Thai 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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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).
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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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’).
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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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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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.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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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 mŏo pàt gà·Ъì (pork fried with shrimp paste) and mèe gròrp (sweet-and-spicy crispy fried noodles).
reviewed
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100 Ratchadamri
Well-known in blue-blood circles, this restaurant occupies a prestigious location on the grounds of the Royal Bangkok Sports Club. But cast aside visions of bird-dog oil paintings, rather, this place sports a nightclub setting (sans the decibels) and outdoor banquettes facing the club greens. True to the educated-abroad palate, there is a Thai and Italian menu. Yam sôm oh puu (pomelo salad with deep-fried crab) earns a hole-in-one.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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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, kôw klúk gà·Ъì, rice cooked in shrimp paste and served with sweet pork, shredded green mango and other toppings.
reviewed
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Horng Ahaan 55
The metro magazines will try to steer you to the latest 'white-linen' hotties, but Bangkok's real culinary beefcakes are these naked little store fronts. The décor is almost institutional: besides the essentials there's also a gaudy Chinese shrine and photographs of revered monks. But this leaves more energy and resources for the food, like saffron-spiked poo phàt ph?ng ka-rii (crab curry).
reviewed
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Kai Thawt Jay Kii (Soi Polo Fried Chicken)
This Cinderella of a former street stall has become virtually synonymous with fried chicken. Although the sôm đam, sticky rice and lâhp (spicy ‘salad’ of minced meat) give the impression of an Isan eatery, the restaurant’s namesake deep-fried bird is more southern in origin. Regardless, smothered in a thick layer of crispy deep-fried garlic, it is none other than a truly Bangkok experience.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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Yuy Lee
This aged but spotless eatery serves a variety of dishes, but most folks come for the northern Thai noodle duo of kôw soy (wheat noodles in a curry broth) and kà·nŏm jeen nám ngée·o (fresh rice noodles in a tomato and pork broth). The former, although not bad for Bangkok, can’t compete with the real deal from Chiang Mai, but the latter is an excellent take on a hard-to-find dish.
reviewed
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Phat Thai Ari
One of Bangkok’s most famous pàt tai restaurants has moved from its namesake soi to a new home across the street. Try the innovative ‘noodle-less’ version, where long strips of crispy green papaya are substituted for the traditional rice noodles from Chanthaburi. The restaurant is located on the small sub-soi just south of Soi 8 that is labelled ‘Phahonyothin Center’.
reviewed
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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 soiis 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).
reviewed
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Nang Loeng Market
Dating back to 1899, this atmospheric fresh market is a wonderful glimpse of old Bangkok, not to mention a great place to grab a bite. Nang Loeng is renowned for its Thai sweets, and at lunchtime is also an excellent place to fill up on savouries. Try a bowl of handmade egg noodles at Rung Rueng or the wonderful curries across the way at Ratana.
reviewed
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Bo.lan
Upscale Thai is usually not worth the bill, but this chic new restaurant, started up by two former chefs of London’s Michelin-starred Nahm, is the exception. Bo and Dylan (Bo.lan, a play on words that also means ‘ancient’) take a scholarly approach to Thai cuisine, and perfectly executed set meals featuring full-flavoured regional Thai dishes are the results of this tuition.
reviewed
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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 (Ъlah grà·pohng nêung see·éw ) is also a speciality and, like all good Thai seafood, should be enjoyed with an immense platter of kôw pàt Ъoo (fried rice with crab) and as many friends as you can gather together.
reviewed
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Jay So
This bright-red crumbling shack is living proof that, where authentic Thai food is concerned, ambience 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 đam, sublime herb-stuffed grilled catfish and other Isan specialities.
reviewed
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Sanguan Sri
This restaurant, resembling a concrete bunker filled with furniture circa 1973, can afford to remain decidedly cher-i (old-fashioned) simply because of its reputation. Mimic the area’s hungry office staff and try the excellent gaang pèt Ъèt yâhng, red curry with grilled duck breast served over snowy white kà·nŏm jeen noodles.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
