A TALE OF THREE CITIES
“It’s good … but it’s not the best,” is Diamond Thongsaem’s verdict on the pad Thai we have just sampled. When you’re in Thailand, this is the dish with which to start your food quest. I have enlisted Diamond, a Streetwise Guru tour guide from the Anantara Riverside hotel (see Where to Stay, page 109), to help me find the finest in Bangkok. If you listen to Google, the best in the city can be eaten at Thip Samai on Maha Chai Road. But online acclaim comes at a price, and the lines often stretch around the block.
“No need to queue! Few tourists bother to look just a few doors down,” says Diamond, ushering me towards Leung Pha, where they have been coal-firing pans of pad Thai since long before Thip Samai hit Tripadvisor. The noodles are delicious indeed, the lines are short, and
