Itsukushima, oyster fritters in Gulangyu (Xiamen), oyster pancakes in Jilong (Taiwan), and grilled squid and sweet potato pancakes in Gaoxiong (Taiwan). Note that these foods weren't necessarily the local specialties- they just left a good impression.

I'll have to give credit to Bangkok for having food all over the place, but to me, most of it is just Crayola nightmares and pig parts for which even Theodor Geisel couldn't find a rhyme. Find me roasted bananas, green papaya salad with garbled peanuts and/or khao neeo mamuang (mango sticky rice, apparently) and then I'm set.

Love the Taipei Night Markets my current was actually a Japanes Okonomiyaki with a twist - tuna

Love the stalls that sell Dan Bing - a breakfast sandwich with fried eggs inside a kind of crepe.