“Whatever you do in Bangkok, you HAVE to visit Som Tam!!”, my dear bronzed friend declared to me.

So when our van from the airport drove past Som Tam on the way to the hotel, I exclaimed excitedly to Madam Mummy, “REMEMBER where that shop is!”…

Turns out, the Restaurant was only 1 road away from Novotel, where we were staying for the next few nights… “Hurrah!”

Som Tam literally translates to “papaya salad“.. which is one of the key things to eat when one is in Thailand =)

Wiki says, “Som tam or Som tum (Thai: ส้มตำ, IPA: [sôm ɗam]) also known as Tam bak hoong (Isan: ตำบักหุ่ง, IPA: ɗam bak huŋ) is a spicy salad made from shredded unripened papaya.”

As could be seen by the many people gathering outside waiting to get in, and the generous load of newspaper article’s stuck to the main door, this was the right place to be!

The really nice wood panneling …

The place wasn’t very big, however, many people were able to be squeezed in their premises

They also sold deep fried pork crackling…!!

My giant coconut (which was pretty expensive.. got charged 55 baht for it… when I can find it outside for only 20 baht)

Pork Crackling served with fresh green chillis

Lemongrass Pork

Fresh Crab Som Tam… Som Tam Bla Rah

Note: The dishes above are definitely not for the faint hearted as they were really spicy!!! Except for the lemongrass pork… Overall food was excellent.. and extremely clean… we came back here 2 days in a row =)

Overall Food Rating: 9/10
Restaurant ambiance: 9/10
Value for money: 7.5/10

Address:
Som Tam
SOI 5
Siam Square

How to get there: You can take one of their Skytrains (BTS) and get off Siam Square station (Same stop as for Siam Paragon Mall)