Kayiwa · · 2 min read
There’s one street food stall I’ve filmed more than any other, and it isn’t close. Seven videos over a couple of years. One of them is an hour long. In another, I’ve more or less just got off a plane.
It’s a banana roti cart in Silom, on Sala Daeng Road, run by the woman most people online know as Puy Roti Lady. You’ll also see her called Puyi. Same cart, same roti.
What banana roti actually is
In Thai it’s roti gluay. A ball of dough stretched out thin and fried until it crisps, filled with sliced banana, or banana and egg, then folded, cut into squares and finished with a topping.
Condensed milk is the classic. Chocolate, strawberry and plain sugar are the other usual choices, depending on what she has that night. It’s a simple thing. The skill is in the stretching, and that’s the part of the video worth watching closely.
Why I keep going back
The honest answer is the chocolate one. After one trip away, it was the thing I kept thinking about, so when I flew back into Bangkok it was my first stop. The next New Year’s Day I went back again, just to start the year with one.
I’m clearly not the only one. The how-it’s-made video from this cart is one of the two most-watched on my channel, and one of the others only exists because a subscriber asked me to go back and film her again.
Every video I’ve made here
- How it’s made, the one above
- An hour at the cart, for anyone who finds this as calming to watch as I do
- Eggs and banana roti pandan, filmed ASMR style
- The subscriber request video
- I flew back for the chocolate roti
- New Year roti
- The compilation, if you just want all of it at once
The practical bit
- Where: Sala Daeng Road, Silom, Bang Rak, a short walk from Sala Daeng BTS
- Price: 25 to 40 baht, depending on filling and topping
- My order: egg and banana, with chocolate
- Expect: to wait a little, because she’s popular
While you’re on Sala Daeng Road, the deep-fried seafood stall nearby is worth a stop too. It’s in this street food walk, which features the same roti cart.