Krung Thai: Marikina's Hidden Gem

Hiya, guys!

Last Friday was a random no-classes day for me and BF so headed down to Marikina's town center (bayan) to rediscover the city's best-kept secret -- Krung Thai.

photo credit here

BF has already taken me in this place, but we never got the chance to try out their food until now. And they look promising based on the reviews on this restaurant.

For the uninitiated, Krung Thai has been in its present location at the Marikina Public Market for years now. It is established by a Thai local who moved to the Philippines several years ago.

It really is Marikina's best-kept secret because it's situated in the city's public market. Here in the Philippines, you'll rarely find restaurants like this in public markets. Another restaurant, Johnny's Fried Chicken, is also located in this market beside Krung Thai.

photo taken with Samsung Galaxy Note in night mode

another angle, albeit blurred..

 We arrived there late in the afternoon, so it was getting dark at that time. Because of that, the interior of the restaurant was a little dim, save for the colorful lanterns that light up the restaurant.

me and my makeup-free face...

BF tinkering on his phone while waiting for our order

But the place where we are seated was bright enough for us to appreciate the entire restaurant and the view outside it, which was a mini-monument of a shoe with a digital clock installed in it.

the front cover of the menu

Find out what we ordered after the jump.


Since we are both in a medyo-galante-pero-nagtitipid mode (extravagant-yet-penny-pinching mode), we ordered only two items -- the Tom Ka Chicken Soup and the Bagoong Fried Rice with Adobo and Mango Salad.

The mango salad came in first. It was sour because of the mangoes, and it was also sweet and spicy because of the dressing. The spice, however, was mild enough for those like me who are not so much a fan of spicy food.

the photo never did justice at how awesome this dish is!

But what surprised us was the Bagoong Rice. We ordered the one that is good for two persons, but its size was totally surprising. It really was meant for sharing. Surely we finised this entire bowl but this may overwhelm those who cannot take this much food on their plate.

In terms of taste, it was delicious. The adobo was just like how our family does it, and the bagoong in the rice was just right to complement the adobo and egg. But if you're worried about all that salt, there's the cucumber slices to tone things down -- or the mango salad.

The Tom Ka chicken soup was also surprisingly huge. Two small bowls of this soup was enough to fill us, and there's still much more left. We then decided to have it packed for takeout.

Taste wise, it was superb. The soup was exploding with flavors -- lemon grass, kaffir lime, ginger, a little chili peppers. BF could not get over those flavors even after we left the restaurant. (yay!)

By the way, BF was a little disappointed when there were only small pieces of chicken in the soup -- they are actually bigger chunks of chicken breast meat but in fewer amounts. He might have been expecting the soup to be like tinolang manok (the Philippines' version of chicken soup), thus the disappointment. I explained to him that it really was meant to be like that, referring to the same soup that I had in a different Thai restaurant.

Overall, it was a great experience at a quaint Thai restaurant in Marikina. I'm gonna look forward for more meals with Krung Thai, and more unique flavors to bathe my taste buds on! *wink wink!*


Krung Thai is located at the Marikina Public Market, M/ Cruz cor. W.C. Paz St., Sta. Elena, Marikina City, beside Johnny's Fried Chicken. It is open from 9am-9pm, seven days a week. Don't forget to like their Facebook page!