Fikeaw Yaowarat is one of the most talked-about seafood spots in Bangkok Chinatown, Thailand.
Just one week after wrapping up my trip to Tokyo, Japan,
I was off again— this time to Bangkok, Thailand.Yep, I really went right back on another trip ^^;
And once again, instead of posting in order,
I’m jumping straight to the food first.
When we stopped over in Bangkok on our honeymoon,
we never made it to Chinatown,
so this time, with a little more room in the schedule, we finally went.
The thing is, our Lunar New Year holiday overlapped
with the Chinese New Year period, so it was absolutely packed with Chinese travelers,,
Honestly, there were Chinese tourists everywhere in Bangkok,
but Chinatown was on another level—
it was so crowded it was hard to even walk ^_
Still, we tracked down this famous seafood spot,
waited in line, and had such a satisfying meal.
The place is calledFikeaw Yaowarat,
and since I wasn’t sure how people actually pronounced it, I looked it up.
I saw people saying it like “Fikeaw” or “Faikiao,”
something along those lines..
For the location,, I attached the Google Map.
As we followed the map and walked down the street,
we spotted these huge, meaty lobsters out front, so I looked up—
and yep, this was exactly the place we were looking for_
We couldn’t eat right away because there was a waiting line,
and I did hesitate for a second about whether to stand in it,
but we had come all the way to Chinatown for this meal,
so we decided to wait and study the menu while we were in line~
The line actually moved faster than I expected,
so we didn’t wait that long before getting seated.
They have this street-side kitchen setup,
and every now and then there’s a burst of flame that grabs everyone’s attention.
Since it’s in the middle of the market, there isn’t really a proper sign out front,
so just look farther inside for the name written like this
and you’ll know you’re in the right place.
The crowd was incredibly international. I thought there’d be a lot of Koreans too, but surprisingly I didn’t see a single one that night.
You can get a sense of the atmosphere from the video,
but really, it was chaotic, hot, and kind of wild—in the most fun way.
While waiting, I gave the menua very thorough read.
They have lobster, oysters, shrimp, crab, squid, and all kinds of seafood,
but also pork, chicken, vegetables, and more,
so there were honestly a ton of options and it took us a while to choose.
Once you get to the very front of the waiting line,
they take your order before they even seat you.
One of the staff members was scribbling everything down on paper
and sending in orders nonstop,
and I was genuinely amazed she could keep track of who ordered what,,
We picked a lobster along with several other seafood dishes,
and for the lobster, you can actually see it and choose it yourself.
It was about 63,000 KRW per kilogram, roughly $45,
and each size had its own price tag,
so you can check the price and size before choosing, and then right beside you
they split it in half on the spot..!
Since we were planning to order a few different dishes,
we went with a medium-sized one.
I was worried they might make us share one of those big communal tables,
but luckily a perfect little table for two opened up, so we sat there.
It was so hot that we started with Chang beer right away~
We asked for ice too, and they gave us a huge bucketful.
Our table was behind the kitchen,
so we could watch all the cooking happening right behind us,
and the chef in the red shirt was seriously impressive…
His hands never hesitated for even a second,
and he kept turning out dish after dish
in perfect order like a total master of his craft,,
plus he didn’t forget the showmanship—there were little fire shows in between.
Since most of the dishes had to be grilled or cooked to order,
it did take a little time, but while we waited,
we went over to check whether our lobster was cooking nicely.
The one in the back was ours hehe
We ordered the garlic butter version.
And finally, our Bangkok lobster arrived at the table..!
Every table had this kind of feast in front of them,
so it made total sense that the waiting line never stopped.
The garlic sauce was piled on generously too… absolutely drool-worthy..
It came fully prepped and easy to eat,
so all we had to do was pull the meat out with a fork.
The lobster meat was unbelievably plump and juicy, honestly amazing,,
I’m not even someone who loves lobster that much,
but here? It’s absolutely something you should try at least once!
Next up was grilled scallop with cheese ><
You can order the scallops individually,
so we just got one each.
Whenever I travel in Southeast Asia, morning glory—stir-fried water spinach—basically feels like kimchi to me, you know?
I end up ordering it with almost every meal.
The blanket of melted cheese was so thick
you could barely see the scallop underneath, but the meat was nice and plump too.
This one was delicious as well, hehe.
Morning glory tastes a little different at every restaurant,
so comparing versions from place to place is part of the fun..
We also ordered shrimp fried rice..
Maybe Bangkok doesn’t believe in tiny cocktail shrimp~
because even the shrimp in the fried rice were this big and juicy.
The fried rice itself was lightly seasoned,
which made it perfect to eat alongside the richer seafood dishes.
Our last dish was grilled giant river prawn!
It was the fried garlic chili river prawn,
and it was crispy, nutty, and so flavorful.
Definitely one of my top recommendations.
The prawn was great, of course, but those crispy bits of garlic
were insanely fragrant and delicious_
I picked out the chilies and kept scooping up the garlic with my spoon.
We also wanted to order fresh oysters,
but they were sold out, so we couldn’t,,
which was such a shame because I bet the oysters would’ve been great too.
Looking around at the other tables,
most people seemed to order a pretty reasonable amount, but ours alone
looked like a full-on feast for four people^^;
We actually had to clear plates in the middle because there was no room left on the table..
Prices were affordable enough that you could order freely without stressing too much.
When you ask for the check after the meal, a staff member who seems to handle billing only
comes over and calculates everything quickly with a pencil,
but my husband paid, so I honestly don’t know the exact total.
I do remember they accepted cash and Thai QR (GLN),
but it didn’t seem like they took credit cards.
By the time we stepped back out onto the street after eating, it was pretty late,
and even though this photo shows the crowd after it had thinned out a bit,
when we first arrived in Chinatown,
there were so many people you could barely see the ground;
Bangkok Chinatown is so hectic
that we didn’t really get to explore much else,
and basically came just for the food,,
but if you’re planning a Bangkok trip, I still think it’s worth visiting at least once—you’ll get all the people-watching you could ever want.