Icon Siam is currently the most popular department store in Bangkok. It’s also a tourist destination that offers something for everyone, from shopping to delicious food to sightseeing. But if you ask me what makes Icon Siam so special, I’d have to say it’s the Sook Siam on the basement level. It’s a replica of Thailand’s floating markets and night markets, where you can find a variety of street food in the cool, clean atmosphere of the department store. The prices are higher than a regular night market, but considering it’s inside a department store, the food is relatively reasonable.
1. Sook Siam Location
Icon Siam’s Sook Siam is easy to find, as it occupies the entire basement level. If you’re coming from Saphan Taksin station on the free shuttle boat, you’ll find Suk siam right at the entrance you see.
2. Try Thai street food
There are so many different types of street food available at Icon Siam that I had a hard time deciding what to try. Here are some of the things I tried, and I’ll be honest about how they tasted.
1) Thai Crispy Pancakes
This street food in Sook Siam is called Thai Crispy Pancake. I didn’t recognize the name, but it looked familiar, so I was curious to see what it tasted like.
There are 4 different types depending on the syrup and toppings on the thin batter. I bought 8 for 100 baht because they looked delicious.
First, the thin dough tasted a little bit like a warbler and the syrup on top was responsible for the sweetness. The white color was like coconut cream, but it was softer and tastier. The regular syrup was too sweet for me.
And the yellow, orange stuff on top, I don’t know what it is exactly, but it wasn’t my style personally. It wasn’t strong, but it had a spice flavor to it. I thought it was okay when I first had one or two, but when I had several, the spice flavor really stood out. They only sell one, so I would recommend buying a little to try and then buying more.
2) Pork and Chicken Skewers
One of the dishes I wanted to try in Bangkok street food was pork skewers. It was hard to find in Sook Siam, so I had to walk around a few times before I found it, but by the time I did, there were several places selling them, not just one.
I bought three skewers, one each of pork and chicken for 20 baht and 30 baht. They also seemed to have a lot of sticky rice, which I didn’t buy.
I enjoyed the sweet soy sauce marinated skewers, which had a flavor we’re accustomed to. They were lightly flavored, which made them an excellent complement to the rice they are served with.
However, the more expensive skewers had a stronger spice flavor. The more expensive ones were more flavorful.
3) Seafood Skewers
There were also seafood skewers such as squid and scallop skewers. As I was in Bangkok, seafood was more expensive than meat. They were selling them for around 100 baht.
I bought one of the squid skewers and tried it, but it didn’t have the texture we’re accustomed to with sake; it felt slightly undercooked with a bouncy texture.
Despite seeming to have some kind of sauce on it, it lacked the expected seasoning, resulting in a bland taste. Although they provided a sauce, it had a sharp flavor due to being fish sauce-based with chili peppers. Nonetheless, the sauce was delicious and made the dish worth eating, but I wouldn’t purchase it again.
4) Fried Oysters
When I was walking around Suksiam, I saw them making oyster pancake. It looked delicious, so I ordered it.
They served chili sauce with the oysters. But I was disappointed with the taste. The oysters just tasted like flour and didn’t have any flavor. I’ve heard a lot of people say that Thai oysters are delicious, so next time I go to a famous place, I’d like to try some really good oysters.
5) Crispy Butter Rolls
I’ve heard that crispy butter rolls originate from Jodhpur Night Market, a popular night market in Thailand. I attempted to purchase them at Jodhpur Night Market, but the crowd was so dense that I couldn’t even locate them, so I quickly left. LOL!
But then I found them for sale at Sook Siam in Icon Siam.
I had a thin roll with a thin layer of sweet syrup inside, and it was delicious because it had a good texture and was savory. The syrup inside is also sweet. I recommend you to buy and try it.
6) Coconut Milk Bread
The last street food I wanted to try was coconut milk bread. It’s often called coconut pulbap because it tastes like Korean pulbap, so I was curious to try it. It really tasted like the pulbap I had in Korea, and it was even better with the savory coconut milk flavor.
All in all, it was a delicious snack that I would recommend.
7) Chatramu Chai Tea
This isn’t street food, but I also bought some chatramu chai tea. It was 10 baht more expensive than other places because of the high taxes, but at 50 baht, it wasn’t too expensive. lol.
The chatramu chai tea was so good that I’ve been drinking it almost every day, and I’ve been buying powdered chatramu when I’m in town. It tastes pretty similar, so I’ve been drinking it well.
These are some of the foods I bought while visiting Sook Siam in the basement of Icon Siam Department Store. When I summarized it like this, I ate more than I thought I would. There were some foods that I enjoyed, but there were also quite a few foods that I was disappointed with. There are so many different foods that they sell, so I think I would have to stay for a week to try them all. I would like to go to Sook Siam again and try new foods.
