JaeDa Seafood is one of those local Bangkok seafood restaurants that feels like a real find.
It’s been a while since my Bangkok trip, and I’m finally getting around to posting about it.
It’s only been a month or two, but my memory is already getting a little fuzzy.
Still, I clearly remember stumbling across this seriously local seafood place
and having such a satisfying meal there.
The restaurant is called JaeDa Seafood,
and I’m guessing the owner’s name is Jae Da.At least that’s what it seemed like.
Location-wise, it’s roughly across the river from ICONSIAM,
and it’s also not far from Bangkok Chinatown,
so we stopped by for a meal before heading to Chinatown.
This is what the exterior looks like,
and every single customer was local.
A lot of them looked like regulars who knew the owner well.
The restaurant takes up two storefront units,
so it felt like a mid-sized Bangkok seafood restaurant.
Once we walked in, I could tell it was an older place,
but it looked modern enough that I wondered if it had been recently remodeled.
The interior wasn’t fancy, but it was clean and practical.
Even the table numbers were posted on the wall in a kind of unexpectedly hip way.
We were at table 6.
Since it’s a seafood restaurant, there were even some preserved fish on display
hanging around the space.
Time to check out the menu at Bangkok JaeDa Seafood.
There were a lot of different dishes to choose from.
Crab, scallops, shrimp, squid, fish, vegetable dishes—
basically page after page of food that looked good,
so I remember spending a while deciding what to order.
They took our order by writing it down by hand on a little slip.
I’m so used to kiosks everywhere in Korea these days
that seeing someone write everything out manually felt weirdly charming and cute.
We started with Singha over ice.
This was probably the crab meat fried rice.
I think it was number 19 on the menu,
and if I remember right, there were three size options.
Instead of the crab being evenly mixed into the fried rice,
it came in big chunks on top like a topping,
which was the one slightly disappointing part.
But when you drizzle on the spicy, tangy, slightly funky sauce they serve with it,
it gets really good.
Honestly, Southeast Asian-style fried rice is almost always delicious.
I love that fluffy, dry, perfectly separated texture.
Next was the dish I insisted on because I was craving squid:
number 45, crispy garlic squid.
It looked good at first glance,
and it tasted exactly as good as it looked—thick pieces of squid with a clean, crisp coating.
And since it’s crispy garlic,
it’s basically one of those safe seafood orders that can’t really go wrong.
After that, we ordered one of the recommended dishes:
number 2, butter garlic grilled scallops.
You can order them in sets of six.
They were loaded with garlic—honestly as generous as what you’d get in Korea.
The shells weren’t too hot, so I just picked them up with my hands and ate them.
The scallops were nice and moist, which I liked.
Of course, I had to get one full-table shot in the middle of the meal.
And then came the last dish.
It was some kind of shrimp curry, but I couldn’t quite tell from the menu
and I think it might have been number 41.
It tasted like pu pad pong curry, except with shrimp instead of crab,
and we ate it with curry fried rice.
At that point, everything was on the table. Food is so affordable in Southeast Asia
that I always end up ordering a huge spread like this.
Compared with other pu pad pong curry places,
this one wasn’t quite as good,
maybe because the creamy richness felt a little heavy.
It was the kind of dish that got a bit tiring after a few bites.
I wouldn’t say every dish here was absolutely incredible,
but it was fun because this place really gives you that true local,
lived-in neighborhood feel.
The older woman in the green pants with the unforgettable presence
was the owner of JaeDa Seafood.
Her signature look seemed to be blonde, tightly curled hair.
Even the bill was delightfully old-school and analog.
For all of this, the total came out to a little over 40,000 won, which felt like a steal.
In Korea, a meal like this would’ve easily cost well over 100,000 won.
If you like seeking out local favorites instead of just hitting trendy hotspots when you travel,
and you enjoy calm, neighborhood-style restaurants,
this Bangkok seafood restaurant is definitely worth a visit.
JaeDa Seafood