His favourite

This food shop serves a huge variety of Thai dishes with a 17-page menu. Its menu is creative, varying from som tam tod (spicy fried papaya salad) to keow wan talay hor kai (chicken green curry wrapped in omelette).

"The food tastes really good and it's so cheap," says Jaraspong.

"It is served in very big portions for the price." Each dish costs from Bt20 to Bt35. Rice costs Bt5 per person.

Customers can serve themselves as much rice as they want at no extra cost. Jaraspong recommends his two favourite dishes - yam pakboong tod krob (crispy morning glory with minced pork in Thai-style spicy salad) and hor mok talay haeng (stir-fried chilli paste with seafood). They are priced at Bt30 each. "The salad is not too spicy. It is an excellent blend of sweet and sour flavours."

Waiyachai Poatchana is open Monday to Friday from 7am to 8pm and on Saturdays from 7am to noon. It's busy between 11am and 2pm and 5pm until 7pm. Its customers are mainly Srinakharinwirot students and office workers from the area.

The food shop is less than a five-minute walk from Phetburi Road Gate near the Faculty of Humanities. It's opposite Prasarnmith Pier under the flyover. Although the shop is located on the canal side of Klong Saen Saeb, its hygiene is guaranteed.

"I've been coming here since my first year of university. And I've never had a stomach upset from the food at the shop," says Jaraspong, who visits Waiyachai Poatchana two or three times a week. Call (07) 071 9743 for directions and to place advance orders. Delivery and catering services are also available. About 10 metres from Waiyachai Poatchana on the right is a kuoy tiew krae and kuoy jab (noodle) food outlet. Jaraspong says the pork broth in the kuoy tiew krae soup and crispy pork and noodles in the kuoy jab are delicious. The noodles come for Bt20-Bt30.