Eating out and finding restaurants in Nong Khai is not quite the same as the larger cities of Thailand or even the Island and beach areas. The set up is not primarily for foreigners, which is a good and bad thing, depending on how you look at it.
In these type of towns i would seek out good Thai and Isan food rather than western. Western food is not always that great, but alright if you need to eat western food. I understand some westerners don’t eat much Thai food, so there are options in Nong Khai.
Breakfasts of the western type here that I tried was just the same old eggs, not very good bacon and dodgy sausages. Cheap and cheerful as is with many breakfasts all over Thailand and best just to order eggs on toast (+ coffee), then grab a great Thai lunch later.
Nong Khai Restaurants
These are some Nong Khai restaurants and suggestions of places to eat that you might want to consider while passing through the serene Isan town.
Dee Dee Pochana
Dee Dee is central to Nong Khai city on the Prajak Road and not too far from the main tourist area.
Dee Dee (meaning good good) is the best restaurant I have ever visited in Nong Khai.
It serves typical Thai/Chinese dishes and a large variety to suit all tastes. These places are always great for fish dishes, or duck, and if you fancy frog skin then that’s on the menu.
Macky’s Riverside Kitchen
I first visited here a few years ago when it had different owners. It’s right on the riverside and great in the evening.
The staff here and the owner are really nice and friendly. We had a chat with the owner and I mentioned the Thai red curry was a bit thick and creamy (should be like soup and spicy)…..which she replied that it’s made more for the Western taste buds.
The food is alright, the staff are lovely and the location is perfect. I want to go back again to try other dishes.
Ca Phe Viet
Along the riverfront Ca Phe Viet a Vietnamese restaurant is a fairly cheap eat and popular place. I tried a couple of dishes here including the Mekong fish. If you like spicy salads, Vietnamese coffee or noodles it’s worth checking out.
Fairly priced, nice location, good decor, staff are a bit dizzy, and the food is pretty good. That sums it up for me!
Pantawee Hotel & Restaurant
I tried the restaurant out at Pantawee which is an old-style popular budget hotel. There is a nice area for sitting outside and they have free newspapers to read.
I visited twice and on the first occasion, I loved the Thai food served and on the second time the service was not quite up to scratch. I would visit again which is why I would give it a mention, and I wouldn’t mind having breakfast (eggs and toast) there with a free newspaper.
Other Restaurants in Nong Khai
I tried a few other restaurants on this trip and further trips I have taken since, but nothing worth mentioning here, as yet.
I have also tried out one of the boat restaurants at the riverside that look attractive but I was dubious about eating there as I hadn’t seen many customers eating. The portions were huge and the somtam (papaya salad) was great and fairly cheap. The boat restaurants are always good to take your Thai wife, girlfriend or the Thai family…..you will get in their good books for sure.
Nong Khai like many other places in Thailand and especially tourist destinations have restaurants popping up and closing quicker than a blink of an eye……so it’s not worth mentioning some places here. It can pay off to just walk around the popular areas until somewhere looks inviting and give it a try (as the Thais keep telling me – never try, you’ll never know).
There are enough restaurant choices on the Mekong riverfront to please most people staying in Nong Khai for a couple of nights.
Prajak Road Street Food
Worth a quick mention is the street stalls that come alive at night on the Prajak Rd (Soi Prajak Sillapakhom). Great for noodles and cheap fried rice dishes or papaya salad (and other dishes). The Prachak road is central to the tourist area and easy to find.
I’m Jonesy. The one responsible for whole lot of things including having this Thailand site up and running. I first arrived in Thailand in 2008 and being a web developer it made sense to create a website and write some stuff about my second home. Enjoy your travels!
