🔄 Updated 21 Jun 2026
Roi Et street food is homely, easy to eat and easy on the wallet — most grilled and fried bites run five to ten baht a stick. Night markets are spread across several spots in town; some open daily, others only at the weekend. The most fun place for visitors to wander is Saket Nakhon Walking Street, while locals keep coming back to the carts and the late-night market stalls. We've laid this out around what you can genuinely find in town, so you can plan an evening eating crawl without missing the good stuff.
Night markets and walking streets worth your time
If you've only got one night in Roi Et and want to eat on foot, aim for these two first: Saket Nakhon Walking Street for the relaxed market wander, and the area around Bueng Phlan Chai for a riverside seat with a breeze.
Saket Nakhon Walking Street
The downtown walking street on Ratchupakan Road, next to the hypermart. You'll find snacks, grilled and fried bites, handmade stalls and live music. It usually runs on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays from evening into the night, roughly 16:00–22:00 — the most fun spot for visitors to graze.
Around Bueng Phlan Chai
The lake park in the middle of town, where people come out at dusk to exercise and hang out. Around the water are riverside restaurants and cafes like Tara Pub & Restaurant, open late until midnight. Good for an evening stroll in the breeze before settling in for a long meal.
Late-night market / street carts
Snacks and evening dishes from carts and stalls around town — pork skewers, grilled meatballs, fried chicken, fried banana — all easy on the wallet, and easy to grab and take back to your room.
Check the day before heading to the walking street
Saket Nakhon Walking Street isn't open every day, and the days and times shift with the season and festivals. Before you go, take a quick look at the Saket Nakhon Walking Street page so you don't turn up on a closed night. The grill and fried-bite carts around town, on the other hand, are out pretty much every evening.
Want to taste deeper? Try a Roi Et 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.
Grilled and fried bites for an evening crawl
The heart of Roi Et street food is the grilled and fried bites you can graze on as you walk. Here's what you'll find at the night markets and town carts, ordered from the ones people grab most often and find most easily first.
Grilled chicken + som tam
The classic Isan street-food pairing, found at every night market. Marinated chicken grilled over charcoal until the skin is crisp and fragrant, ordered with fresh-pounded green papaya salad and hot sticky rice — a full meal in one hand. Easy to take back to your room too.
Pork skewers (moo ping)
Five to ten baht a stick, marinated sweet and savoury and grilled until fragrant — the best evening snack going. In Roi Et you'll find the regular stalls plus the fresh-milk pork-skewer chains with a queue. Eat them plain or with sticky rice.
Grilled & fried meatballs
Pork and beef meatballs on skewers, grilled or fried as you like, doused in sweet-spicy sauce or jaew. A classic eat-as-you-walk snack, and some stalls offer steamed and fried versions to choose from.
Salt-grilled fish & prawns
Tilapia or snakehead stuffed with lemongrass, packed in salt and grilled over fire until fragrant — pull the flesh and dip it in tamarind jaew. A big shareable grilled plate, usually found at stalls along the night markets and at evening Isan spots.
Isan sausage & mam
Sour fermented sausage grilled until fragrant, eaten with sliced ginger, bird's-eye chili and peanuts — a punchy, properly Isan snack. Mam and naem turn up at the same stalls, and they make a good edible souvenir to take home.
Fried chicken & wings
Crisp-outside, tender-inside fried chicken from the carts — drumsticks, wings, and Hat Yai-style fried chicken topped with fried shallots. An evening fried bite the kids love, and grown-ups happily grab some with sticky rice too.
Fried banana, taro & corn cups
Crisp batter-fried snacks — fried banana, sweet potato, taro, and boiled corn tossed with butter and salt. Cheap snacks you can buy by the bag and graze on for a while, perfect to nibble while you browse the market.
Khao jee & grilled sticky rice
Sticky rice formed into patties, brushed with egg and grilled over the fire — slightly smoky and fragrant. It's a famous Isan snack in Roi Et, and some stalls stuff it with cane sugar or shredded pork. Best eaten warm in the evening.
Bring cash and a tote bag
Almost all of Roi Et's street food is cash only, so bring small notes and coins to keep things moving. And if you have a tote or insulated bag, it makes carrying grilled and fried bites back to your room a lot easier — and cuts down on plastic bags while you're at it.
Isan snacks not to miss
Beyond the usual grills and fried bites, Roi Et has Isan snacks that locals actually eat — worth working through at least once as you walk the night market.
- Tam sua / tam thad — som tam with rice vermicelli and lots of toppings, big enough to share around the table; a small-meal snack that genuinely fills you up.
- Koi & laab in banana leaf — some stalls wrap laab and koi to take away, to eat with fresh veg and sticky rice back at your room.
- Fried insects — crispy fried crickets, silkworm pupae and grasshoppers, a properly Isan snack for the brave, with a little salt and chili.
- Khanom krok & Vietnamese crepes — sweet-savoury griddle snacks at the regular night-market stalls, made fresh and hot with a coconut-milk aroma.
- Sugarcane & herbal drinks — cold drinks to beat the heat as you walk, from fresh-pressed sugarcane juice to pandan and roselle.
Finish with something sweet and cold
Once you've had your fill of savoury, finish with a little something sweet to settle the stomach. Roi Et's night markets rotate desserts with the season, both hot and cold.
- Roti & grilled toast — crisp roti drizzled with condensed milk and sugar, or buttered sugar toast — an evening sweet made fresh in front of you.
- Coconut & tube ice cream — cold and sweet to cool you down, with lod chong or peanuts on top as you like.
- Bua loy & cold sweets — bua loy in ginger broth, lod chong in coconut milk — small, cheap bowls of sweetness.
- Mango sticky rice / sticky rice with custard — seasonal, eaten warm with thick coconut milk, a good way to close out the meal.
A 2-night evening eating plan
If you've got two nights in Roi Et, here's an eating plan that flows nicely. Night one focuses on the walking street; night two leans into the lakeside and the grills around town. Adjust the timing to match the days the walking street is open.
Saket Nakhon Walking Street, a long graze
Lakeside Bueng Phlan Chai + grills around town
Make the most of the night market
Come early in the evening — the food is fresh and it's not yet crowded, so it's easy to pick and choose. If you can handle spice, tell the vendor phet noi (a little spicy) or saep nua (full-flavoured) as you like. And don't fill up at the first stall — taste one thing at a time so you can try several places. That's the whole charm of a night-market crawl.
Plan a full eating-and-exploring trip to Roi Et
See the Roi Et travel guide →