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Thais are passionate about food, and love discovering out-of-the-way shops that prepare unexpectedly tasty dishes. Nowhere is this truer—or more feasible—than in Bangkok. The city's residents always seem to be eating, so the tastes and smells of Thailand's cuisine surround you day and night. That said, Bangkok's restaurant scene is also a minefield, largely because the relationship between price and quality at times seems almost inverse. For every hole-in-the-wall gem serving the best sticky rice, larb (meat salad), and som tam (the hot-and-sour green-papaya salad that is the ultimate Thai staple) you've ever had, there's an overpriced hotel restaurant serving touristy, toned-down fare. In general, the best Thai food is found at the most bare-bones, even run-down restaurants, not at famous, upscale places.
If you want a break from Thai food, many other world cuisines are represented. Best among them is Chinese, although there's decent Japanese and Korean food as well. The city's ubiquitous noodle shops have their roots in China, as do roast-meat purveyors, whose historical inspiration was Cantonese. Western fare tends to suffer from the distance, although in the past few years many upscale and trendy western eateries have opened, some of them quite excellent.
As with anything in Bangkok, travel time is a major consideration when choosing a restaurant. If you're short on time or patience, choose a place that's an easy walk from a Skytrain or subway station. The easiest way to reach a riverside eatery is often on a Chao Phraya River express boat.
Started by master chef David Thompson, who won accolades for his Thai eatery in London, the distinguished Nahm changed hands to chef Pim Techamuanvivit in 2018. Her cuisine marries the traditionalist concept of Nahm—where Thompson turned heads with recipes from ancient cookbooks—with the labor-intensive approach of Techamuanvivit's first restaurant, San Francisco's Kin Khao, for an upscale yet authentic Thai experience.
This unassuming restaurant next to Wat Plaplachai has a steady clientele thanks to fast service and consistently excellent Chinese-Thai dishes prepared according to the owner’s secret family recipes. The lighting and decor are lacking, but that can be forgiven when you taste the traditional tom yum goong (spicy, hot and sour shrimp soup), which some deem to be the city's best.
This legendary restaurant has been delighting diners with its fried chicken seasoned with black pepper and plenty of golden-brown garlic for more than 50 years. The restaurant is a bit hard to find—as you enter Soi Polo (Soi Sanam Khli), it's about 50 yards in on your left.
This little place with bare walls and a tile floor is beloved by locals for its juicy pet (roast duck) and moo daeng (red pork). Getting here early is a good idea—by 6 pm there's often little duck left—and allow yourself time to find the entrance, which is easy to miss on the busy Charoen Krung road.
The menu at Saffron mixes creative modern Thai with classic dishes, and the food is just as exciting as the stunning views from the 52nd floor of the Banyan Tree Bangkok. Even if you don't come for dinner, stop by the adjoining bar on the balcony for a cocktail or some street food–inspired snacks—the comfy seating, cool breeze, and vistas are superb.
Come to Sala Rim Naam—part of the Mandarin Oriental hotel but across the river—to soak up the atmosphere, which includes a classical Thai dancing show nightly at 7:45 pm in an indoor pavilion, or to enjoy the romantic mood of alfresco tables overlooking the river. The renditions of Thai food are rather Westernized, but the set dinners, buffet lunches, and à la carte menus offer plenty of choices. There is a complimentary shuttle boat across the Chao Phraya River from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
In Thai-style teak pavilions facing the Chao Phraya River, this restaurant has a setting that practically guarantees a romantic evening—book an outside table so you can enjoy the breeze. Although the food may not have as many chilies as locals would like, the Thai standards are represented on the menu, with à la carte and set menus of seven or eight Thai favorites starting at B1,680.
In this century-old corner building in Bang Rak, a small team of Thai chefs turn out gub glam, simple dishes that are traditionally meant to accompany an evening of drinking but the food more than stands up on its own. Signature dishes include fried chicken wings in a fish-sauce glaze and beef brisket braised in a soy ginger sauce and served with garlic rice and greens. On the same premises, a Japanese partner makes world-class homemade ice cream with Thai ingredients.
The seafood at this 1,500-seat, garishly fluorescent-lit establishment is way overpriced (plus you pay a charge for the cooking), and the atmosphere is extremely touristy, but the place is always packed and it makes for a fun night out. As in a supermarket, you take a small cart and choose from an array of seafood—crabs, prawns, lobsters, clams, oysters, and fish—which chefs then cook how you prefer.
In an attractive, 1970s vintage house decorated with old-school Thai touches, this is one of the only restaurants in the city focused on the cuisine of eastern Thailand, particularly Chanthaburi and Trat. Don't miss the lon pu kai, a creamy coconut-chili dip made with fresh chunks of mud crab and accompanied by fresh local herbs and vegetables.
Located on the Chao Phraya River across from the Grand Palace, this charming restaurant is in the former home of Khunying Supatra, founder of Bangkok's express boat business. A free ferry from Maharaj Pier shuttles diners back and forth to enjoy impressive views and Thai cuisine, with multicourse prixe-fixe meals and à la carte options.
This open-air seafood restaurant is full of festive round tables and tanks containing live whole crabs, lobsters, and sea leech ready to be cooked in traditional Thai-Chinese style. There are lots of à la carte options from land and sea, but ordering off one of the many set menus is the best way to sample a variety of dishes.
From the outside, Tawandang looks like a big barrel representing the 40,000 liters of lager and other beers brewed here every month. With such an active brewery, you might think food would be an afterthought, especially considering the cheesy entertainment such as comedy drag and Thai traditional dancing, but the kitchen actually turns out quite good Thai food, with some German and Chinese fare thrown in. Presided over by a German brewmaster, Tawandang specializes in lager, weizen and dunkel beers on tap.
It's easy to laze all afternoon at The Commons, a lofty community mall known for its gourmet food stands, restaurants, and comfortable open-air seating. You'll see groups dining on smorgasbords at single tables, with cuisines from Thai to Mexican, as well as dishes like fried chicken and waffles, artisanal sandwiches, and more—but plenty of people simply grab an iced coffee and hang out with their laptops.
In the ultramodern Velaa Sindhorn community mall on Soi Lang Suan, Vaso has an oval-shaped bar—no tables—surrounding an open kitchen that serves modern Spanish tapas and shared plates, including fresh oysters and imported Iberico jam. The short, well-curated wine list includes cava, Spain's bubbly equivalent to prosecco or Champagne.
You'll feel on top of the world at this classy 61st-floor space, one of the loftiest open-air restaurants in town. The international menu focuses on grilled seafood prepared with flair, and the service is friendly, but as with most of Bangkok's rooftop restaurants, you're paying for the sky-high setting, not the food—you might just prefer to come for a sunset drink to enjoy the stupendous views.
This second-floor restaurant has been serving Chao Zhou cuisine for more than 70 years and though it lacks the elegance of the hotel restaurants in the area—the dining room is simple and you have to walk through the dishwashing room to reach the bathroom—it's a solid option in the heart of Chinatown. The Chinese-style sashimi and the fresh crab claws with ginger are excellent, but if you're feeling bold, try the ham with goatskin dipped in rice vinegar.
Departing each evening at 8 pm, the Yok Yor is a little like a floating restaurant. The boat ride costs B200, and the food is ordered à la carte as opposed to a set menu, making this different from most of Bangkok's dinner cruises.
Hotel restaurants in Bangkok often disappoint, but this casual street-kitchen–inspired spot at the Grand Hyatt Erawan serves high-quality Thai food—particularly northern Thai dishes—at reasonable prices. Come for the good range of noodles, curries, and congee, served à la carte or as buffet options, with premium add-ons such as lobster, crab, and braised beef available. There's a curry buffet at lunch and dinner for B550 and B650 respectively.
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