Kayiwa · · 2 min read
My most-watched video isn’t a temple, a mall or a festival. It’s a cook, a wok and a plate of eggs and noodles in Sai Mai, a part of north Bangkok most visitors never get anywhere near.
It’s past a hundred thousand views now, and I think I know why. There’s nothing to explain. You see the eggs hit the wok, the noodles go in after them, and you want a plate.
Where this is
The shop is Sahachai, at the Sai Mai intersection on Sukhaphiban 5 Road. The sign lists a lot more than what’s in the video: noodles, dumplings, crab, red pork, crispy pork. It’s a neighbourhood place. It feeds the people who live around it, not people who found it online.
That’s what I like about it. If you only ever eat in Sukhumvit and the old town, you’re eating in the parts of Bangkok that grew up around visitors. Sai Mai didn’t.
The pad thai, from the same wok
I’d filmed here once before the eggs and noodles video. That time it was pad thai, for about a dollar fifty a plate.
Rice noodles, shrimp and vegetables, tossed hard over a big flame with tamarind, fish sauce and a bit of chilli. The tamarind is the thing to taste for. Good pad thai should be sour-sweet, not just sweet, and a lot of tourist versions forget that.
When it arrives, use the condiments. Sugar, chilli flakes, fish sauce, vinegar with chilli, crushed peanuts and a wedge of lime are there for a reason. Squeeze the lime, add peanuts, taste, adjust. That’s how it’s meant to be eaten.
Is it worth the trip?
For one plate, maybe not. For an evening of eating in a part of the city that doesn’t see many tourists, yes. Sai Mai is up near Don Mueang airport, so if you’re flying out from there, it makes an easy last meal.
The practical bit
- Where: Sahachai, Sai Mai intersection, Sukhaphiban 5 Road, Ao Ngoen, Sai Mai, Bangkok 10220
- Order: the eggs and noodles, and the pad thai if there are two of you
- Price: the pad thai was about $1.50 a plate when I filmed in 2024
- Also on the board: dumplings, crab, red pork and crispy pork
- Getting there: it’s in the far north of the city, near Don Mueang, so take a Grab
More Bangkok eating is on the food page, and the Thailand guide covers the rest of the country.