the best thai food i’ve ever had: jeh o chula

My recent travels took me to Bangkok (I’ve been back for 2 days at the time I’m writing this) brought me to Jeh O Chula, a famous supper spot in the city. Think Swee Choon’s level of popularity, but fivefold.

Our driver warned us of the popularity of Jeh O Chula and it’s long queue times, so we decided to visit right when it opened at 4.30pm. Big mistake.

Even as we arrived at 4.35pm—well, we arrived at 4.30pm on the opposite side of the road but took a good 5 minutes trying to navigate traffic, truly tourist problems—we were 96th in the queue. NINETY-SIX.

Thankfully, after around a 50 minute wait in the heat, we were rewarded with what I’d say is the best Thai food I’ve ever had in my life.

I have no idea what the names of any of the dishes are (since it’s all in Thai) but I’d say that big bowl of soup has to be the ascended form of instant noodles—yes, underneath that hunk of toppings lay a bed of at least 3 packets of instant noodles. Every single side dish was so flavourful, had impressive texture, great bite, to the point I feel bad for even calling them side dishes. I genuinely feel that every dish managed to bring out the flavour and aroma of the food to the highest extent. Alas, I can only manage so much with my limited vocabulary, so I highly recommend everyone who goes to Bangkok to make the trip down to Jeh O Chula to try the food for themselves. The visuals don’t do them justice either; there’s much more dimension to each dish than what the photos have to offer.

I’m already craving for Jeh O (yes, the locals call the place Jeh O) again. Well, Thai cup noodles will have to do for now.

Jeh O Chula
Instagram @jeh_o_chula
Address: 113 ซอย จรัสเมือง Rong Muang, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Opening Hours: Daily 4.30pm-12am