Thai Festival Tokyo 2006

Yoyogi Park May 13^th – 14^th 2006

Well the rain certainly didn’t keep the crowds away from this year’s Thai Festival.

We finally got motivated to leave the house today at around 11am.  By the time we arrived at Yoyogi-koen it was pretty wet and dismal, however the festival was in full swing and the crowds were eating drinking and having a wonderful time.As I wrote earlier, this festival is one of my favourite yearly foodie events.  I love my Thai food and this is a great way to eat some tried and true favourites from various restaurants around Tokyo.  There must have been nearly 40 restaurants represented there today and they all had something I had a hankering for! 

I should of course mention that the festival also showcases arts, crafts, Thai products and services etc.

So, what did I shove in my face today… fish cakes, satays, duck soup, fried dumpling, tapioca, singha beer, po pia thot, crispy chicken, garlic fried prawns, chicken with holy basil, mangosteen… well, to be honest… yes.  I went with a friend and between us we ate far too much.  We didn’t always pick well, as some stalls/restaurants are naturally better then others, and we didn’t always finish each dish, but we did sample a lot of Thai food.  Anyway, here is a list of some of the restaurants we tried and enjoyed: Pho Thai (always a fav), Chao-Thai, Baan Rim Pa, Thai Country (the only Thai I’ve had in Shinjuku) and Krung Siam (though I am sure there were many more that we excellent… these are just the one’s I can remember).  I can only strongly vouch for Pho Thai as an actual restaurant, as I have eaten in its actual restaurant often and always enjoyed my meals there (the quality one expects from a food stall and a restaurant differ considerably after all).

At the festival you can also stock up on Thai cooking goods (coconut milk, fresh herbs, Thai soy sauce) and imported tropical fruits.  We got a box of mangosteen and I doubt it’s going to last long!  I’m posting this on the Saturday, so for those of you who read this in time and still want to go, you have tomorrow to make your way there and enjoy all that the Tokyo Thai Festival has to offer!