Yaowarat is Bangkok’s version of Chinatown. Bustling with loads of street food, especially in the evenings, it is one large cauldron of Chinese culture mixed with a load of Thai enthusiasm sprinkled with a multitude of tourists from all over the world. Oh man, it is like walking into one large discotheque of organised mess. But what a beautiful mess. I love Yaowarat. So what if it is touristy? So what if there are places which charge me ‘farang’ prices? This place has a charm that can never be replaced. If you say that places like Huay Kwang are more authentic, then you do not really understand what makes a Chinatown.
All over the world, there are various Chinatowns. You end up in places like New York or London, you will also find a Chinatown. Chinatowns are made up of immigrant Chinese who set up their businesses in that congregated area of every cosmopolitan city. Yaowarat is no different. This is the place where the Chinese set up shop in Bangkok decades ago. You want to see a place that caters to the current Chinese from mainland China, then you visit Huay Kwang or the Rama 9 area. But if it is Chinatown that you are after, then there can only be one Yaowarat.
If there is a quintessential Chinatown food, it would be dim sum. So let me introduce you to the best place to get dim sum in Yaowarat.
Lao Teng…
Just to be clear, Lao Teng serves the usual Chinese fare. You want to have the typical stir fried Chinese dishes, mainly Cantonese style food, then they have a rather extensive menu for that. However, I was here with my family for dim sum.
Here is the dim sum menu. It is not as extensive as their full Chinese-fare Manu but their dim sum is really good.
For starters, sit on the top level. There is a hidden bar behind that book shelf. It was rather interesting to see people go in and out of the bar. I was there at about 6pm and there were at least 4 groups of people who entered the hidden bar.
My colleague Kevin did visit the hidden speakeasy bar and filmed the entrance two years ago.
The top level of the restaurant will lead you past this sign by the stairs.
Nice deco… 
Now what is this? Something pickled?
This is called Follow Your Passion… It is just a passion fruit smoothie…
The braised pork snow buns were just about passable (according to those who had them).
Egg tarts were decently crispy and flaky.
According to my wife, the Deep-fried turnip with minced shrimps were the best she ever had. I confirmed with her that she meant ever. Not just in Thailand. As a point to note, my wife’s standards are ridiculously high. So this passed a very high bar.
To me I liked the Porcupine taro buns. To be clear, no actual porcupines were harmed in the making of these buns.
awww so cute…
They are filled with taro and ginkgo nuts.
Unlike the Porcupine buns, these mushroom buns were filled with actual mushrooms. The buns were shaped like mushrooms to contain actual mushrooms. Do not be mind blown by the thought of it.
This legit looks like a mushroom.
The Xiao Long Bao was passable.
The Steamed salted egg yolk custard buns were very good.
The custard was still runny. This is how it is supposed to be. Yet many dim sum places mess this up. 
The Steam mixed combination wrapped with rice noodles was decent. Quite different to have everything in a huge pillow like shape rather than long strips.
Oh but to be this was my favourite. The Steamed sweet potatoes custard buns were excellent. They are not too sweet and extremely soft. Biting into them felt like I was biting into a pearl jelly.
Oh and apparently the Ah Mas here are rather cheeky… 
If you want to visit the hidden bar, here are its opening hours.
The place was filling up close to dinner time.
This is the narrow staircase up to the second level.
Lao Teng does not have a large shop front. Look out for this stall on the ground level. The entrance to Lao Teng is by the side.
This is how the shophouse looks like from the street.
There are signs leading up to Lao Teng. Alternatively, look for this cocktail bar.
Yes Yaowarat can be rather hectic and messy. However, you can always be zen… like me…
Dim Sum at Lao Teng is a definite must go if you are visiting Yaowarat, Bangkok.
Enjoy!
Yours sincerely,
Daryl
