Thai 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
MBK Food Court
The granddaddy of the genre, MBK’s expansive food court offers vendors selling dishes from virtually every corner of Thailand and beyond. Exchange cash for tickets and burn them at the tasty vegetarian food stall (stall C8) or the decent northeastern Thai food vendor (C22). Any tickets you don’t use can be refunded at another desk.
reviewed
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C
Taling Pling
Locals and tourists feel equally at home at this cosy Thai restaurant. Flip through the thick photo-album-like menu of largely seafood- and vegetable-based Thai dishes, including a handful made with the eponymous tart vegetable. Tasty pies and cakes and refreshing drinks round out the choices, but slow service means you should go elsewhere if you’re in a hurry.
reviewed
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D
Cabbages & Condoms
This longstanding garden restaurant is a safe place to gauge the Thai staples. It also stands for a safe cause: instead of after-meal mints, diners receive packaged condoms, and all proceeds go towards Population & Community Development Association (PDA), a sex education/AIDS prevention organisation.
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Khao-Mao Khao-Fang
Like dining in a gentrified jungle, this place, designed by a Thai botanist, replaces chandeliers with hanging vines, orchids and lots of running water. It also has one of the more interesting Thai menus you'll find anywhere, with dishes featuring local ingredients such as fish from the Mae Nam Moei or local herbs and veggies. Try one of the several delicious-sounding yam (Thai-style spicy salads), featuring ingredients ranging from white turmeric to local mushrooms. The restaurant is north of town between the Km 1 and Km 2 markers on the road to Mae Ramat.
reviewed
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E
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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F
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 aristocratic kitchens across the country. Try the flavourful mêe·ang kam (wild tea leaves wrapped around ginger, shallots, peanuts, lime and shredded coconut) or yam kà·moy (thieves’ salad).
reviewed
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G
Ban Mai
Dinner at this local favourite is like a meal at your grandparents': opinionated conversation resounds, frumpy furniture abounds, and an overfed Siamese cat appears to rule the dining room. Don't expect home cooking though; Ban Mai specialises in unusual but perfectly executed dishes that aren't easily found elsewhere, like the gaang pèt Ъèt yâhng, a curry of smoked duck, or yam đà·krái, lemongrass 'salad'.
reviewed
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H
Chatchai Market
The city's day market resides in an historic building built in 1926 with a distinctive seven-eaved roof in honour of Rama VII. There are the usual market refreshments: morning vendors selling Ъah·tôrng·gŏh (Chinese-style doughnuts) and gah·faa boh·rahn (ancient-style coffee spiked with sweetened condensed milk); as well as all-day noodles with freshly made wontons; and the full assortment of fresh tropical fruit.
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I
Krua Apsorn
This is the original branch of this homey, award-winning and royally patronised restaurant. Expect a clientele made up of fussy families and big-haired, middle-aged ladies, and a cuisine revolving around full-flavoured, largely seafood- and vegetable-heavy central Thai dishes. If you have dinner in mind, be sure to note the early closing times.
reviewed
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J
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 standouts.
reviewed
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K
Savoey
On an island packed with weighed-to-order fish grills, this is one of the best. Its huge ice shelf is packed with lobsters, prawns, grouper, red snapper, sole, trevally and barracuda. It also has live lobsters. It has one menu and four dining rooms – two of them on the sand. The food is always great, and the prices are quite reasonable.
reviewed
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L
Uptown Restaurant
This classic, breezy Chinese-style cafe may not look fancy, but look around and you'll notice mounted photos of Thai celebrities who have stopped by to slurp the spectacular noodles.
reviewed
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M
nahm
Australian chef-author David Thompson is behind what is quite possibly the best Thai restaurant in Bangkok. Using ancient cookbooks as his inspiration, Thompson has given new life to previously extinct dishes such as smoked fish curry with prawns, chicken livers, cockles and black pepper. Dinner takes the form of a multicourse set meal, while lunch means kà·nŏm jeen, thin rice noodles served with curries. If you’re expecting bland, gentrified Thai food meant for foreigners, prepare to be disappointed. Reservations recommended.
reviewed
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N
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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Twins Restaurant
Don’t let the frump factor deter you from this eager-to-please Thai restaurant. The food-phobic Europeans get plenty of hand-holding, but the food-flexible can get fresh and fabulous Thai meals in an oh-so pretty setting.
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Apple Guest House
This guesthouse restaurant introduces newcomers to Thai food without being condescending. Both the kaeng mátsàmàn (Muslim-style curry) and phàt thai are highly recommended.
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O
Rang Yen Garden
This lush garden restaurant is a cosy and friendly spot to feel at home after a day of feeling like a foreigner. It serves up Thai favourites and is only open in the high season.
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P
Kai Tod Daycha
Hat Yai–style fried chicken is a dish known across Thailand, and locals claim that Daycha does it best. Enjoy your spicy bird over fragrant yellow rice.
reviewed
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Q
Natural Restaurant
A Phuket City staple for 15 years, this is a good place for traditional Thai food. The eclectic ambiance is a treat.
reviewed
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Blues Blues Restaurant
Through the green screen of tropical plants is an arty stir-fry hut that is beloved for expertise, efficiency and economy. The owner's delicate watercolour paintings are on display too. The restaurant is about 600m from the turn-off to Ban Kwan Chang.
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Krua Medsai
This fantastic local haunt rarely registers on Cha-am's tourism radar because it sits just north of the beachside burg. Try succulent Ъoo nim (soft-shell crab) and order a bowl of spicy đôm yam gûng (prawn and lemongrass soup) with coconut. To find Krua Medsai, go north along the main ocean road until the rows of accommodation end; you'll pass over a small bridge and a few hundred metres later there's a large blue billboard pointing to the restaurant on the right-hand side of the road.
reviewed
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R
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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Night Markets
The most popular and pleasant place for an evening meal is at the night market near the Khong Kha pier. The menus are in English but the food is authentic and excellent. Stalls here sell papaya salad, fried noodles, đôm yam gûng (prawn and lemon grass soup with mushrooms), fresh seafood and all manner of things on satay sticks, plus sweet milky Thai desserts. There's a similar market just north on Th Sukhon that's open day and night and caters to a more local crowd.
reviewed
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S
Sabeinglae
‘Everything there is delicious, ’ said our cab driver as he dropped us off. And indeed this rustic seafood shack, known for its Samui cuisine, delivered a table full of intensely delicious creations, like wai kôo·a (a coconut milk curry with octopus), yam tá-lair sà·mŭi (a zesty local-style salad) and a seaweed dish whose name has been forgotten. The Samui dishes appear in the menu in Thai only, so ask your server for recommendations. It’s south of Hin Ta Hin Yai.
reviewed