What I Ate + Where I Stayed

If you’ve been following any of my past travel posts, you may know by now I’m not a city person. I tend to get bored in cities and crave the mountains, beaches, trees…anything that makes me feel closer to nature. With that being said, this is not a “What To Do” in Bangkok guide. I decided to chill out here and get a lot of work done and save my money for things that are of my interest. But I do have a things I want to highlight about my stay in Bangkok.

Where I stayed…

Back Home Backpackers*

When it comes to hostels, you’ll find a few different types. There’s the party hostel, the chill out hostel, and then what I would call deserted hostels. Back Home Backpackers is a great mix between a party hostel and a chill out hostel. I am not the party type, and especially for this stay I was not looking to party but the opportunity was definitely their if I wanted to. Everyone here, travelers and staff included, were very friendly, welcoming and helpful. I was able to spend my days hanging and talking with travelers, and my nights working (others went out and always invited me, but it was my decision to decline the offer… but everyone seemed to have a great time!)

One of the members of the staff helped me to book a bus and ferry to Koh Tao. I needed to withdraw money but I was unable to due to some issues with my card, it was also the weekend so banks were closed. I could not go inside one to take out money. The woman who helped paid for my ticket for me and I was able to pay her back when the banks open. I was surprised at how generous and helpful she was! But it was clear that the rest of the staff were just as helpful and friendly.

Back Home Backpackers does great job to make everyone have a great time and feel welcome. They offer a few activities such as a “Family” Buffet Style dinner, Muay Tahi night and beer pong.

A few other highlights:

• The hostel is located just an 8 minute walk from Khaosan Road, a popular tourist destination with shops, restaurants and vibrant night life
• Directly across from the hostel you can get your laundry washed 1 kg or (2.2 lbs) for for 70 baht ($2.19 USD)
• There is a bar in the hostel, it is not a BYO hostel
• The hostel is TAT Travel Agency and they can help you book various activities and transportation
• The area around the hostel is a little touristy as there are a few hotels, but it also has the vibe of a little village

*When putting this hostel into google maps you want to search for “Hostel Bangkok Back Home Backpackers”

What I Ate…

The streets of Bangkok are lined with markets filled with stalls of fresh fruits. I picked up some fruit and made a few smoothies and juices mixed with a little bit of my greens powder. But I also found two awesome vegetarian & vegan restaurants right next Back Home Backpackers and a vegan cheese shop that has the best nut based cheeses I have tried so far (and trying vegan cheeses is reallllllly my thing).

Mango Vegetarian & Vegan

This restaurant has a large menu filled with traditional Thai dishes as well as dishes from other cultures around the world. What I love most about the items on this menu is how simple, yet delicious and nutritious they are all. For less than $10 USD you can get fresh fruit juice and a meal.

Here are a few things I tried at Mango:

I can’t remember the name of this salad but I was so impressed with how big it was for how little it cost. It was packed with so many nutritious foods (greens, seeds, fresh fruit, sprouts + more). I also got a fresh juice to go along with it.

This Matcha Chia Pudding Bowl was topped with avocado, mango, dragonfruit, pepitas, almonds, fall seeds and coconut cream with a side of plantain chips.

Ginger + mango + passionfruit + kombucha mocktail!

Ethos Vegetarian & Vegan

Ethos is very similar to Mango. It has a large menu (a bit larger than Mango) mixed with foods from different cultures. The only real difference between these two menus is the breakfast section. Ethos has pancakes. And I love pancakes. So of course that is what I got. I also enjoyed fresh fruit with muesli and soy milk for breakfast, a delicious salad + fried tempeh for lunch, spring rolls, (the best) mango sticky rice (I’ve ever had) and two AMAZING coconut based shakes: Basil + Pineapple and Masala.

Barefood Bangkok

As soon as I saw vegan cheese I was in, and when I got there I was far from disappointed! Barefood Bangkok has the best vegan cheese I have tasted so far. I opted for the small cheese platter because I wanted try a few other things, but I wish I could have had more! The cheese platter came with four cashew based, probiotic cultured cheeses. One was their original cheese, two were made with traditional Asian spices (that I cannot remember the names of for the life of me…), a red wine and a spicy one. The platter also comes with bread and cape gooseberries. I couldn’t really tell you which cheese was my favorite because they were all amazing in different ways.

I also tried the Truffle Lux Sandwich which was amazing as well. And the chocolate mousse..again amazing. It was just the right amount of rich and creamy. I only wish I had more time in Bangkok to back and enjoy some more of Barefood’s delicious treats!

Overall, was very happy with how easy it was to eat plant-based in Bangkok. It makes a lot of sense though, the streets are lined with fruit sellers, dairy is nearly non-existent, and coconuts are abundant.