Cheap Bangkok mookata buffets
If you want to know how working-class Thais celebrate payday, look no further than mookata. Mookata (หมูกระทะ), sometimes spelled mu kratha, is the Thai version of Asian barbeque where you grill meats at the table. Good quality meat, spicy nam chim (น้ำจิ้ม, sauce/dip), and cheap prices are what Thais look for in an affordable mookata spot.
Here are our picks for some of the best spots for Bangkok mookata buffets at a more affordable price point.
What does mookata mean in Thai?
Mookata (หมูกระทะ) literally means frying pan pork. Moo (หมู) means pork, and Kata (กระทะ) means frying pan or wok.
But just because there’s pork in the name doesn’t mean that mookata is ONLY about pork. Mookata is a Thai-style barbeque, usually with a focus on eating copious amounts of meat.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Thai food without a bunch of dipping sauces as well.
Is mookata popular in Thailand?
Yes. It’s hard to exaggerate just how popular mookata is in Thailand.
The most popular spots often have lines that’ll keep eaters waiting for hours. Unless you’re eating at odd hours, most mookata joints are PACKED during dinner.
Mookata is the go-to meal choice for almost all Thais on payday since it’s a group eating experience where we get to eat a lot at a bargain.
1. Bar B Q Resort – Bangkok mookata with more sides than KBBQ
Image credit: Bar B Q Resort via Facebook
Bar B Q Resort elevates mookata to the hotel standard by featuring a 450m-long array of food with over 200 mookata ingredients to choose from.
Get started with some fried snacks, sushi, and papaya salad before starting on your BBQ. When you’re ready to start grilling, help yourself to their selection of meats like beef, chicken, and pork, vegetables, and other sides like eggs and seafood.
Image credit: Bar B Q Resort via Facebook
To add on to the spread, Bar B Q Resort also has desserts. Get some ice cream topped with all sorts of fruits and jellies or more traditional treats like sweet noodles in coconut milk.
Bar B Q Resort’s mid-range pricing of around ฿250 per person has proven to be so popular for locals that they’ve opened 7 Bankok mookata branches. You can check out all the locations on their website here.
Address: P96X+4R6, Phet Kasem Rd, Lak Song, Bang Khae, Bangkok 10160
Opening Hours: 3pm-12am, Daily
Contact: +66 2804 9292 | Google Maps
2. Areeya Mu Kratha (อารียาหมูกระทะ) – backyard mookata with cafe vibes
Image credit: Areeya Mookata Ari Soi4 via Facebook
Areeya stands out from typical mookata restaurants thanks to its private location and chill vibes. In fact, it almost looks like a cafe. Tucked away in a backyard compound in Ari Soi 14, this restaurant is the place to visit if you’re looking for a nice night out with some friends.
The BBQ sets here start at ฿399 and include a good variety of meats, seafood, vegetables, and rice noodles. One item you have to try while here is their fermented fish sauce that’s got a salty and spicy taste, which goes nicely with freshly grilled meat.
Image credit: Areeya Mookata Ari Soi4 via Facebook
Although its location is low-key, it still attracts a lot of customers and is full right from when it opens in the late afternoon – so head down early!
Areeya doesn’t have any desserts yet, but since it is located in Ari, so you can always pop by to the many cafes in the neighbourhood for some sweet treats and drinks.
Address: 27, 29 Pracha Nimit 1 Alley, Phaya Thai, Bangkok 10400
Opening Hours: 4pm-10pm, Daily
Contact: +66 8 0337 9767 | Google Maps
3. Rim Nam Mookata Seafood (ริมน้ำหมูกระทะ) – riverfront Bangkok mookata with live music
Image credit: wongnai
Rim Nam Mookata is exactly what its name entails: delicious grilled meats on the riverfront. Despite its prime location, you can expect to pay an affordable ฿270 per person for a meal here.
Aside from fresh meat and seafood, the restaurant also serves mean side dishes such as fried rice and spicy chicken wings.
Image credit: pantipa chalermsri via Facebook
Another fun feature about this spot is that there are live music performances that take place here. So enjoy bopping to tunes while munching on your food.
Address: Pinklao Bridge, Arun Amarin, Bangkok Noi, Bangkok
Opening Hours: 3.30pm-11.30pm, Daily
Contact: +66 8 9457 1234 | Google Maps
4. Best Beef – high-quality fresh beef mookata on a budget
Image credit: BestBeef Sukhumvit via Facebook
Best Beef is a mookata restaurant known to locals for serving high-quality meats that you can’t find that easily while on a budget. Sitting close to On Nut BTS, you can get her easily and enjoy an all you can eat 2-hour buffet for the very humble starting price of ฿270.
Image credit: @bestbeef_sukhumvit via Instagram
While they have appetisers to prep your tummy with, we recommend saving all your tummy room for their main grilled meats. After all, you are on a time limit with the best beef around to enjoy. That said, keep some space for their soft-serve ice creams as an after-dinner treat – that’s a must.
Address: 1490, 2 Sukhumvit Road, Khwaeng Phra Khanong, Khet Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110
Opening Hours: 5PM-11PM, Daily
Contact: +66 2742 9416 | Google Maps
5. Ja-woo Korean BBQ (จ่าอูหมูเกาหลี) – Korean-style mookata in Bangkok
Image credit: Ja Eu Korean BBQ via Facebook
Korean barbeque is popular anywhere we go. At Ja-woo Korean BBQ, you’ll get a Thai mookata experience with a KBBQ twist.
Set prices start at ฿300, where you’ll get meat, eggs, vegetables, and rice noodles. Watch as the chunks of fat used to oil the BBQ plates melt and get ready to dig in. The restaurant recommends going for their spicy dipping sauce and Korean marinated pork.
Image credit: prachachat
If you want extra bacon or seafood, you can order additional portions with prices starting from ฿50. You can finish your meal with their sweet and refreshing Coconut Pudding at ฿40.
Address: Soi 36 Rama VI Rd., Khwaeng Bang Sue, Bang Sue, Bangkok 10800
Opening Hours: 4pm-11.30pm, Daily
Contact: +66 6 4865 2556 | Google Maps
6. Neanr Mookata Udon (เนียร หมูกระทะอุดร) – mookata as soon as you exit the airport
Image credit: Neanr Mookata Udon via Facebook
Neanr Mookata Udon is just a 10-minute drive from Suvarnabhumi Airport. So if you’re craving for mookata as soon as you land or want a taste of it before you leave, here’s where to be. The price starts at ฿169 for the smallest set and goes up to ฿669, which can feed 4-6 customers.
Each set comes with meat choices such as chicken, pork, and seafood. You can also get additional meat dishes like Mala streaky pork and grilled pork neck. Cut the taste of the meat with some additional vegetables like lettuce, cabbage, and corn.
We love that they’ve got lots of ice cream flavours to enjoy for dessert, like coconut, coffee, corn, durian, and mango. You can even go for an ice cream sandwich with chocolate or vanilla fillings.
Address: 1566, 6 Lat Krabang Rd, Lat Krabang, Bangkok 10520
Opening Hours: 4pm-11pm, Daily
Contact: +66 8 6756 0683 | Google Maps
7. Moo Muek Kung Mookata Rooftop (หมูหมึกกุ้ง หมูกระทะ Rooftop) – mookata with a rooftop view
Image credit: @tarmma_maipidwang via Instagram
We’ve had riverside dining on a budget, so now let’s have some rooftop dining on a budget. Moo Muek Kung Mookata Rooftop is an affordable mookata spot with enough natural wind that your hair won’t smell like grilled pork for the next week.
Don’t be intimidated if the entire menu is in Thai, there are plenty of photos to help you out. Their small set is priced at just under ฿400 but is enough food for 2 people.
They get pretty crowded the later it gets into the evening, so you might want to book in advance.
Address: 1566, 6 Lat Krabang Rd, Lat Krabang, Bangkok 10520
Opening Hours: 4pm-11pm, Daily
Contact: +66 8 6756 0683 | Google Maps
8. Iam Pochana (เอี่ยมโภชนา) – old school street-side Bangkok mookata
Image credit: เอี่ยมโภชนา via Facebook
While many of the spots listed so far have been pretty trendy, Iam Pochana is as old-school as it gets. The 70-year-old eatery not only looks the part, but feels the part as well.
From the tables spilling onto the small street to the uncle calculating your check on a piece of paper, a meal at a place like this is what many visitors have found charming about Bangkok street food.
Don’t expect world-class service here, they’ll get you your food politely but that’s about it. But when your food gets to the table, you’ll know instantly why this spot has been open for over 70 years.
Their large marinated beef set is a mere ฿300.
Address: 215 2-3 Yi Sip Song Karakadakhom 1 Rd, Pom Prap, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Bangkok 10100
Opening Hours: 5pm-3am, Daily
Contact: +66 2225 0582 | Google Maps
9. Factory Mu Kratha (Factory หมูกระทะ) – all you can eat, no time limits, AND within walking distance of MRT
Image credit: @iamarada via Instagram
Nothing ticks all the right boxes like Factory Mu Kratha. For just under ฿270, you’ll have access to an all-you-can-eat buffet with absolutely no time limits.
If that wasn’t enough, it’s also within a 10-minute walk of the Bang Pho MRT station.
The restaurant is housed inside a huge building resembling a factory. The good ventilation and large space means that it’s never too hot and there are always seats available.
Address: 189 Pracha Rat Sai 1 Rd., Bang Sue, Bangkok 10800
Opening Hours: 4pm-11pm, Daily
Contact: +66 8 4923 4200 | Google Maps
What is the difference between mookata and hot pot?
You cook everything in boiling water with hot pots, but you cook meats on a heated plate with mookata. However, most mookata grills are shaped like a small hill with a moat around it. The “moat” section of the grill is typically filled with water where we’ll cook veggies.
This means mookata really is the best of both worlds where we have both a grill AND a hot pot.
Best of Bangkok mookata buffets on a budget
Next time you’re looking to celebrate an occasion with your Thai friends but don’t want them to feel kreng jai (เกรงใจ) over pricier places, take them to these affordable mookata spots. Not only will they feel more comfortable with their wallets, they’ll also just have a hard time turning down mookata in general.
If mookata is not in your wheelhouse, perhaps our guide to Thai-style char siu will. Or if you’re a late night worker looking for a fix, here’s our guide to midnight dining in Bangkok.
Cover image adapted from: Neanr Mookata Udon via Facebook, Areeya Mookata Ari Soi4 via Facebook, เอี่ยมโภชนา via Facebook, @tarmma_maipidwang via Instagram
Article originally published by Korapon Kanchanabundhu on October 2019. Last updated by buranond on March 2024.