🔄 Updated 21 Jun 2026
Ayutthaya's old city is easy to eat your way around because the good shops cluster near the temple groups and main roads — from Bang Lan Road in front of Wat Mahathat, through the Hua Ro area, down to the central riverside market. The food here splits up simply: one-plate meals to fill you up, fried snacks to munch on the move, then Thai sweets and roti saimai to round things off and take home. Here's how we'd line it up.
One-Plate Meals to Fill You Up — Shops Around the Old City
If you're short on time and want the most for your money, a one-plate meal is the answer. Boat noodles are the star of this town — a rich broth built from spices and blood, served in small bowls so you can easily order several at a time.
Pa Lek Boat Noodles (the original)
A legendary shop in town, on Bang Lan Road opposite Wat Mahathat, going for over five decades. The broth is deep and full of spice, the noodles have a good chew, and the small bowls are so cheap you'll end up ordering a stack of them. It's held a Michelin Bib Gourmand for several years running. Order it with crispy pork rinds and crunchy pork cracklings.
Khlong Sa Bua Boat Noodles
A morning spot in the Khlong Sa Bua area. Besides boat noodles there's pad thai, pork satay and a few sweets to keep ordering. Good to stop at on the way to the temple groups on the north side of the island.
Wat Yai Noodles
A well-rounded one-plate shop near Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon, with khanom jeen and green curry, fish cakes, pork satay and fried spring rolls. Good for mixing several things in one place after temple-hopping.
Heng Charoen Dim Sum
Dim sum and Chinese dishes made fresh, open from early morning until late night. Great for breakfast before you start the day or a late meal after walking around. Order the steamed dim sum hot with a bowl of congee.
Tip
Pa Lek gets busy around midday and sells out fast. If you want a relaxed seat, go before 11am — it's much chiller. And the shop is closed on Wednesdays, so don't plan your visit for that day.
Want to taste deeper? Try a Ayutthaya food tour or cooking class
Half a day with a local who knows the lanes — or cooking a dish yourself — teaches you more than just eating. Book ahead on Klook or GetYourGuide.
Fried Snacks and Walk-and-Eat Bites
Walk around the old city and you'll get peckish — fried snacks are part of any Ayutthaya trip. Fish cakes, fried spring rolls, fragrant pork satay off the grill, even crispy fried barb fish, an old-school dish of this river basin. You'll find all of it at the markets and one-plate shops around town.
- Fish cakes / prawn cakes — snack on them with cucumber relish; found at one-plate shops and the seafood stalls at the central market.
- Garlic fried barb fish — a local Chao Phraya basin dish, crispy outside and tender inside, served with seafood dipping sauce; found at riverside shops.
- Pork satay — smoky off the grill, eaten with peanut sauce and cucumber relish; available at Wat Yai noodle shops and the morning market.
- Fried spring rolls — packed and crunchy, a popular snack alongside noodles.
- Tuk Tuk Street Food Krung Kao — a converted three-wheeler turned into a multi-menu street food stall, near the city municipal intersection, open 17:00–22:00 — good for an evening eat-as-you-walk.
River Prawns and Riverside Seafood — Ayutthaya Central Market
If you've got a bit of budget and want something more of a sit-down meal, Ayutthaya Central Market (the farmers' central market) is the hub for seafood shops and big grilled river prawns loaded with roe. Many shops sit right by the water with a nice atmosphere. Prawns are priced by weight, so ordering to share among a group works out better value.
Pongphan Grilled Prawns
A grilled-prawn shop famous around the central market — big, bouncy river prawns full of roe with a punchy seafood dipping sauce. It's the name reviewers bring up most often when talking about grilled prawns in Ayutthaya.
Ja Nun
A long-running shop in the central market, going for over 30 years, known for picked blue crab and grilled prawns. There's garlic-fried squid and featherback fish cakes to round out the order.
Nittaya S. Kung Pen
A fresh seafood shop whose bestsellers are grilled river prawns and prawn cakes. The ingredients are fresh and you can pick them out at the front — good for a group that wants to choose its own fresh prawns.
Straight talk
River prawns priced by weight make the bill climb fast. Ask the price per kilo and have them weigh it in front of you before ordering — you'll keep the budget under control. If there are only a few of you, a one-plate meal plus some fish cakes will fill you up without going in on the big prawns.
Thai Sweets and Roti Saimai — To Finish and To Take Home
Ayutthaya is the home of old-fashioned Thai sweets — thong yip, thong yot, foi thong and met khanun, all influenced by the Portuguese back in the Krung Si era. But the most famous of all is roti saimai: soft, fragrant flatbread wrapped around finely spun caramel sugar threads, a Thai-Muslim sweet that became the province's signature thing to take home.
Roti Saimai Abedeen–Pranom Saeng-arun
A long-standing maker going for over 70 years, with a Michelin Bib Gourmand. The flatbread is soft and fragrant, the saimai sweet just right, available in the original recipe and a pandan version.
Roti Saimai Mae Pom
Another local legend, going for over 36 years with a careful, meticulous process. The flatbread is soft and a steady stream of people stop by to buy it as a gift.
Old-Fashioned Thai Sweets Set
Thong yip, thong yot, foi thong and met khanun, sold at sweet shops and souvenir markets around the old city — good to buy as a set to take home.
Souvenir-buying tip
Fresh-made roti saimai flatbread doesn't keep for long, so buy it close to when you're heading home and you'll get the softest flatbread. It's also worth comparing a few makers, since the sugar recipe and the fragrance of the flatbread really do differ from shop to shop.
Plan a full eat-and-explore trip around the Ayutthaya old city
See the Ayutthaya travel guide →