There’s a Thai food fest currently happening at the carpark of Hero Market in Bandar Puteri Puchong, bringing a slice of Thailand’s vibrant street food scene to Puchong-ites. With over a dozen stalls, diners can expect favourites such as tom yum noodles, pad kra pao, meat skewers and seafood grilled over roaring charcoal fires, and more. The festival will run daily until 21 May, 2023, from 12pm to 11pm.

N and I went to grab some dinner at the festival recently. Part of Hero hypermarket’s carpark has been cordoned off to vehicles, with bright yellow stalls and open-air seating set up underneath colourful flag streamers. As we stepped into the compound, the delicious smell of food permeated the air, while a pair of performers sang Thai songs on a makeshift stage in the middle of the dining area, accompanied by booming techno bass. Coupled with the sweltering tropical heat, it did feel like we were dining somewhere in a street food centre in Bangkok or Phuket.

Food isn’t the only thing you can find at the fest. Aside from a couple of stalls selling handmade items, packaged snacks, and accessories, there’s also something for families: water-filled containers lit up with fluorescent blue lights, where you can squat down on a stool and try to catch tiny fish. Great for kids, horrible for their parents’ backs.

The stalls and the dining area are divided into two sections, one selling pork, and the other a pork-free section. I believe there are one or two halal stalls as well, manned by Muslim Thai vendors. We first made a quick round trip around all the stalls to check out what they have in store.

We saw many familiar street food favourites, including light bites such as deep fried baby crabs, shrimp cakes, chicken balls, som tam (salad) and mango sticky rice, as well as heavier mains the likes of grilled pork belly with rice and pad kra pao (basil chicken / pork with rice and fried egg). For the adventurous, there are a few stalls selling deep fried insects too. Be prepared to fork out a considerable amount though – not all the items are wallet-friendly. I personally found some dishes to be quite exorbitantly priced.

And here’s what we got! The Hubs wanted carbs, so he got a grilled pork belly with rice (RM15), which was also served with half a boiled egg. The meat was tender and juicy, with a sweet glaze on the outside and a nice, gently charred exterior. I also enjoyed the sweet sauce that came with the meal.

I got a grilled octopus leg (RM10) which was accompanied by an extremely spicy chilli sauce which made my eyes water immediately lol. The octopus didn’t have a lot of taste, just a slight saltiness on the outside, but I liked the chewy texture.

We also got a couple of sausages and chicken balls on skewers to share. My favourites were the jumbo chicken balls, which had bits of cartilage in them which lent it extra crunch, as well as the Thai-style Jumbo sausage, as the meat inside was very juicy with a strong flavour of lemongrass. The rest of the items were okay, just your run-of-the-mill street food skewers.

Everything there set us back RM45, which is way overpriced in my humble opinion. So just a heads up – the food here is tasty enough, but if you’re expecting cheap street food, you won’t find that here. Still, a good place to check out if you’re craving some authentic Thai food.

Hero Market is located at 49, Jalan Puteri 1/6, Bandar Puteri Puchong, Puchong.

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