Where I come from Thai food is commonplace. Thai restaurants line the streets at every opportunity selling their own brand of Thai food – all completely unique to the restaurant. I’ve tried almost every Thai dish you can think of and they’re always different wherever you eat them – although nowhere more satisfying than in Thailand itself. Here are my top 5 Thai dishes, as experience in Thailand.

Pad Thai

This dish is an absolute classic –stir fried rice noodles that come with fried, prawn, chicken or another meat of your choice. Lots of tasty vegetables and very, very cheap! Make sure you get this from street food vendors.

Massman Curry

The Massaman Curry is a great, if a little spicy curry dish. Its yellow disposition is unmistakeable as is its taste. Ingredients can include chicken, potato, duck and pork. A great place for a varied experience of Massman curry is Chiang Mai.

Somtam

Somtam is a very traditional Thai dish and it’s very spicy.  You’ll probably see it on English menus as “green papaya salad” or something similar, as the closes thing the west has to such a dish is salad, even though you might not recognise it as such at first. Typically, this dish will include chilli, sugar, garlic, lime, fish sauce, crabs, hog plums, padaek, fish sauce and of course, papaya.

Tom Yum

Tom yum is another dish that is always associated with Thailand – A delicious tomato flavoured soup, seasoned with many delicious and traditional Thai herbs and spices. Tom Yum Goong or Tom yum with Prawns is a particular favourite among tourists, but the dish, as with many Thai meals, can be served with chicken, pork or beef.

Kuay Tiew

These rice noodles compete with Asia’s best, as the salty, watery soup is absolutely delicious and somewhat refreshing (even when hot). The vegetables and meat are blanched in boiling hot water and then slowly the flavourings are added. This one needs to be eaten to be understood. Yum.

Khao Pad

Khao Pad is essentially fried rice, but is no less tasty or filling than the other dishes. You can pick up a plate of good Khao Pad Gai (chicken) or Khao Pad Goong (Prawn) for about 60 Baht – which is pocket change. Street vendors will whip you up a nice big plate in about five minutes, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it’ll take you longer than that to eat.

If you want to sample the authenticity of real Thai cuisine, make sure you head to the streets of Thailand, where the rough and ready approach to cooking only serves to add to the flavor. Heathrow airport has regular flights to Bangkok, daily, so get booked up and make sure you’re traveling on an empty stomach.

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This post was written by Izzy Gardener on behalf of Heathrow Airport. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of Heathrow Airport.