Bird Thai

After following Rick Steves' walking tour of the Red Light District, it was time for dinner. The RLD isn't too far from Amsterdam's Chinatown, which we started wandering around. One of the places on our list was Bird Thai which was really 2 different restaurants - the actual Bird Thai restaurant and the sister Snackbar across the street. I was hoping to try the Snackbar since it was a little less formal and cheaper but it was packed when we got there. Luckily the wait wasn't too long but still allowed me to take a few photos while we waited.

There's A at the door of the Snackbar
We were seated at the counter instead of a table but that was perfect because of the great people-watching. We also got to watch the garbage trucks and the street cleaners in action. The guys from the garbage vehicle were tossing the bags in like it was a game. It was amusing.


One great thing about getting Thai food in Amsterdam was that even though the menu was in Dutch, it was also written in anglicized Thai. Therefore, we were able to recognize certain dishes because we knew their Thai names! Excellent! (It should be noted that the menus were also in English, but the Thai names gave us more "meaning.") I knew our love of Thai food and our constant visiting and ordering from Thai restaurants would pay off.

First, we ordered "lap kai" which we usually write out as "larb gai". The Dutch for this was "fijngehakte pikante kipschotel." It came with a plate of white rice, which we only see here at a few places. I actually really like larb gai with rice. It brings out even more flavors. It was really tasty and not overly spicy. A little expensive at 10 euro (it's usually about $7-9 at home), but it was good.


Next, we got the "kou pad kai" which was fried rice with chicken. In Dutch, it's "gebakken rijst met kipfilet." (I may have mentioned before that I love seeing the Dutch names for food, right?) The fried rice was really good.


Last, we got the "kai pad krapau" or chicken with basil leaves and peppers. This was really really good. It's hard to remember exactly since it's been so long, but I think this may have been our favorite dish. (Dutch: "kipfilet met basilicum en pepers")


We also got iced tea, this time it was a can of Lipton.

Not only were we sitting at the counter, but we were sitting on stools in the corner, so we were able to inconspicuously set up our gorillapod and take a picture of ourselves at dinner!


I would recommend Bird Thai for a nice Thai meal, especially if you have just gone sightseeing at the Red Light District. The Snackbar is nice and casual, and the food is good too.