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Baan Khanitha & Gallery
Baan Khanitha is one of Bangkok's classic expat restaurants. Why? It's got the formula down pat: outstanding food, high-class setting and impeccable service.
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Baan Khun Mae
Welcome to Mama's House, a homey little spot for respectable Thai food at hospitable prices. Order till your heart's content and try all the dishes you've never heard of, because the final bill won't wound your adventurousness.
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Baan Klang Nam 1
Near Khlong Toey Port, this rustic wooden house is a favourite of the Thai matriarchs and guests at nearby Montien Riverside. The seafood is a little more expensive here than other riverside restaurants, but so is the quality. Crab, prawns, and whole white fish are among the hits that make people swoon.
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Baanya
You might lose hope as you walk past the bratwurst-and-pasta joints of Sukhumvit's girlie-bar scene but deep inside this soi is a genuine Thai restaurant known by a handful of office workers and nosh-explorers. The menu seems straightforward but there are many unique twists: lâap k?ayt?aw (a spicy meat salad stuffed into rice-flour noodles) and plaa tub tim (tilapia).
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Bali
With the proprietors living directly above the dining room, homely atmosphere takes a literal interpretation at Bangkok's only Indonesian restaurant. Despite the name, the food here is not Balinese, but rather pan-Indonesian, and the restaurant serves all the expected standards (satay, gado-gado, rijstaffel ), as well as a few, slightly more unusual dishes (young jackfruit salad, a variety of sambels (spicy Indonesian/Malaysian dips).
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Blue Elephant
Set in a refurbished Sino-Thai colonial building with service fit for royalty, the Blue Elephant promises fine dining within striking distance of the city's luxury hotels. Instead of the set meals, try choosing from the extensive menu of modernised ancient dishes. The Blue Elephant is near St Louis Hospital at the Surasak Skytrain station.
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Boon Tong Kiat Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice
The unofficial national dish of Singapore is treated with holy reverence at this humble eatery. After taking in the exceedingly detailed and ambitious chicken rice manifesto written on the walls, order a plate of the restaurant's namesake and witness how a dish can be so simple, yet so delicious. And while you're there you'd be daft not order rojak , the spicy/sour fruit 'salad', which is referred to here tongue-in-cheek as 'Singapore Som Tam'.
Read more about Boon Tong Kiat Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice
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Bussaracum
Recipes once reserved for royalty are made available to all at Bussaracum (pronounced boot-sa-ra-kam ). Intricate dishes and curry pastes made from scratch are presented so much like works of art that it (almost) breaks your heart to dig a spoon into your delicate purple dumpling flowers and dramatically carved squash overflowing with seafood.
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Chote Chitr
Antique family-owned restaurants adorn Banglamphu, the old section of town, where middle-class Thais eat the way their parents and grandparents did before them. Chote Chitr is famous for mee krob , sweet-and-spicy crispy fried noodles, and the banana flower salad ( yum hua plee ). New York Times food reviewer RW Apple ate here and loved it. It's located off Th Tanao.
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Gourmet Paradise
One entire floor is dedicated to food and eating in Siam Paragon's ubermall universe. The feudal divisions of Thai society are in full effect on weekends. The aristocrats file into the branches of successful white-linen restaurants, while the working class hustles through the food court with trays of noodles and stir-fries.
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Home Cuisine Islamic Restaurant
Hidden in a leafy corner mercifully distant from hectic Th Charoen Krung, this bungalow-like restaurant does tasty Thai-Muslim with an endearing Indian accent. Sit out on the breezy patio and try the simultaneously rich and sour fish curry, accompanied ideally by a flaky roti or three.
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In Love
This recently remodelled perch straddling the Chao Phraya River has undergone a transformation from homey to chic, reflecting much of the change in today's newfangled Bangkok. Slate grey and minimalist decor now define your settings, but the seafood-heavy menu thankfully, still has its head in the past.
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Jay Fai
You wouldn't think so by looking at her bare-bones dining room, but Jay Fai is known far and wide for serving Bangkok's most expensive phat khii mao (drunkard's noodles). The price is justified by the copious fresh seafood, as well as Jay Fai's distinct frying style that results in a virtually oil-free finished product.
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Jay So
This bright blue crumbling shack is living proof that, where authentic Thai food is concerned, ambiance is often considered more a liability than an asset. Fittingly, Jay So has no menu as such, but a mortar and pestle and a huge grill are the telltale signs of ballistically spicy sôm-tam , sublime herb-stuffed grilled catfish and other Isan specialties.
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Kaiyang Boran
In a neighbourhood filled with old-school Bangkok-style grub, Kaiyang Boran's unabashedly Isan menu stands out. It is even more incongruous considering that the owner is Thai-Chinese and had never eaten the fiery dishes of the northeast until he met his wife from Chaiyapoom. The comfortable setting and air-conditioning make this an ideal spot for overheated neat freaks made nervous by streetside dining.
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Khrua Aroy Aroy
Despite being the kind of family-run Thai restaurant where nobody seems to mind a cat slumbering on the cash register, Khrua Aroy Aroy ('Delicious Delicious Kitchen') lives up to its lofty name. Stop by for some of the richest curries around, as well as the interesting daily specials including, on Thursdays, khâo khlúk kà-pì : rice cooked in shrimp paste and served with sweet pork, shredded green mango and other toppings.
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Kim Leng
Want a home-cooked meal, but having trouble convincing random strangers on the street to make one for you? A visit to this eatery excelling in the foods of central Thailand is a decent substitute. As with much of the food of the capital, sweet intermingles with spicy here, and you can't go wrong with Kim Leng's hàw mòk (steamed curry) or náam phrík kà-pì (shrimp paste dip served as a set with veggies and deep-fried fish).
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Krisa Coffee Shop
Beat the heat during a temple tour with a pit stop at this cosy café. It's air-conditioned and serves up cheap and cheerful one-plate meals, like kǔaytǐaw phàt khîi mao (wide rice noodles with holy basil and chilli), to see you through the expedition.
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Krua Noppharat
A few dusty paintings are the only effort at interior design at this family-run standby. Where flavour is concerned, however, Krua Noppharat is willing to expend considerably more energy. Krua Noppharat is as popular among foreigners as it is among Thais, but thankfully does not tone down its excellent central and southern-style Thai fare for the former.
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Kuaytiaw Reua Tha Siam
Back in the days when canals were the city's thoroughfares, the noodle boat floated from house to house. Now that life has moved to solid ground, this restaurant and others like it pay tribute to those days by serving bowls from decidedly landlocked vessels. The restaurant's namesake, kǔaytǐaw reua (boat noodles) are, like the chain's surprisingly decent Isan food, intensely spicy and satisfying.
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Le Lys
A soothing respite from Bangkok's traffic and the pressures of formality, Le Lys is in a new location but the superb Thai dishes and the relaxed vibe remain. Some diners snack and drink between sets of pétanque (French lawn bowls) in the restaurant's backyard
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Muslim Restaurant
Plant yourself in any random wooden booth of this ancient eatery for a glimpse into what restaurants in Bangkok used to be like back in the day. The menu, much like the interior design, doesn't appear to have changed much in the restaurant's 70-year history, and the biryanis, curries and samosas are still more Indian than Thai.
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Naaz
Hidden in a nondescript alleyway is Naaz (pronounced Nát ), a tiny living-room kitchen serving some of the city's richest khâo mòk kài (chicken biryani). Various daily specials include chicken masala and mutton korma, but we're most curious to visit on Thursdays when the restaurant serves something called Karai Ghost.
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Ngwan Lee Lang Suan
This cavern-like staple of copious consumption is still going strong after all these decades. If you can locate the entrance, squeeze in with the post-clubbing crowd and try some of those dishes you never dare to order elsewhere such as jàp chǎi (Chinese-style stewed veggies) or hǒy laay phàt náam phrík phǎo (clams stir-fried with chilli sauce and Thai basil).
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Pan
If you're looking for authentic Thai, but don't want to stray far from the comforts of Th Khao San, this streetside eatery (next to Viengtai Hotel) is your best bet. Simply look for the overflowing tray of raw ingredients, point to what you want and Pan will mix it up for you. The clientele is decidedly international, but the flavours wholly domestic.
