Places to Eat in Khao Yai
Inside the park
There are several options to eat once you’re inside the Khao Yai National Park. At the visitor centre the main restaurant offers good Thai food at reasonable prices and in front of it quite a few stalls selling basic Thai dishes to take away or to consume on small plastic tables with a nice view on the river. Don’t expect a big variety beyond the usual noodles, pad thai, fried chicken and fried rice. Prices start at THB40. Closing time is around 6pm, but if the park is quiet it can be even earlier than that.
Two restaurants are available close to the both camping sites but again, don’t go too late if you want to be sure to find them open.
Close to the most popular attractions there are also some cafes and restaurants. They all serve simple Thai dishes starting at THB40 and the usually close around 4pm.
Outside the park
Pak Chong night market
In Pak Chong a large night market will start at around 5pm every evening. It’s located close to the train station and it’s the best place to experiment with a big variety of Thai dishes at affordable prices. Besides the most obvious options like chicken skewers and noodles soups, you can have a taste of Isaan food with papaya salad and sticky rice or try a whole freshwater fish grilled right in front of you. Many desserts are available and for the more adventurous souls there is a big selection of fried insects and larvae. The market is always busy and it can prove a hard task to decide on what you’re going to eat, but the food is always fresh, delicious and cheap (starting at THB30 for many of the dishes).
Local Food
Located just off Mittraphap Road going south of the train station Banmai Chay Nam is a very popular restaurants among Thais searching for authentic taste in an extraordinary retro setting. The restaurant sit on the river bank and the inside dining room is marvellously decorated with old wooden furniture, tools, pictures and hundreds of gadgets that will keep you occupied for the time that you’ll probably have to wait before your table will be available (get one outside for a romantic dinner over the river). The menu consists of mainly (but not only) Isaan dishes and everything we had was delicious. Try the papaya salad with crispy pork for a great variation on this classic Isaan specialty and the freshwater snail in coconut milk for quite a unique taste. The restaurant is open every day from 10am to 10pm.
If you’re staying out of town in one of the guesthouses close to the park all of them have a restaurant serving Thai food (some of them will also have few western options) but if you have your own transportation don’t miss Krua Khao Yai (27 Moo. 7 Thanarat Rd, open daily 9am – 8pm) and his well-known smoked pork ribs. In their extensive menu they also have various Thai dishes and freshwater fish options.
Steakhouses
Pak Chong and the surrounding area is probably the best place in Thailand to have a great steak. In town you’ll find a lot of steakhouses serving tasty T-bone, sirloin and burgers and the quality of all of them is overall good. Everything is quite pricey by Thai standards but still reasonable for the size and the quality of the meat.
Among all of them our choice goes to Texan Saloon Steakhouse (157/3 Mittraphap Road, opposite to the police station – open every day from 11am to 10pm). The owner is an American guy with a clear passion for the cowboy world and the far west good old times. Everything in the restaurant reminds of that and your kids will love the decorations and old memorabilia hanging on the wall.
Note that though the region is famous for its wines – basically it is the main wine-producing region in Thailand – we had hard times trying to find local wine in restaurants. All the steakhouses keep a decent choice of Australian, European and even American bottles, but only a couple of choices of local produce – well, if any! For a local bottle expect to pay from THB750 upwards and to tell the truth, you are unlikely to be impressed.
