August 28, 2019
Social media certainly is the reason why tourists flock to Raan Jay Fai’s carinderia in Bangkok, located along Mahacahi Road, about 10 minutes short and slow drive from Chinatown.
Waiting for taxi
Food must be good alright, but good old cooking with fresh ingredients doesn’t make it to the much-coveted Michelin Star guide. Someone has to find you and post about you.
And if you are unwilling to become a national or international celebrity and to keep up with the demands of the accolade, the Michelin Star could even stress you out. With the sudden deluge of customers from all over the world, and steadily rising, it would surely come with a price. But this is what we call a good problem. A very good problem. Chefs dream of getting the most prestigious Michelin Star award. It’s a blessing. But not to the 73-year old owner and head chef of this eatery.
Every photo, post, mention of Jay Fai stirs up curiosity from the readers and the natural reaction is “oh let’s eat there too.” The result? Lonwet (long wait), and pressure to the whole restaurant staff to keep up with the demands of the soaring popularity of the sidewalk restaurant.
Not once did the lady of the house glance or smile at the crowd milling outside, taking her photos, watching her cook. I wasn’t sure if she was annoyed by our presence or she was just concentrating on her cooking. It was just the beginning of her day but she looked tired already and she didn’t look happy at all.
We arrived at 2:30 pm and found the elderly lady busy, taking her sweet time frying the popular crab omelet. Another female cook was also frying a crab omelet at the same time.
The kitchen or food preparation area is on the sidewalk.
The menu prices are quite expensive, not presyong carinderia.
If you want to eat here, you have to go online and book your spot way in advance. If you book now, immediately after reading my post, most likely the available table would be towards the end of November 2019. The people you see on this picture, sitting and waiting by the sidewalk and under the sun, arrived before 10 am. They listed their names on the piece of paper. It was 3 pm and number 5 was lucky to be called. A couple was number 45 so I couldn’t imagine what time they would be able to nab a table. Even with a reservation, there would still be some waiting.
My husband did not want to sit and wait. According to him, it was not worth spending our whole day there. I could smell what Jay Fai was frying but it was not enough to convince me to sacrifice and risk having a migraine attack. It was so hot, humid, noisy. All migraine precipitants.
Raan Jay Fai
327 Maha Chai Rd, Khwaeng Samran Rat,
Bangkok, Thailand
Hours: 2 pm to 12 midnight
Phone: +66 92 724 9633
