A Brief Guide to Bangkok’s Arab Quarter

A Brief Guide to Bangkok’s Arab Quarter

Bangkok’s roots and diversity are not always that obvious to new arrivals in the city. The Thai culture itself is complex in many ways and presents something of a conundrum to those from the outside trying to pry a bit deeper into its roots and various nuances.

Chinatown offers a good few clues and pointers to some of the underlying influences in Thai society, as does the slightly lesser-known Little India, which have both long been established migrant areas of Bangkok, and both also have deep veins embedded into the heart of Thailand’s culture.

In modern-day Bangkok there are also nods towards some of the visitors, migrant workers, and expats who have been coming to the Thai capital in larger numbers in more recent decades by way of ‘Little Tokyo’ and Korean Town.

Even less obvious to many Bangkok visitors though, depending to some extent on where they are from and which area they are staying in, is ‘Little Arabia’, which is also known as the Arab Quarter, and locally more so as ‘Soi Arab’, although it is actually more than just one ‘soi’ (the Thai word for street) and there are plenty of Thais who are actually oblivious to the existence of any such place.

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The area is basically Bangkok’s main stronghold of Middle-Eastern expatriates and tourists, and is in an almost concealed, backstreet stretch of the city off the main Sukhumvit Road between Soi 3 and Soi 5 in the Nana district, not too far from the Bumrungrad International Hospital, which also plays host to a large proportion of visitors from African and Middle-Eastern countries in search of decent medical treatment in regions not too far flung from their own point of origin.

And with a strong contingent of tourists from Middle Eastern regions – including medical tourists — numbering somewhere in the region of an estimated 600,000 per year, the established identities and cultures in Bangkok are maintained and even strengthened by those heading for this concentrated little area. 

But it’s not only visitors from Arab countries that rein in on this area’s specific style of cuisine, with its informal and almost communal dining culture.

Middle Eastern restaurants have increasingly become more prominent on the local Bangkok food scene, which is always ready to stretch its boundaries of diversity ever wider, with variations of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean eateries having started to pop up in some of the city’s trendier areas of recent years.

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Bangkok is in fact home to a reasonably large and varied Middle Eastern community which includes, to varying degrees, migrants from the Lebanon, Turkey, the Yemen, Iraq, Iran, and Egypt, to name but a few. Anyone inadvertently strolling down the seemingly chaotic run of alleyways known locally as Soi Arab might instantly get the feeling of being slightly out-of-sorts or off track.

This is largely due to the alluring yet distinctly un-Thai scents of freshly baked naan and pitta breads, and the kebab-infused aromas of spice-seasoned grilled meat, along with various other exotic sights, sound and smells that don’t necessarily tie-in with many of the usual offerings of Bangkok. 

Locals and expats from various regions across the globe with a discerning taste for experimenting with different cuisines know Little Arabia, or Soi Arab, as the hub of African and Islamic food along with the visitors from any Middle Eastern of African regions who are clued-up before travelling to Thailand.

The area caters for Mid-Eastern people and tourists in every way aside from just restaurants, through travel services and tours, air-tickets, translation services, and clothes and shoe shops. 

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Stepping into or enjoying the sights and sounds from one of the restaurants really is like being in a different country altogether in many ways, as it abounds with people resplendent in African and Middle-Eastern clothing, eating in places that cater only to Middle Eastern cuisine in varying proportions with regional variations such as Lebanese, Irananian, Iraqui, Turkish, Indian and Egyptian being evident.

Soi Arab is definitely the place to go if you have any affinity with Middle-Eastern cuisine of any description, and although you will find odd restaurants with food like this dotted around some other areas of the city in the central, touristy regions, here is undoubtedly the best stop-off in Bangkok, with a vast array of choice and plenty of authentic background sights and sounds to boot.

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So what you will find in this area of Bangkok are a few bustling, winding backstreets with great food and plenty of choice, but don’t come down here looking for a late-night beer as they do not serve alcohol in any of the restaurants.

So let’s take a closer look at some of the potential delights by way of the cuisine that you are likely to find in Bangkok’s Arab Quarter.

Kebabs/Shawarma Stalls

You won’t be short on options as far as kebabs go around these Bangkok backstreets. There are plenty of authentic types of kebab both in the restaurants and at various kiosks and at least 3 stalls selling the familiar Donner-style Kebab and Shawarma in pita bread varieties of Middle-Eastern sandwich variations. 

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Usually the shawarma-type stands have both beef and chicken freshly sliced from the rotisserie, although you might find lamb is available in some of them, and lamb is definitely a main feature in the restaurant varieties of kebabs on offer. They are reasonably-priced and not something you are likely to find on your average Thai high street.

So a choice of grilled beef or chicken and possibly lamb, in a pit-type flatbread with salad and a choice of sauce like garlic, yogurt or chili.

There are sometimes newer or different stands popping up from time to time around Soi Arab, but the busiest and apparently the best is the first one on the Soi 3 and a Soi 3/1 corner, right next to the Grace Hotel.  This means you might have to wait in line for your order but it should turn out to be worthwhile.

If you want your shawarma sandwich for lunch, you might have to go a bit deeper into the soi to the shop next to the Nefertiti restaurant, which usually starts serving from around 11am onwards.

Regional Food Variations

There is actually quite a wide variety of Arabic foods available in Bangkok’s Arab Quarter, and you’ll find various takes on seafood, meats, kebabs, breads and quite a few other delights.

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The restaurants have extensive menus and the prices of food in this area, at least compared to what could be called ‘standard’ Thai cuisine, might seem a little inflated. There are a couple of reasons for this – namely, many of the ingredients used in the dishes will tend to be imported, and it’s worth considering that lamb is never featured on any Thai menus, and beef rarely.

The food is authentic though, but you can expect to pay upwards of 200 baht per dish in most of these restaurants.

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The Shisha Pipe 

Another one of the main attractions in this area aside from the food, which used to be a feature at many of the restaurants in this district, is the good old Shisha Pipe. For the uninitiated, this is basically a kind of pipe used to smoke different flavours of tobacco through, cooled by first passing through water to avoid the usual harshness.

The shisha pipe is a common feature in most Middle Eastern communities around the world, and was a common feature on many of the streets of this and surrounding areas. It actually became kind of trendy in Bangkok for a while around 5 or 6 years ago, with shisha bars popping up in other trendy regions like Thong Lor.

However, the good old Thai government caught wind of this craze and, true to form, decided to go and drop a ban on it. Unfortunately this ban is still in effect, which means that any kind of shisha pipe smoking is now actually illegal.

The reason for the ban was apparently the health risks involved in smoking from the Shisha, which is also known as the Hooka Pipe (!), although it has often been debated as being less harmful than regular tobacco.

Needless to say, cigarettes are still legal and widely available in Thailand, so figure that one if you can! (As a point of note, e-cigarettes are also outlawed in Thailand although many people are unaware of the fact and risk a fine, especially around the touristy areas such as this stretch of the Sukhumvit Road where devices a and liquids for smoking are still being sold.)

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The Restaurants

Here is a short selection of some of the food variations of some of the restaurants that you may expect to find in the Arab Quarter of Bangkok, and although there are a few more, this selection is well-established.

Nefertiti

As the name kind of suggests here we have a Middle Eastern restaurant that serves Egyptian cuisine along with Lebanese and other varieties of food from the region. The dishes here are reportedly excellent, authentic, and reasonably-priced which, as is the case with the other established restaurants in this quarter, keeps the punters coming back time and again when in the area.

Location: 4/8 Soi 3/1 Sukhumvit Road, Nana, Bangkok

Tel: (+66) 02-655-3043, 02-255-7107

Hours: This restaurant has been known in the past to be open 24 hrs.

Akbar

In restaurants such as Akbar’s you can find Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani dishes, along with a few Arabic ones and vegetarian options. This is an established eatery of 25 years or more that usually has many returning customers.

Location: 1/4 Soi 3 Sukhumvit Road, Nana, Bangkok

Tel: (+66) 2-650-3347, 02-255-6935

Hours: Open daily 10:30am-1:30am

MehMaan

Next to Akbar and serving similar Indian, Pakistani and Arabic food in the form of an assortment of kebabs along with other staples such as lamb vindaloo and chicken tikka masala along with the obligatory garlic naan breads.

Location: 69 Soi 3 Sukhumvit Road, Nana, Bangkok

Tel: (+66) 2-253-4689

Hours: Open daily 10:30am-3am; 5:30pm-12:30am.

Petra

Here is a Lebanese establishment with the cooking area at the front, so on entry diners walk past a clay oven giving off those freshly-baking naan bread aromas.

Petra’s menu is quite diverse and also features various other Arab and Yemen specialties on the menu. Plenty of chicken curry-type dishes along with a variety of lamb dishes, including of course kebabs and ribs.

Location: 75/4 Soi 3/1 Sukhumvit Road, Nana, Bangkok

Tel: (+66) 2-655-5230, 02-254-9226/-7

Hours: Open daily 8am-3am.

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Al-Iraqi

Here you can find a rather interesting mix of both Iranian and Iraqi food on one menu of an establishment that is both a restaurant and hotel all in one.

What that means in short then is good old kebabs and various other barbecued meats and seafood by way of fish, and prawns, lamb, lamb ribs, and chicken, along with other subtly spiced and flavoured dishes including rice and various breads.

Location: 8/17-18 Soi 3/1 Sukhumvit Road, Nana, Bangkok

Tel: 9+66) 2-655-5357, 02-251-8810

Hours: Open daily 9am-3:30am.

Shahrazad

This Bangkok Middle Eastern restaurant reportedly offers some of the best food in the area, and also features waitresses sporting matching green hijabs.

Expect another extensive menu including standard appetizers and side-dishes like hummus and baba ganoush, a variety of salads, and piping hot, freshly-made naan bread. Plenty of lamb on offer here if that’s your thing, including legs, chops, and pretty much anything else that comes from a lamb – which even stretches to heart, head or testicles for the less squeamish.

Location: 6/8 Soi 3/1 Sukhumvit Road

Tel: (+66) 2-254-7392/3, 02-251-3666

Hours: open daily 10am-3am.

Thai Restaurants and Seafood

If for any particular reason you found yourself in this area and still fancied something along the lines of Thai food, then obviously you will be able to find something. There is actually a reasonably cheap and cheerful restaurant at the opening to the soi which attracts many passing visitors who don’t actually bother venturing that much deeper into the area.

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Some of the Arab restaurants also offer some Thai dishes, and there is another seafood/Thai food restaurant a bit further down the street which apparently uses halal meats, and if you’re not sure which one this is it can be found next to the Petra restaurant.