River food and roti sai mai
In Ayutthaya, try boat noodles for lunch between the ruins. If you want to share a meal with your group, choose grilled river prawns. Roti sai mai, thin roti wrapped around spun sugar, is a snack to try in Ayutthaya. Wrap each one yourself and enjoy a sweet moment on your trip.
Choosing a meal in Ayutthaya
Have boat noodles at lunch, and for a shared meal split grilled river prawns and rice. With roti sai mai, you can adjust how much spun sugar you use and wrap one sheet at a time.
Ayutthaya sits close to the river, and food trips built around noodles and river prawns are well known there. You can also find roti sai mai, which has been kept going by the Muslim community. Eat noodles as a meal, wrap spun sugar in roti, and enjoy the different foods of one city.
Boat noodles are eaten in other cities too. The price of river prawns depends on size and selling unit, so look at the prawns you will order before you choose.
Pick a dish you fancy. Each guide explains the flavour and what to eat it with.
It is a dish where you enjoy the broth, noodles and meat together. The flavour of the broth can change with the meat and seasonings. Try it first without adding anything, then add chilli or other seasonings a little at a time.
Boat Noodles: flavour and how to eat it →
It is a dish where you enjoy the aroma of grilled prawns and the texture of the meat. Try the meat on its own first, then add a little of the sauce served with it. With rice you can enjoy the sauce too.
Grilled River Prawns: flavour and how to eat it →
The texture of thin, soft roti and fine sugar threads come together. The sweetness depends on how much sugar you put in. Add only a little at first, then more to your taste on the next roti.
Roti Sai Mai: flavour and how to eat it →The place a fruit is famous for may not be the city where you buy it today. Check the season and flavour, then choose what you would like to try.
Sweet tamarind is a fruit eaten soft and sweet. Take out the hard stone and the fibres in the middle and eat the flesh.
Sweet Tamarind: season, flavour and how to eat it →
Ripe mango is soft and sweet. Some varieties of green mango are eaten for a texture different from ripe mango, so you do not need to assume that every green one is unripe.
Mango: season, flavour and how to eat it →
The sweetness and the firmness of the flesh differ with the variety and how ripe it is. It helps to tell apart bananas eaten when they ripen to yellow and bananas used in cooking.
Banana: season, flavour and how to eat it →
It is a crunchy, juicy fruit. The fresh fruit and nam taeng mo pan, blended with ice, are enjoyed for their different textures.
Watermelon: season, flavour and how to eat it →Boat noodles are eaten in other cities too. The price of river prawns depends on size and selling unit, so look at the prawns you will order before you choose.
Have boat noodles at lunch, and for a shared meal split grilled river prawns and rice. With roti sai mai, you can adjust how much spun sugar you use and wrap one sheet at a time.
If you would like to read more about the food and the regions behind it, these sources are worth a look. Ingredients and cooking methods can vary from one cook to the next.
