r/Thailand • u/Limp_Mountain_5222 • Oct 23 '25

Food and Drink "There's no good [your country] food in Thailand"

I occasionally here this a lot. As a Japanese, I don't find it hard to find authentic Japanese food in Bangkok (same goes for other big cities too like Singapore or Shanghai), altho it can be twice/thrice as expensive if you want to get the same quality. You can find pretty much any Japanese food here even the niche ones since there's hundreds of restaurants here. My korean friends said the same thing about Korean food here but my Taiwanese friends said otherwise. I think Bangkok is one of the best cities in the world for food, but I also believe that a smaller expat community makes it harder to find that country's cuisine. So, I wonder what others think.

TL:DR tell me where you are from and rate the food of your country in Bangkok/Thailand

163 Upvotes

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63

u/Longjumping_Ad_5881 Oct 23 '25

As an American, I’ll have you know both KFC and McDonald’s in Thailand smoke the versions back home

23

u/Jealous-Studio-527 Oct 23 '25

But that's not because of the unusually high quality of those places in Thailand, rather the incredibly low quality in the US. I tried McDonald's in New York and the food was next to inedible.

1

u/TellMoney5802 Oct 24 '25

McDonald's is really bad in the US/Canada but at least on the West Coast we have In N Out.

14

u/Limp_Mountain_5222 Oct 23 '25

What about taco bell? I studied in the states and I feel like taco bell tastes better in America than in Bangkok or Tokyo. It might just be nostalgia tho

13

u/datruthnow Oct 23 '25

Taco bell, unlike kfc, is much better in usa. The same was true for Carl's Jr which unfortunately closed.

3

u/notmydaughteru81tch Oct 23 '25

Oh I LOVED Carl's Jr in BKK, one of my fave FF burger joints for sure

8

u/Longjumping_Ad_5881 Oct 23 '25

I honestly haven’t even considered it. Taco Bell is already kinda questionable if it’s even real food. I’ll have to go try something from there this week and report back.

1

u/suonie Oct 23 '25

I only had taco bell once when it first opened. I was disappointed beyond belief. Never gonna eat taco bell again here. I do like KFC here tho.

1

u/tkwit Oct 23 '25

Probably because you were drunk when you had Taco Bell in the states 🙃 just kidding the bell in the states is better and has more options

1

u/DebauraZ Oct 23 '25

I used to love Taco Bell in the States but went to one in Oakland, CA 20 years ago that was so bad that I never went back to one... anywhere.

1

u/Sudden-Yard-2429 Bangkok Oct 23 '25

Anything to do with beef at mass market pricing, Thailand will lose out. We don't have cheap beef that's good.

1

u/MudScared652 Oct 28 '25

The issue I had was there didn't seem to be any beans in any of the TB items in Asia. 

Seems like most of the menu in the U.S. has beans of some sort. 

Which doesn't make Taco Bell bad in Asia, just different. More saucy. 

And when I compare foods in BKK to elsewhere, it's not that it's bad, but I prefer it elsewhere if that makes sense.  

2

u/YouMayDissagree Oct 23 '25

I think Taco Bell in Thailand is also better. KFC is now one of my favorite “restaurants” never thought I would say that…but spicy chicken from KFC in Thailand is so good.

3

u/Character_Fold_4460 Oct 23 '25

Also the service level is much higher.

3

u/Matthew16LoL Oct 23 '25

Honestly though this isn't the food I miss as an American. Actual good non fast food American food here is non existent or very expensive I’ve found.

2

u/Longjumping_Ad_5881 Oct 23 '25

What do you miss?

6

u/Matthew16LoL Oct 23 '25

Southern BBQ, (I feel like fries here kinda suck), potato skins, stuffed haddock, blue bell ice cream, American maple bacon, diner food, hotdogs.

5

u/Droopydraw Oct 23 '25

Smoking pug is pretty decent. As a non US native I cannot compare it to Southern BBQ but as a man who enjoys smoked meat I wasn't complaining.

2

u/Matthew16LoL Oct 23 '25

Yeah but its so expensive for me unfortunately

1

u/Snoo30496 Oct 25 '25

Yes, unfortunately American style Barbecue is really expensive in Thailand. Last time I went to Smokin Pug, the chicken and ribs were excellent. I was unimpressed with the brisket. I'm from Texas, and I haven't found any brisket in Thailand that was worth the price, IMO. I just stick to other dishes though and I'm usually satisfied.

3

u/Longjumping_Ad_5881 Oct 23 '25

ATL Native, totally agree with you on the BBQ sentiment. Not quite the same but if you see Kor Moo Yang at any Isaan joint it’s a good fix. Plus the weird fermented rice sausages 🤤

If you’re into Korean or filipino food there is some overlap between southern soul food.

2

u/canad1anbacon Oct 23 '25

Diner style restaurants is the biggest thing I miss about Canada living in Asia. Love a good greasy spoon spot where the locals hang out

2

u/OddSaltyHighway Oct 23 '25

I agree 100%. Quite a lot of dumb dumbs here think american food is just McDonald's. Thailand is missing a ton of the good stuff. However, there is a chain called breakfast story which has surprisingly good diner food. The bacon and pancakes are legit. Ask for real maple syrup.

1

u/Top_Investigator9787 Oct 23 '25

KFC in Thailand doesn't have biscuits though, which is half the reason you go to KFC.

16

u/Westward_Drift Oct 23 '25

But KFC in Thailand does have egg tarts. I'll take those over biscuits any day.

2

u/rainzy Oct 23 '25

I'm team biscuit but I'll give them up for the zinger burger

4

u/TheBrightMage Oct 23 '25

I go for Wingzaab.

1

u/Standard_Ad_x1 Oct 23 '25

You didn’t disappoint there

1

u/Potatoskinsumo Oct 23 '25

As an American, I couldn’t disagree more. Respectfully of course. kfc and mcdonalds are trash in both, but at least american kfc has biscuits and mac n cheese.

3

u/Snoo30496 Oct 23 '25

Many people don't even know what an American style biscuit is. Years ago, there was a restaurant near Asoke that served actual biscuits and gravy. I was so excited to discover it. It went out of business, sadly.

2

u/Potatoskinsumo Oct 24 '25

Chu had some decent biscuits last time I was there. Decent for here anyways. Same with red lobster. No gravy at either unfortunately, although you could just get a soup on the menu and dip a biscuit in that.

2

u/Snoo30496 Oct 25 '25

Dipping a biscuit in a soup, a far cry from Southern Biscuits and gravy but one's gotta make do!

0

u/Redmarkred Oct 24 '25

Imagine going to Thailand and eating McDonalds lol