Thailand is by far our favorite country to travel to. We love the culture, the nature and of course, the food! Thailand is well known for it’s great food. And with good reason, because it has lots of flavor.  When I searched the internet for Thai dishes, the first time I went to Thailand, I got overwhelmed with the long lists of Thai food. I found it hard to choose which to try. But now I’ve been to Thailand several times, and tried a lot of dishes, I would like to offer you a short list of the best Thai dishes to try, especially if you’re new to Thai food. I hope it helps you on your way. Also, when choosing where to buy your food, look at where it is crowded. Both with locals and foreigners. Most of the time, the bigger the crowd, the better the food. This applies to every country that offers street food by the way.

Here are the 6 dishes I would recommend trying:

Guay Teow (Noodle Soup)

When we’re in Thailand, one of our favorite things to eat is Guay Teow. It’s one of the most popular Thai dishes and you can really find it anywhere. The best noodle soup we’ve had was on Koh Samui, on the local food market. And the great thing about noodle soup is that you can eat it any time of the day. So for lunch, diner or late night snack. Guay Teow can be made with chicken (this is the one we always choose), pork or beef. Sometimes you have the option to choose between rice noodles or egg noodles, but most of the time they just make it with one type of noodles of their own choice. The soups vary because of the vendors choice to add things like wontons and topping like lime juice or dried chili peppers, to name a few. And the choice of the vendor to use rice noodles or egg noodles. Which ever they choose, Guay Teow just is delicious and you should definitely try it when you’re in Thailand.

Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Chicken Soup)

Oh my god, this is soooo good! I’m not really fond of really spicy food, simply because I’m not used to it. Tom Kha Gai is just delicious and offers people like me, who aren’t fond of really spicy food or have a low tolerance to heavy spices, the chance to taste the great Thai flavours. It’s made with a lot of creamy coconut milk, and the peppers add a little bit of spice to it. But overall it’s a sweet soup, with tasty coconut flavour.  While we were in Chiang Mai, we did a full day cooking class and made our own Tom Khai Gai. Really fun to do and you can choose yourself how much peppers you add to the soup. And I have to say, the soup I made was really delicious! I now make the soup at home as well.

Pad Thai (Thai style fried noodles)

Again, this is also one of our favorites. You can buy this anywhere in Thailand, and it is really cheap. Also, Pad Thai is the perfect dish to start your ‘Thai food exploration’ with, if you’re new to Thailand cuisine. It is one of Thailands national dishes. I don’t eat seafood so I always take mine with chicken, but you can also make it with shrimp or a vegetarian version. It also includes (scrambled) eggs, stirred trough the noodles, and topped off with cashew nuts. I really recommend you try Pad Thai. The best we had was on Koh San Road in Bangkok (where all the backpackers go to), but you can hardly go wrong with this dish.

Kai Med Ma Muang (Chicken with Cashew Nuts)

I feel like I’m saying ‘this is one of my favorite Thai dishes’ at every dish, but I can’t help it, Thai cuisine is just so good! Kai Med Ma Muang is also a dish which you can easily choose if you’re new to Thai food. But also if you’ve been to Thailand a lot, like we have, Kai Med Ma Muang still is a good option to order if you’re hungry. It’s a really simple dish, but very flavorful. The stir-fried chicken come with soy sauce, honey, onions, peppers, bell pepper and of course, cashew nuts. Sometimes the cook adds vegetables to his choose (or what he has on hand), like carrots or beans. You can eat this with rice.

Pad Phak (Fried Vegetables)

If you’re a vegetarian, you want to add more vegetables to your diner, or you just want to add something to your Khao Pad (fried rice; doesn’t require that much explanation), you can choose Pad Phak. These stir-fried vegetables are a Thai classic and come with great flavours, due to the added spices.

Khao Neow Ma Muang (Mango Sticky Rice)

Best dessert…. ever! OK, it’s really a dessert, but mango sticky rice is delicious every part of the day. It’s authentic Thai street food, and you can buy it at almost every corner of the streets. It looks really simple, but it is really delicious. Khao Neow Ma Muang is made with sticky rice, sweet coconut milk and of course, fresh mango slices. You can often buy it in a to-go container, so even if you’re not hungry at the time you see a mango sticky rice vendor, no reason not to buy one for the road 😉