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Sara-Jane's
A real circus at lunchtime, this restaurant (named after the American founder who married a Thai) knows its Isan food. That's why expats and Thais keep coming back for the juicy, flavoursome laap and yam sôm oh (pomelo salad). The original location at Sindhorn Tower isn't as adept.
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Scoozi
At this chic pizzeria you can witness your pie being skilfully tossed and topped before it's blistered in a wood-burning oven from Italy. Go minimalist for once and order the tasty napoletana, a pizza topped with little more than mozzarella, anchovies and olives.
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Shangarila Restaurant
This massive, banquet-style restaurant prepares a variety of banquet-sized Cantonese dishes for ravenous families. The dim sum lunches are worth the effort of muscling your way past the outdoor steam tables.
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Shoshana
One of Khao San's longest-running Israeli restaurants, Shoshana resembles your grandparents' living room down to the tacky paintings and perpetual re-runs of Seinfeld. The 'I heart Shoshana' T-shirts worn by the wait staff may be a hopelessly optimistic description of employee morale, but the gut-filling chips-falafel-and-hummus plates leave nothing to be desired.
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Soi 38 Night Market
It's not the best street food in town by a long shot, but after a hard night of clubbing on Sukhumvit, you can be forgiven for believing so. If you're going sober, stick to the knot of 'famous' vendors tucked into an alley on the right-hand side as you enter the street; the flame-fried phàt thai and herbal fish ball noodles are musts.
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Soi Polo Fried Chicken
Fried chicken tastes good in any language, but Soi Polo's chicken could tar and feather the colonel and his kin. Crispy on the outside, moist and meaty inside and sprinkled with fried garlic bits - it is easy to see why this is considered the best kài thâwt (fried chicken) in town. Don't forget to order khâo nǐaw (sticky rice).
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Soi Pradit Market
This blue-collar street market is a virtual microcosm of Thai cuisine. Muslims deep-fry marinated chicken in front of the mosque, while across the way Chinese vendors chop up stewed pork leg and Isan women pound away at mortars of sôm-tam . Live on the edge a little and proceed past the stalls with English signs peddling the predictables.
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Somboon Seafood
Somboon, a classy seafood hall with a reputation far and wide, is known for doing the best curry-powder crab in town. Soy-steamed sea bass ( plaa kràphong nêung sii-íw ) is also a speciality and, like all good Thai seafood, should be enjoyed with an immense platter of khâo phàt puu (fried rice with crab) and as many friends as you can gather together.
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Spring
The expansive lawn of this smartly reconverted '70s-era house is probably the only chance you'll ever have to witness Bangkok's fair and beautiful willingly exposing themselves to the elements. The pan-Asian cuisine can be hit and miss, but the desserts, with names like Better Than Sex, are as almost good as they sound.
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Taling Pling
You know you've picked well when Thai families outnumber expats. And you get a stylish setting, pretty enough for Bangkok gays. A few menu standouts include yam plaa salid taling pling (a fried fish salad with the namesake sour vegetable), chicken wrapped in pandanus leaves and phàk dam lung (stir-fried gourd leaves).
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Tamarind Café
Tamarind Café creates harmonious unions out of international ingredients, without ever visiting the butcher shop. Invite deep-fried oyster mushrooms escorted by a sweet Thai dipping sauce to your table, or pucker up to a fresh fruit juice. The upstairs terrace is a perfect nightcap.
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Tang Jai Yuu
In Thailand, policemen and big-haired women are usually a tip-off for good eats, not suspicious activity, and Tang Jai Yuu is no exception. This place specialises in Teo Chew and Chinese-Thai specialties with an emphasis on seafood, and you can't go wrong choosing a fresh fish from the tank out the front and letting the boys grill it for you.
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Tapas Café
Although it's the least expensive of Bangkok's three Spanish joints, a visit to this newcomer is in no way a compromise. Vibrant tapas, refreshing sangria and an open, airy atmosphere make Tapas Café well worth the visit. Tapas Café is located nearly next door to Suk 11 Hostel.
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Tha Tien Restaurant
After the river express boat ends its evening service, this pier-side restaurant fires up the wok and takes in a spotlighted view of Wat Arun. Cheap, yummy and very rustic, Tha Tien's added bonus is the chance to soak in the local ways: whiskey as a main course and boat vendors selling dried cuttlefish.
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Thai Charoen
Simply look for the table of delicious-looking eats out front. This unassuming restaurant specialises in cheap and delicious Thai-Chinese specialities such as stuffed-squid, stir-fried eggplant, and jàp chǎi (a Chinese vegetable 'stew').
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Thip Samai
Brace yourself, but you should be aware that the fried noodles sold from carts along Th Khao San have nothing to do with the dish known as phàt thai . Luckily, less than a five-minute túk-túk drive away lies Thip Samai, also known by locals as phàt thai pratuu phǐi , and home to the most legendary phàt thai in town. For something a bit different, try the delicate egg-wrapped version, or the phàt thai fried with man kûng , decadent shrimp fat.
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Thonglee
With the owners' possessions overflowing into the dining room, a heavily laden spirit shrine and tacky synthetic tablecloths, Thonglee is the epitome of a typical Thai restaurant. However, in the sea of foreign food that is Th Sukhumvit, this is exactly what makes it stand out. Thonglee offers a few dishes you won't find elsewhere, like mǔu phàt kà-pì (pork fried with shrimp paste), and mìi kràwp (sweet-and-spicy crispy fried noodles).
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Tom Yum Kung
We don't make a habit of recommending restaurants on Th Khao San; it is just too easy to get caught in a tourist trap. But Tom Yum Kung is better known among Thais than foreigners and the dishes prove it. No silly pineapple curries here.
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Ton Pho
On a steamy day, catch a breeze at this open-air riverside restaurant. Ceiling fans rotate relentlessly as waiters scurry across the wooden floorboards (big gaps reveal the river beneath). The decor has the charm of a school cafeteria, adding anecdotal evidence to the Thai conviction that good food shouldn't be sullied by the Western concept of ambience.
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Tongue Thai
Using your trusty finger and the picture menu means your tongue is needed only for tasting. Maybe the name is supposed to remind us of the chef's honourable intentions not to sacrifice Thai flavours to Western palates. Anyway, your tongue will be feeling most Thai as it wraps itself around flavoursome morsels of spicy eggplant salad.
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Vegetarian Food Centre
Operated by the Asoke Foundation, this wholly vegetarian food centre near the Weekend Market is one of Bangkok's oldest. To find it, cross the footbridge above Th Kampaengphet, heading away from the market, and towards the southern end of Th Phahonyothin. Take the first right onto a through street heading into the car park, and walk past the nightclubs and bars. Turn right, and you'll see a new block of buildings selling bulk food stuff. The restaurant is at the end of this strip.
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Victory Point
In Bangkok, the best meals are always in unlikely places. Far from the foreign forces of inner Bangkok, Victory Point can be as provincial as it wants to be with a squat village of concrete stalls lit in neon and a mix of super casual and super delicious food vendors.
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Vientiane Kitchen
Night after night, this open-air barn is alive with Isan (northeastern Thailand) music, dancing and the chatter of families sitting at low tables. But the vibe comes second to the authentic Isan specialities, like frog lâap (minced frog salad), kài yâang (grilled marinated chicken) and the ubiquitous sticky rice. Be sure to tip the band on your way out.
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Wang Lang Market
Beside Siriraj Hospital is a busy market that sprawls west from Tha Wang Lang. Many of the vendors prepare fiery southern-style curries and dishes such as phàt phèt sataw (spicy red curry stir-fry with stink beans). The theory is that southern Thai food took root here because of the nearby train station that served southern destinations.
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Whole Earth Restaurant
You might come to feel like you're spending a long afternoon in your New Age auntie's lounge room, which she has decorated with souvenirs from the 'getting spiritual' tour of Asia she undertook in the 1970s. And, if you stop to think about it, the vegetarian food is a bit like that too - homey, familiar and nutritious, but not actually all that exciting. Except for the divine fruit lassis.
