Taling Chan Floating Market, Bangkok

Address Next to the Taling Chan District Office

Opening Hours 8am-4pm Sundays only

I first visited Bangkok some twenty years ago. Did the temples, the Thai massages and the Som Tum with Khao Niao and Kai Yang (papaya salad with glutinous rice and grilled chicken) many times over, in between trips to Chatuchak weekend market and Teochew bak kut teh in Yaowarat…at least once a year.

But for the life of me, I can’t fathom why I have never visited the famous floating market in Damnoen Suduak, some 2 hours outside the Thai capital (if you do so on a smooth traffic weekend). The 110 km ride will take you to this infamous food and groceries market on boats bobbing up and down the river selling stuff that guide books say they do. You will be mingling with adventurous international sun-hat covered tourist toting a Japanese digital cameras and discovering a world they saw in National Geographic. Package tour rides there conveniently stop for washroom breaks at the Teakwood Handicraft Centre and the Sugar House.

Now, I know why I never visited that floating market.

So, when Bangkok based executive chef and old pal Cheng Meng suggested brunch at the floating market, I baulked. “Relax Seetoh, it’s the kind of floating market I know you will like. Not found in travel guides, can’t find back packing ang mos or curious looking tourist, only forty minutes away and very important ah, the food is good and cheap some more!”, he qualifies our 15 years of friendship.

He was 98% right, I saw about two western tourist who were more keen on taking photos rather than enjoying the experience this quaint Taling Chan Floating Market was designed for. The rest of them, including us, did just that, plonked ourselves on the lined wooded floor, ordered every thing we felt we needed to eat and contemplated in the visuals.

It’s not a big place. It’s about a 100m by 3m long floating pontoon is converted into clean covered seating area with little sampan kitchens bouncing on either side. Nobody was allowed to throw things into the river (the Taling Chan District office is just next door) which gave me a pleasant anticipation of the makan experience ahead.

The salt baked toman fish came and left (outstandingly fresh, juicy and tasted the way mother nature intended), followed by a platter of 8 handphone sized grilled river prawns (the big headed type with little claws which oozes roe when you bite into), chicken satay and an order of Moo Yang (divinely succulent honey grilled pork slices).

Rest. Then we just pointed to the common server whatever food that caught our eyes and it was duly served, piping hot

So came the Som Tum and a rare and refreshing fruit version made with tomatoes, pears, apples, guava and melons with fish sauce, lime and chillis, fish roe Hormuk in banana leaf (otah) which was very lemak, spicy and soft. It had a layer of soft cabbage below it. Next, they plonked a plate of Thai style popiah (called popiah) which did not have the stewed turnips inside but instead came smothered with a thick seafood sauce. The Pad Thai (fried kway teow), was pretty and unpretentiously rich and adorned with eggs and peanuts while the oyster omelette, which they also call Or Jian, was seductively crispy and crunchy with raw bean sprouts. Then the server finished us off with Tofu Tod (fried yam strips and dried tofu) with a peanut and chilli dip. We were about to keel over and was resurrected when we realized just how much the whole meal cost.

$35. Aiyoh, how can I not love. I’ll be back to this floating market, definitely.