One of the main benefits of living in Thailand is that you can get pretty awesome food for almost nothing. These places are also not terribly difficult to find. This is also true in a vast majority of the rest of south-east Asia with the only exception being Singapore, which is a pretty expensive place to be all around. Today I am going to focus on roti, which is really common all over the place in this part of the world.
This simple dish is a thinly spread pancake style batter that takes almost no time at all to cook and is spread over a giant hot plate using a bunch of butter to keep it from sticking. I didn't think to take pictures of the lady while she was making it so you will just have to use your imagination.
I decided to get the one called "roti geng" which is just the basic roti with a side of chicken curry that you pour on top of it. I suppose a prerequisite is you need to enjoy curry to enjoy this one but it isn't spicy (by my standards) and is just the right amount of food for someone that doesn't need a really heavy breakfast.
If you are the type of person that needs something sweet for breakfast this is also an option. Normally these sorts of places only serve a few varieties of roti and you can't just order whatever. If you encounter a place that has 40 types of rotis on the menu, you are likely in a tourist area and are going to pay 2-3 times what it is worth. This particular establishment had 8 items on the menu that existed only on the wall.
the first two are "roti geng," which is what i had, one with egg, one without
3rd is "roti ma-da-ba" is a different kind of curry that can be a bit spicy
4th is "roti sai kai" which is simply roti with egg mixed in
5th is "roti thammada" which simply means plain roti
6th is "roti gluye hom" which is a roti with sliced banana cooked inside
7th is "roti luk ket" - roti with raisin
8th is "roti kai dow" - roti with fried egg - which i find weird and a little bit gross
So, what is the point of all this? If you find yourself in Thailand and want to try something new this is the perfect place to have a go because even if you don't like what you ordered, you can order another one and not really have to worry about it because each of the dishes cost between 50 cents to just over a dollar.
These sorts of establishments are all over the place in Thailand, to the point where many of the shops don't even put much effort into making their presence known. Many shops don't even have a sign.
The shops generally aren't much to look at as they are normally just a garage of sorts with a bunch of cheap plastic chairs in them. If you see a little pushcart out front with a large flat cooking surface, there is a fantastic chance they are selling roti. Generally they are only open from really early in the morning until 1 or 2pm.
Since it is only gonna cost you a dollar, this is a great thing to try in south east Asia because even if you are wrong and don't like it, it didn't cost you much for the experience.
