Since its opening, Terminal 21 Food Court called Pier 21 is regarded as the best food court in Bangkok. Not only the variety and quality stand this food court out, prices also. That’s why Pier 21 Food Court is the best cheap eats in Bangkok. With more than 30 restaurants offering a wide variety of Thai food dishes, it might be difficult to decide what to eat at Terminal 21 Food Court. Let us help you with that.
Terminal 21 Food Court Must Eat Dishes
Soups
Spicy and sour soup with shrimps, called Tom Yum Goong or Tom Yum Kung, is the most popular Thai soup and definitely a must eat Thai food dish on your trip to Thailand. Terminal 21 Food Court is a great place to eat Tom Yum Goong in Bangkok, as at Krua Thai Cuisine Restaurant (No. 10) they cook it perfectly. Considering the quality and taste, Tom Yum Goong here is really a bargain as this cooked to order Thai soup costs only 50 baht.
If you can’t eat spicy or can’t stand seafood, you better skip Tom Yum Goong and move to another wonderful Thai soup Krua Thai Cuisine Restaurant (No. 10) cook to order. Thai coconut milk soup with chicken, called Tom Kha Gai, is another perfect choice and must eat at Terminal 21 Food Court. Actually, Tom Kha Gai is our favorite Thai soup and Pier 21 Food Court is definitely the best place to eat it. The balance of flavors in Tom Kha Gai here is always close to perfection and it costs just 55 baht.
Soup portions at Krua Thai Cuisine are generous. Normally Thai soups are eaten with steamed rice and if you do so, you might be full enough and ready to move straight to the dessert. However, we hope that you will come to Terminal 21 Food Court with an empty stomach and will be ready to eat more of must eat Thai food dishes here.
Main Course
Most of Thai food dishes are either noodle dishes or dishes made of rice or served with rice. No surprise that our top choices to eat at Terminal 21 Food Court are two Thai noodle dishes and curry served with rice.
Even if Thai cuisine is known for its spiciness, actually none of these Thai food dishes are spicy unless you add some of dried grounded chili to them. Chili and other condiments at the food court are served in front of every stall and you can add them to your liking. As we can’t imagine Pad Thai and Rad Na without a tone of spiciness, we always add some chili to these dishes. However, if you can’t eat spicy food, you can enjoy these noodle dishes just like they are served.
Pad Thai or Thai stir-fried noodle is the most famous Thai food dish. Pad Thai is also listed as No. 1 in our TOP 10 Thai food dishes. No coincidence that Pad Thai is also one of the dishes you must eat at Terminal 21 Food Court. Pad Thai here is served by Pad Thai – Hoy Tod St. Louis Restaurant (No. 5) and comes in few variations for you to choose from. We would recommend eating Pad Thai with prawns (52 baht) or plain Pad Thai (30 baht), if seafood is not your thing. Just don’t forget to add peanuts, bean sprouts and chili to your liking.
Not as famous as Pad Thai but our favorite noodle dish at Terminal 21 Food Court is Rad Na - wide rice noodle with gravy. Even if there are many places serving noodle dishes at Pier 21, Rad Na is the specialty of Jae Auan Champ Rad Na Yaowarat Restaurant (No. 8). We would recommend eating Rad Na with seafood (30 baht) and ordering extra Khai Dao or fried egg on top of it for 7 baht.
Another dish we like to eat at Terminal 21 Food Court quite often is Yellow curry rice with Massaman curry. This dish is served by Long Lae Yellow Curry Rice Restaurant (No. 4) and the Yellow curry rice here comes with chicken Massaman curry (40 baht) or beef Massaman curry (45 baht). Choose the meat to your liking as in this case our opinions differ.
Dessert
Thai cuisine has plenty of desserts to offer as well. There are various Thai fruits grown in Thailand throughout the year and Thais are really not lacking imagination how to serve them creatively.
The most popular of all Thai desserts is Mango Sticky Rice or Ma-Muang Khao Niao and we would recommend eating it at Terminal 21 Food Court as the price of this wonderful dessert here is really affordable. Cheng Sim Ei Restaurant (No. 24) serves Mango Sticky Rice together with various other traditional Thai desserts. Small portion of Mango Sticky Rice here costs only 35 baht, large one – 70 baht.
Another dessert you must eat at Terminal 21 Food Court is Thai Crispy Pancake or Khanom Buang. Khanom Buang normally has 2 types of topping - salty and sweet. Khanom Buang Pannee Restaurant (No. 33) serves Thai crispy pancakes with both toppings - Egg yolk threads are sweet and Coconut with Thai herb is salty. If it’s your first meeting with Khanom Buang, order mix and it will cost you only 25 baht for 8 pieces. They are so seductive so don’t blame yourself if you’ll come back for more.
Drink
You will find various drinks being sold at Terminal 21 Food Court but if you’re ready to try something special, head to Ice Cream & Refreshment Restaurant (No. 29) and get yourself a glass of Sugar Palm juice. This fresh juice is not as sweet as it might sound and all the sweetness is definitely natural. For 15 baht you can get a small glass (16 oz) of sugar palm juice and for 20 baht – the big one (22 oz).
Tips
Before you go, read our recommended Top 10 Thai food dishes you must try while traveling in Thailand.
All the main information about Pier 21 Food Court at Terminal 21 can be found here: Pier 21 Food Court.
The map of Terminal 21 Food Court, full list of restaurants and their menus can be found here: Restaurants of Pier 21 Food Court.
If you need to exchange your currency, better get out from Terminal 21 and check for Best Currency Exchange Rates around Sukhumvit, Asok.
