If you want to feel the pulse of Bangkok head to the city's newest night markets. Jodd Fairs Market is located on Rama 9 Road and is open from 4pm-12am, 7 days a week. Jodd Fairs is primarily a food market with some clothing and handicrafts. Dive into the crowd, thick with people and humidity and you will find a huge range of food and stalls. And there's one very popular place to eat at Jodd Fairs!
Jodd Fairs is one of Bangkok's newest night markets opening in November 2021. With over 600 stalls the sprawling market has become a very popular place for tourists and locals. It is centrally located behind Central Rama 9 Department Store and is easily accessed by MRT Phra Ram 9 MRT Station. Jodd Fairs is an outdoor market set out in a grid pattern and there are stands for food, drink, clothing and accessories. What surprised me most was that there were a lot of sit down restaurants within the market and it wasn't just takeaway stalls. Like most markets, cash is best as some of the smaller stores don't accept credit cards.
If you are buying from a takeaway stall, there are communal tables at one end of the markets. But after doing a quick round of the markets we surmise the most popular place to eat is definitely Leng Zapp Volcano Ribs. There are huge displays of pork rib bones towers that are also called Volcano Ribs. Leng is the name of the pork spine bone in Thai and while the leftover pork bones were usually used to make soup they are now a dish of their own with a big following.
The line while initially daunting moves very quickly and within 5 minutes the queue shrinks before our eyes and we have a table as people tend to eat quickly and leave. As soon as you sit down a waitstaff stands there waiting to take your order and service is perfunctory and basic although we didn't find it rude like I read in other reviews. The Leng Zap ribs comes in four sizes from single serve for 180THB/$7.80AUD up to the XXXL at 999THB/$43AUD which is the enormous tower of ribs. I ordered the XL for 350THB not realising that it is actually meant for 4 people. Oops.
We barely have time to settle into our seats and fan our sweaty faces because within 5 minutes our food and drink arrives. The photos don't quite convey how large the serve of Leng Zap is. It's only now that I notice the couple next to me had ordered the next size down between the two of them and I've ordered this serve for just me? Yes! Undeterred and really quite excited I slip on a glove, grab a pork spine bone and take a bite. The pork bones are boiled in a spicy, slightly sour delicious broth made with coriander, garlic, lime, green chilli, fish sauce and pepper.
They're absolutely delicious and gnawing on the bones is quite an experience. The ribs have a robust level of spice to them and a surprising amount of meat if you're willing to dig right into the crevices. I will say that the gloves could be better quality because halfway through they break probably due to the heat and poking the meat and bones and you end up with messy hands anyway.
As for the rest of the menu, the drinks are fine but don't really taste of fresh fruit. I'd actually recommend first going to the mango smoothie stand towards the back of the market (the opposite end to the communal seating) where you can get half a mango cheek and a mango smoothie together. For dessert I ordered a volcano roti which looked striking but I don't think I would order that again as it was quite dry and I didn't like the chocolate sauce and strawberry jam.
Pamela orders the prawns and rice which were actually well cooked and succulent with a spicy, tasty sauce and four enormous prawns but the pork ribs were what I enjoyed the most. If I were to go again I'd recommend ordering them with some greens and enjoying the two together. As for me I get the rest of the pork ribs packed up and take it back to the hotel for Mr NQN to try! Once we have finished eating we look at the time and realise that it has been just 30 minutes since we started queuing!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you enjoy night markets? Do you think you'd enjoy eating the Leng Zap ribs?
Jodd Fairs
Rama IX Rd, Huai Khwang, Bangkok 10310, Thailand
Open 7 days 4pm-12am
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