Praram 9 Kai Yang (Rama 9 Grilled Chicken) – Bangkok Trip (Day 10)

That day, we went to nearby restaurant, Praram 9 Kai Yang; which literally means King Rama 9 (street name) Grilled Chicken. The restaurant is very popular among Thai people, and from what I learned before our visit, we have to go there earlier than regular eating time, means if you go there for lunch, it’s recommended to be there at least around 11 AM. It was Sunday, so we predicted there would be heavy crowds, so we arrived there around 10.30 or something. The place is quite big, no air conditioner, spacious parking lot, and amazingly, there were already so many people inside although it wasn’t full yet.

Without further ado, we quickly made our order. The main dish of this restaurant is their infamous grilled chicken (kai yang – hence the name), which they grill in front of the restaurant so we can see how they do it. I wonder how many chicken they need in one day because I was just amazed to see the amount of chicken “stacks” waiting to be grilled! 

After I tried the chicken, I totally understood why the restaurant is popular. The chicken meat was very soft and tasty, well-marinated and delicious. The skin was crispy, almost tasted like it was fried, not grilled. It came with special dipping sauce which is quite sweet and aromatic, but goes really well together with the chicken. 

In this restaurant, they serve food which is popularly known as Eastern food, so one of the fanciest things I found was the sticky rice that is served in a small basket. Apparently, this sticky rice originates from Laos, and what I like about the rice is that it’s sticky but dry; making it easier to eat using hand.

And of course, we couldn’t skip my favorite Thai food ever, the som tum or green papaya salad. We ordered the original one (som tum Thai) and another one was som tum khai khem (with salted eggs). And guess what? I am still loyal to the original one, because I think it’s still the best. The salted eggs version was nice but it felt a bit powder-y. I know it was from the eggs but still.

We also tried another version of tum, which is a mixed fruit salad, or Thai version of rojak. The fruits are mainly pineapple and guava, served with the dressings that are pounded like the one they make for som tum. Not only it was refreshing, but the sourness also gave quite a kick. Totally love it.

Moving on to the meat, we got some pork and beef, and they all were very delicious. The beef is actually Thai-style beef jerky but it was soft and tender, unlike some jerkies that I tried before. 

A set of Thai lunch is never complete with the cuisines full of herbs and spices, so we ordered the larb. Actually the last 2 photos above are quite similar in terms of ingredients, but the only different is how they prepare the pork; one is minced, another is just thinly-sliced. Personally, I like both because the tastes are quite similar. 

The portions of the food served here are about small size to medium, but one thing I couldn’t help noticing was that people usually come in groups, so I assume that they order at least 2 portions per menu to be able to feed everyone on the table. Our table was occupied by 5 person and the food were gone so fast the plated barely stayed on the table, LOL. 

This restaurant also serves some desserts, which look yummy from the menu book, so we ordered everything to try.

What I could say? At that point, I was deeply in love with that restaurant and had made promise to myself I will definitely go back there again. The desserts were wonderful. The coconut ice cream is not just like the usual coconut ice cream, but this one had very distinctive taste, very strong but nice. The red bean shaved ice was also nice, sweet but not overdone. I especially liked the taro dessert, even though it didn’t look as beautiful as the other two, but it was refreshing.

The restaurant was already very full by the time our orders started coming. And I totally understand why after I had my first bite. The restaurant is simply great. The food are delicious, cheap and (look) clean. I didn’t take notes of the prices, but I remember that we only spent like, less than THB 1,000; which means all the food above cost less than IDR 350,000. And we were so full like crazy after that, and completely satisfied. 

Rama IX Soi 39 Rama IX Road,

Hua Mak, Bang Kapi,

Bangkok 10240 

Thailand

Tel. (66) 02719 8039, (66) 02719 9139, (66) 081 447 3897

Website: www.praram9kaiyang.com

$: < IDR 30K (cheap)
$$: 30K+ (okay)
$$$: 60K+ (pricey)
$$$$: 90K+ (borju)