Restaurants in Thailand
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A
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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B
Babylon Beach Club
Accessible by dirt road are the seaside, polished, whitewashed environs of the Babylon Beach Club. Under new Italian management, lunch is more casual 'beach fare' such as burgers and salads while dinner gets more lavish with mains such as prawn and asparagus risotto.
reviewed
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C
MBK Food Court
The granddaddy of Bangkok food courts offers dozens of vendors selling dishes from virtually every corner of Thailand and beyond. It's a great introduction to Thai food, and standouts include an excellent vegetarian food stall (stall C8) and a very decent Isan food vendor (C22). To pay you must first exchange your cash for a temporary credit card at one of several counters; your change is refunded at the same desk.
reviewed
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D
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.
reviewed
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Chopper's Bar & Grill
So popular that it's become a local landmark, Chopper's is a two-storey hang-out where divers and travellers can widen their beer belly. There's live music, sports on the big-screen TVs, billiards and a cinema room. Friday nights are particularly popular; the drinks are 'two for one', and dishes are half-priced as well. Cheers for scored goals are interspersed with exaggerated chatter about creatures seen on the day's dive.
reviewed
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E
Love at First Bite
Tucked deep into a residential soi on the east bank of the river, this famous dessert shop is filled with middle-class, cake-confident Thais. Don't be surprised to see folks posing in front of the dessert display case for a souvenir photo. It's on the eastern side of the river about 500m north of the tourist office.
reviewed
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F
Da Stefano
An intimate, well-decorated, air-con place, Da Stefano focuses on fresh Italian cuisine, with one of the better wine lists in town.
reviewed
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G
Anusan Night Market
Anusan is a buzzing food market best known for its Thai-Chinese seafood restaurants. Stalls surround a large cluster of tables where each 'restaurant' has a section allocated with its own waiters. Nearby are other stand-alone restaurants, some of which have their own prawn holding ponds acting as centrepieces for their menu speciality. The prices are higher than they ought to be but these are special-occasion splash-out restaurants for Thais. Try Lena Restaurant here, where a kilo of succulent grilled prawns will set you back 300B. Or have a stab at the fish in Thai spices and basil leaves.
reviewed
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H
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.
reviewed
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I
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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J
AUM Vegetarian Food
Aiming square at the health-conscious traveller is AUM's vegetarian delights. There's organic coffee from Laos, seasonal juices and a range of all-veggie Thai-style stir-fries, soups, salads and rice dishes. The restaurant has an eating area with floor cushions and low tables. A more expensive, limited Japanese menu (that includes sweet chilli maki) is also available.
reviewed
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K
May & Mark
One of the first places in town to start serving Western food way back when, May & Mark still does it best thanks to recipes collected from helpful faràng (foreigners of European descent) over the years. Specialities range from excellent fresh bread to bangers and mash and cordon bleu meals.
reviewed
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Starbeam
One of Surin's many expat hang-outs, this one has a broad menu that includes pizza, breakfast burritos and an almost-good-as-home grilled cheese. It's north of the bus station.
reviewed
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L
Khun Churn
Thais love their buffets – it's the all-you-can-eat allure for these food-loving people. This place is certainly one of the best going around. There's a plethora of well-prepared vegetarian dishes and salads to choose from and basic fruit drinks are included. The shady outdoor setting will entice you to linger.
reviewed
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Baan Benjarong
This converted house serving central Thai dishes is where the locals come for a ‘nice’ Thai meal. Dishes like stewed, salted crabs in coconut milk, and spicy banana flower salad are delectable. Out the back are tables with views of the rice paddies.
reviewed
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Drunken Sailors
This hip, ultra-relaxed, octagonal pad is smothered with beanbags. The coffee drinks are top-notch and go well with interesting bites like the chicken green curry sandwich.
reviewed
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Viking Steakhouse
Offering a fine line in pizzas, pastas and Nordic meat feasts, this is a longstanding favourite. The cosy, open-fronted interior features all sorts of welcome trimmings.
reviewed
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M
May Kaidee’s
Serves entirely meat-free dishes. Also offers a veggie Thai cooking school.
reviewed
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N
Dada Kafe
Promoting itself as a healthy alternative, this eatery is very popular for breakfast. There are simple but comfy chairs and tables and a menu featuring freshly prepared food that has a good stab at sandwiches, pasta dishes and Thai mains. It specialises in juices and claims to have the liquid fruit answer to many ailments including acne, heart disease and high-blood pressure. True or not, they are delicious.
reviewed
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O
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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P
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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Dining On The Rocks
Samui's ultimate dining experience takes place on nine cantilevered verandahs of weathered teak and bamboo that yawn over the gulf. After sunset (and a glass of wine), guests feel like they're dining on a wooden barge set adrift on a starlit sea. Each dish on the six-course prix-fixe menu is the brainchild of the experimental cooks who regularly experiment with taste, texture and temperature. If you're celebrating a special occasion, you'll have to book well in advance if you want to sit at 'table 99' – the honeymooners' table – positioned on a private terrace. Dining On The Rocks is located at the isolated Six Senses Samui.
reviewed
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Q
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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R
Hemlock
Taking full advantage of its cosy shophouse setting, this white-tablecloth local is an excellent intro to Thai food. The vast menu has the usual suspects, but also includes some dishes you'd be hard pressed to find elsewhere, as well as a strong vegie section.
reviewed
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S
Casa Pascal
Owned and operated by the former executive chef of Pattaya's Dusit Resort, Casa Pascal is an elegant dining experience set under a colonnade of large wooden pillars. Loosen your belt for the never-ending Sunday brunch buffet, complete with a fanfare of napkin sculptures, cooking stations and delicious samplers, such as rock lobster and beef Tatar. The regularly changing menu features gourmet French, Italian and Thai dishes.
reviewed
