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Arawy
Marked by a sign that reads 'Alloy' (meaning 'delicious'), this was one of Bangkok's first Thai non-meat restaurants, inspired by the strict diet of the ex-governor of Bangkok, Chamlong Srimuang. It's still one of the best, with none of the oil spills that mar much of the city's vegetarian cuisine. Squeezing in beside the TV and a box of palm oil is well worth it.
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Arroi
Employing a variety of tasty meat substitutes and sticking to a repertoire of classic Thai dishes, even flesh-eaters will be happy at this tiny restaurant.
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Baan Phra Arthit
When only air-conditioning will do, why not do it in style? This classy café features a few basic Western-Thai fusion dishes, decent coffee, and even better cakes and sweets. And all of this for less than the price of a latté back at home.
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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.
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Cabbages & Condoms
The motto of this place is 'Be fed and be sheathed', run by a sex education-AIDs prevention organisation. Using familiar vegetables the chefs create sufficiently complex flavoured dishes for those 'wading' into Thai food. Dishes such as yam wún sên (mung-bean noodle salad) provide a source of raw vegetables. Instead of after-dinner mints, diners get condoms.
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Circle Of Friends
This unpretentious café shares space with Saeng-Arom Ashram and exudes a gentle tranquillity that self-help books champion. There are lots of veggie options and all the Thai standards along with an eclectic group of bookish Thais.
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Deck
The Deck's claim to fame is its commanding views over Wat Arun, but the restaurant's short but diverse menu, ranging from duck confit to Thai-style pomelo salad, sweetens the pot. After dinner, take a drink at the hotel's open-air rooftop bar.
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Hemlock
Technically Hemlock is a bar, but to come here and not eat would be sheer stupidity. Book a table because everyone knows how amazing the food is. Unravelling and eating the succulent kài hàw bai toey (marinated chicken wrapped in pandanus leaf and fried) is almost a religious experience.
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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).
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Isan Restaurants
When a boxing match is on at nearby Ratchadamnoen Stadium, these restaurants are run off their feet serving plates of Isan staples like kài yâang (grilled chicken), sôm-tam (green papaya salad) and khâo n?aw (sticky rice). A fun pre-match tradition, but the chicken is too dry to qualify as a main event.
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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-tam , sticky rice and lâap (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.
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Kalapapreuk On First
When Thai society types give their cooks a day off, they wander over to this airy café in the Emporium mall for ahǎan faràng (Western food) or regional Thai specialities. The dining room is not as in-your-face hip as much of the Sukhumvit scene, but in this part of town it's pleasant to find a place where flavour takes a front seat.
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Kaloang Home Kitchen
Don't be alarmed by the peeling paint and the dilapidated deck; Kaloang Home Kitchen certainly isn't. The laid-back atmosphere and seafood-heavy menu will quickly dispel any concerns about sinking into the Chao Phraya, and a beer and the breeze will temporarily erase any scarring memories of Bangkok traffic.
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May Kaidee
May Kaidee started doing non-meat around the same time that fisherman pants became the backpacker uniform. She knows her audience: easy on the chillies, heavy on the coconut milk. And she doesn't even wince when new arrivals ask for chopsticks for their curries.
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Or Tor Kor Market
Or Tor Kor is Bangkok's highest-quality fruit and agricultural market, and sights such as the 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 few informal restaurants exist, including Rot Det, which does excellent stir-fries and curries, and sublime Isan at Sut Jai Kai Yaang, located directly south of the market.
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Rachanawi Samosawn (Navy Club Restaurant)
Commanding one of the few coveted riverfront locations along this stretch of the Chao Phraya, this restaurant has a reputation among locals in the know for cheap and delicious seafood-based Thai nosh.
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Ranee's Guesthouse
In addition to meat-free Thai, this 'flashpacker' oasis now fancies itself as a bakery, and puts out some better-than-decent pizza, pasta and bread. Dining with new friends in the cool leafy courtyard, we double-dare you to miss the bad old days of cheap guesthouse eats.
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River Bar Café
Sporting a picture-perfect riverside location, good food, and live music, River Bar Café is the epitome of a Bangkok night out. Take a seat on the deck to soak up the breezes and to avoid the enthusiastic but loud live bands inside.
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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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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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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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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.
