The food at Nong Rim Klong is Bangkok’s best seafood deal. The food is fresh and you get crab meat and shrimps with a quality you rarely get on the streets. Their crab omelet is twice the size at half the price of the more famous Jay Fai.

The Chef at Nong Rim Klong in action

I have been on a seafood run lately, and a street food joint that really deserves you attention is Nong Rim Klong in Ekkamai Soi 21 Alley. You wont get a better price quality ratio deal in all of Bangkok. The portions are really big, so you should never count more than one dish per person. Their crab omelet is good for at least two.

Tom Yam Kung or Spicy Seafood Soup at Nong Rim Klong

Nong Rim Klong is well known among locals and Bangkok’s seafood lovers.

Their Tom Yam Kung/Goong comes with plenty of fresh prawns with the right texture – 10 in my bowl. It is named as Spicy Seafood Soup on the menu, but just order Tom yam Kung and you get it with shrimps at 200 bath. But hey, it is big.

This is the “old way” of doing the Tom Yam Kung/Goong. It is more of a soup with roots in eastern or north/east Thailand and not Central Thailand that is the one most westerns are familiar with.They don’t use the red paste and they don’t use condensed milk to make it fattier. Here, the soup is lighter and tart and comes with a fresh and refreshing limy and lemon grass flavor. A fabulous combination with their stir-fried crab with Thai chilies – see below. If you only have tried the standard Central Thailand way of doing Tom Yam Kung, you should really try this. You will be very positively surprised.

Crab omelet at Nong Rim Klong

The crab omelet (Kai Jeaw Pu/Poo) at 440 bath is packed with white crab meat. It is soft and juicy on the inside. It is slightly softer on the outside than for example the crab omelet at Jay Fai (Michelin Star restaurant). It is a very good crab omelet, even if Jay Fai still rules here. But at Nong Rim Klong you get an omelet twice the size at half the price.

Stir-fried crab with Thai chilies at Nong Rim Klong

The stir fried crab with Thai (bird eye) chilies at 440 bath is made in a typical Thai way. They like it stir fried a little longer than Europeans prefer, but it is a good dish. It must be at least the flesh of four big crabs in that dish. The taste is good, and it goes well with the green bird eye chilies. We ordered a Tom Yam Kung/Goong as well and that was a brilliant combo with the stir fried crab meat. The slightly limy soup fitted extremely well with the cab meat. And the 10 shrimps in the Tom Yam Kung (spicy seafood soup – tom yam) at 200 bath was really fresh and tasty with a texture you seldom find at a street stall.

Squid with salted egg yolk at Nong Rim Klong

The squid with salted egg yolk (200 bath) was really delicious and of really high quality and also a beautiful dish.

Fried rice with crab at Nong Rim Klong

The stir fried rice with crab meat (340 bath) came with plenty of crab meat and was good as well.

They also have meat dishes in the form of Rad na/Radna. I have not tested those, but I am pretty sure they are very good. Rad na/Radna chicken or pork is 80 bath while shrimps or squid sets you back 120 bath. Fish is 200 bath and crab is 340 bath.

All dishes comes in super big portions and there is no need to order more than one dish per person. The crab omelet is enough for at least two persons, and the same goes for a few other dishes. Cold tea is complementary.

There are a couple of disadvantages with Nondg Rim Klong. The first one is that you will need to cue almost no matter what time you plan to eat there. They only have like four tables and they do take away, and the take away is the reason for your wait. They serve by orders, meaning if you sit down and 4o people have ordered take away, they will do those 40 dishes first.  The motor bike taxies hanging around there is just waiting to bring take away orders. Your best time to go is early lunch, then you can get away with 10-15 minutes waiting time. Look at it as office minutes and check some emails or just watch the action. If you speak Thai, you can probably call and order and you get an estimate when your food is ready and you show up a bit before.

Motorbike Taxies waiting for take-away orders at Nong Rim Klong

The other disadvantage is more of a turn-off for many westerns, and that is that it is situated next to the canal (klong). If the water in the canal doesn’t move there can be a certain light smell from the water from time to time. It want affect you when eating as the aroma from the food will take care of that, but it will affect you when waiting. If the water in the canal is moving it is not so much of an issue. As mentioned, this is mostly a Westerns issue as Thai’s don’t really care about this, being used to it. Anyway, if you’re to sensitive this might not be your spot. Personally, I am heading for Nong Rim Klong a couple of times a year.

Nong Rim Klong seen from the street

Let me also mention that it is quite deep into Soi Ekkamai (Sukhumvit soi 63). You find them 100 meters into the sub-soi Ekkamai Soi 21 Alley. Se how to get there below.

Other very good eateries in the area is to be found at my Thong Lor/Ekkamai link. The famous beef noodle spot Wattana Panich is nearby and open daytime. Another day time spot in the area closer to the BTS Ekkamai station is Khao Soi Hom Duan. Both Pad Thai Ekkamai and Bamee Slow, both on the corner of Ekkamai Soi 19 close by, but more like evening spots.

Name: Nong Rim Klong

Food: Seafood

Price: Very moderately priced for quality seafood

Open: 8:30 am to 4 pm

Phone: +66 86 044 9478

Address: Ekkamai Soi 21 Alley. The name coming from Soi Thong Lor (Soi 55)  is Chaem Chan Alley. Ekkamai Soi 10 and Soi 21 is the main veins that connects the bigger Soi’s Ekkamai and Soi Thong Lor.

How to get there: The easiest way is to take the BTS to Ekkamai or Thong Lor station and a taxi/motorbike taxi from there depending on the traffic. A very practical way to get there if you are near the San Saab Canal that changes name to Wat Sri Bunuang is to take the Canal-Taxi either to Chan Issara Pier or Thong Lor Pier and walk from there (5-7 minutes).