As a street food lover, long term resident and even longer term visitor I have decided to compile the best south-east Asian street food countries.
I dare say this will be a contentious one, but hey color me opinionated! In the interests of compiling the. Best south-east Asian street food by country, we will be using ASEAN as our country basis. Therefore there will be no Papua New Guinea, nor Hong Kong on the list.
Best South-East Asian Street Food by country
11) Brunei
OK, so what do you really expect from a country where the Sultan has a golden craper? This is a rich place and a small one, so no one has really bothered when it comes to street food.
10) Timor-Leste
I feel a bit guilty here as I know the President, but again street find ha snot been much of a priority here. Some good beach BBQ, but the rest is basically just bad Indonesian food. You can check out my YPT tours here.
You can read about Oecusse here.
9) Indonesia
Why is Indonesia so low? Well because from West Timor to West Papua and Sumatra the food here is just bad, unless you can live on Nasi Goreng. Bright spots include Bali and A and W, but overall food is just inextricably awful.
8) Laos
OK, so it is not that Laos street food is bad, but rather that we have now hit the big guns. Street food Laos is obviously influenced by Vietnam, but unlike its neighbors lacks the variety.
7) Myanmar
Myanmar street food is perhaps the most varied on this list with string Thai and indeed Indian influences. Highlights in Yangon include China Town and raw shrimp at Thor. I also e enjoyed School Girl Bar although for other reasons.
6) Singapore
Singapore do good food and decent street food, but unlike in say Hong Kong it lacks the authentic feel. In essence Singapore is too rules and regulations orientated, which makes it feel sanitized.
5) Philippines
Some might find it strange that I rank the Philippines so high, but honestly Filipino food is seriously underrated. Highlights include BBQ and of course balut, as well as probably the best selection of fast food restaurants within the region.
4) Malaysia
Higher than Cambodia? Yes it its! Thankfully they have avoided having the bad food of Indonesia and again have a real mixed bag of treats. Its all about the food markets here which are epic.
3) Cambodia
Some people might find me crazy for saying this, but honestly Cambodian cuisine is underrated. Food here is a perfect mix of Vietnamese food, Thai food and a plethora of homemade dishes. You will not go hungry in Cambodia.
For more Cambodian lifestyle tips check out CambodiaLifestyle.com another of my publications.
2) Thailand
What is not to like about Thai street food? Thailand is a true powerhouse of south-east Asian street food with amazing curries available on the street, not to mention there BBQ. And ut doesn’t matter if you are on Khaosan road or out in the boonies you can always get great squid.
1) Vietnam
The grans pappy of street food, with everywhere from Phu Quoc to Hanoi and everything in between having great food. What makes the street food of Vietnam so special is how they have borrowed so much from others, such as the French and Chinese, but really made it their own. To me the easy champion for best street food in South-East Asia
And that is my two cents worth on the best South-East Asian street food, let me know if you think my selection is wring and indeed which area I should survey next…
