Restaurants in Bangkok
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Blue Elephant
The Blue Elephant got its start in Brussels more than two decades ago as an exotic outpost of royal Thai cuisine. After spreading to other cities, the owners boldly chose Bangkok, the cuisine’s birth mother, as its ninth location. Set in a stunning Sino-Portuguese colonial building with service fit for royalty, the restaurant also features an impressive cooking school.
reviewed
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Café Primavera
If the coffee was just a tad better, this dark-wood and marble-topped table trattoria is just the kind of place we’d like to make our local cafe. The pizzas and homemade gelati offer more hope, and the friendly and efficient staff seal the deal.
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MBK Food Court
Offers dozens of vendors selling food from virtually every corner of Thailand and beyond. Standouts include an excellent vegetarian food stall (stall C8) and a very decent Isan food vendor (C22).
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Le Banyan
Sukhumvit’s trendy diners demand change every six months: new menu, new décor, new chef, anything to chase away restaurant boredom. But for the monogamous eaters who value a stiff-lipped experience, this classy French restaurant proves its dinosaur wisdom with formal efficient service and traditional fare. A lush garden surrounds the charming house illuminated with candles and gleaming wine glasses. The house speciality is pressed duck, but the seared foie gras steals the show.
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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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May Kaidee’s
Serves entirely meat-free dishes. Also offers a veggie Thai cooking school.
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Cabbages & Condoms
‘Be fed and be sheathed’ is the motto of the restaurant outreach program of the Population & Community Development Association (PDA), a sex education/AIDS prevention organisation. And likewise, for many visitors to Bangkok, this quirky garden restaurant has served as an equally ‘safe’ introduction to Thai food. Thankfully it’s done relatively well. This is a good place to gauge the Thai staples, such as the rich green curry, or the briny pàt pàk bûng fai daang (flash-fried water spinach). Instead of after-meal mints, diners receive packaged condoms, and all proceeds go towards PDA educational programs in Thailand.
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Or Tor Kor Market
Or Tor Kor is Bangkok’s highest-quality fruit and agricultural market, and sights such as toddler-sized mangoes and dozens of pots full of curries are reason enough to visit. The vast majority of vendors’ goods are takeaway only, but a small food court and a few informal restaurants exist, including Rot Det, which does excellent stir-fries and curries, and Sut Jai Kai Yaang, just south of the market, which does sublime Isan. To get here, take the MRT to Kampheng Phet station and exit on the side opposite Chatuchak (the exit says ‘Marketing Organization for Farmers’).
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Ruen Mallika
Thai restaurateurs have tourists figured out: convert an old teak house into a restaurant and they will come, regardless of the food. Ruen Mallika ups the ante by offering exquisite dishes, like dizzyingly spicy nám prík (a thick dipping sauce with vegetables and herbs) and soulful chicken wrapped in banana leaves. The surrounding garden supplies the ingredients for the deep-fried flower dish, a house speciality. The restaurant is a little tricky to find; approach from Soi 22 off Th Ratchadapisek.
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Hemlock
Taking full advantage of its cosy shophouse location, this perennial favourite has enough style to feel like a special night out but doesn’t skimp on flavour or preparation. The eclectic menu reads like an ancient literary work, reviving old dishes from the aristocratic kitchens across the country. Try the flavourful mêe·ang kam (wild tea leaves wrapped around ginger, shallots, peanuts, lime and coconut flakes) or yam kà·moy (thieves’ salad).
reviewed
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Food Loft
Food Loft at Central Chidlom pioneered the concept of the upscale food court, and mock-ups of the various Indian, Italian, Singaporean and other international dishes aid in the decision making process. Upon entering, you’ll be given a temporary credit card and will be led to a table. You have to get up again to order, but the dishes will be brought to you. Paying is done on your way out.
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Le Bouchon
Cast aside any preconceived notions of pretentious waiters and intimidating menus; this homely bistro in the middle of one of Bangkok’s more ‘colourful’ districts is a capable and fun introduction to French cooking. Choose your dishes from the blackboard menu toted around by cheery waiting staff, but it’d be a shame to miss the garlicky frogs’ legs or the savoury foie gras pâté.
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Roti-Mataba
This classic eatery appears to have become a bit too big for its britches in recent years, but still serves tasty Thai-Muslim dishes such as roti, gaang mát·sà·màn (Muslim curry), a brilliantly sour fish curry, and má·tà·bà (a sort of stuffed Indian pancake). An upstairs air-con dining area and outdoor tables provide barely enough seating for its loyal fans.
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Bourbon St Bar & Restaurant
Although the ‘spicy’ reputation of New Orleans cuisine will probably make most Thais chuckle, any restaurant run by a man who owns a crayfish farm, stuffs his own andouille and has written a cookbook on spicy food is obviously serious about eats. Stop by on Monday, when the traditional New Orleans dinner of red beans and rice is served buffet-style.
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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 pàt tai and herbal fish ball noodles are musts.
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Tapas Café
Although it’s the least expensive of Bangkok’s 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. Come before 7pm, when tapas are buy-two-get-one-free. Tapas Café is located nearly next door to Suk 11 Hostel.
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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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Calderazzo
Specialising in southern Italian cuisine, the chic dining room and imported furniture leave no doubt that this is the poshest of the area’s Italian immigrants. Located just across the street is the slightly more casual Calderazzo Bistro.
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Pizzeria Bella Napoli
An eclectic and boisterous crowd gulps down glasses of blood-red wine and gooey, garlicky, wood-fired pizzas in this Neapolitan outpost. Prepare to feel horribly jealous when the party next to you orders the prosciutto-bridge pizza.
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Yusup
The Thai-language sign in front of this restaurant boldly says rah·chahkôw mòk (King of Biryani) and Yusup backs it up with flawless biryani (try the unusual but delicious kôw mòk Ъlah; fish biryani), not to mention mouth-puckeringly sour oxtail soup and decadent gaang mát·sà·màn. For dessert try roh·đi wăhn, a paratha-like crispy pancake topped with sweetened condensed milk and sugar – a dish that will send most carb-paranoid Westerners running away screaming.
To find Yusup, get in a taxi heading north from Mor Chit BTS station and ask the driver to take you to Th Kaset-Navamin (also locally known as the sên đàt mài ). Turn right at the Kaset intersec…
reviewed
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Baan Suan Pai
This vegetarian food centre offers a huge selection of meat-free meals served up by several vendors. Everything is strictly vegetarian, even lacking the ubiquitous fish sauce. Most plates offer the choice of three stir-fries, but there’s also sushi and noodles. Don’t miss the handmade ice cream of such exotic flavours as passionfruit, lemon grass and lotus root. Purchase coupons from the woman at the desk near the entry. The coupons are printed with Thai numbers only, but the denominations are colour-coded: green – 5B; purple – 10B; blue – 20B; red – 25B. The restaurant is just past the petrol station before Soi 4.
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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. Prices are ridiculously low (around 10B per dish) and you buy tickets at the front desk.
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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 pàt tai. Luckily, less than a five-minute túk-túk ride away lies Thip Samai, also known by locals as pàt tai Ъrà·đoo pĕe, and home to the most legendary pàt tai in town. For something a bit different, try the delicate egg-wrapped version, or the pàt tai fried with man gûng, decadent shrimp fat. Closed on alternate Wednesdays.
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Food Plus
This claustrophobic alleyway is bursting with the wares of several ráhn kôw gaang (rice and curry stalls). Everything is made ahead of time, so simply point to what looks tasty: you’ll be hard-pressed to spend more than 100B, and the flavours are unanimously authentic and delicious. Try to avoid the heart of the lunch rush (approximately 12.15pm to 12.45pm) when virtually every shopkeeper in the area (and believe us, there are many) seems to descend on the place.
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Park Food Hall
Park Food Hall brings together some of the city’s most well-known international restaurants. Emporium Food Hall, on the same floor, features cheaper, mostly Chinese and Thai food, and what must be the cheapest meal with a view in town. Paying is done by buying coupons at the windows in the entrance. Be sure to leave these in your pocket until the next day when it’s too late to get a refund – it’s an integral part of the food-court experience.
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