251 Best Restaurants in Thailand

The Anantara resort's main breakfast buffet room turns into a reputable Thai restaurant during the lunch and dinner hour, offering northern specialties like khao soi, gaeng ho (dry curry pork with glass noodles and vegetables), and a duo of dips made with minced pork and green chilies.

Come to Sala Rim Naam—part of the Mandarin Oriental hotel but across the river in Thonburi—to soak up the atmosphere, which includes a classical Thai dancing show (Wednesday to Sunday at 7:30 pm) in an indoor pavilion, or enjoy the romantic mood of alfresco tables overlooking the river. The renditions of Thai food are tamed down for international palates but are generally authentic, and 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.

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, including an excellent yum som o pu nim (spicy pomelo salad with prawns, roasted coconut, and crisped shallots).

With a terrace that overlooks the beach and a pleasant atmosphere, this is a good spot for fresh seafood, classic Thai favorites, and specialties from northern Thailand.

This old-school restaurant in the Holiday Inn Resort serves prime cuts of imported beef prepared with notable French flair and presentation. The atmosphere is peaceful, away from the crowds on Patong's busy streets.

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 Jay Joe’s crab omelette, thick with chunks of fresh crab; fried chicken wings in a fish-sauce glaze; and pork ribs 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.

You'll find all the Thai classics at this typically lively night market, but what makes Sangkhlaburi's nightly open-air food fest different is the range of stalls selling interesting Karen, Mon, and Burmese dishes. Stroll around and see which direction your taste buds take you.

Sati Pot lays a strong claim to be Thailand’s finest Persian restaurant. The food justifies the hype: Lamb shank is slow-cooked in saffron and yogurt sauce and served with aromatic rice mixed with crushed pistachio and almonds, caramelized onion, paprika, and raisins. Another highlight is bandari shrimp, a dish with origins in the coastal regions of southern Iran. Plump crustaceans are sauteed with ginger and garlic and nudged towards the stratosphere by a tangy green herb sauce.

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.

A part of the Layana Resort, this beachfront restaurant offers easy beach food during the day and a more extensive selection of Thai and western food in the evening. The adjoining Sundowners Bar makes classic cocktails. 

Operated from the Shangri-La, the buffet dinner cruise aboard the Horizon, with Thai and international cuisine, departs Tuesday through Saturday at 7 pm. The price includes a glass of sparkling wine, free-flowing soft drinks, chilled juice, and water. 

The menu at this simple Thai restaurant is encyclopedic, but the specialty is tom yam pla, a spicy fish soup. The open-air setting is pleasant and the charming owner is happy to chat—he speaks a variety of languages.

A few minutes' tuk-tuk ride north from the busy part of town, Smoh Ruer is barely more than a roadside shack, but prepares top-notch food in the local Khao Lak style. Dishes include a spicy wild-boar red curry, perfectly cooked prawns fried in sesame oil on a bed of rice noodles and celery, and the mellow egg-fried morning glory in oyster sauce.

This light-filled haven with indoor and outdoor seating offers a long sprawling menu of breakfast dishes, salads, and sandwiches. For a mouthwatering treat, try the Noam's Special, which consists of grilled veggies, roast chicken, fried spinach, avocado, and rice. Just as tasty as the food are the fresh fruit smoothies and coffee. An abundance of plants and colorful Chinese lanterns add to the peaceful atmosphere, perfect for people-watching on the terrace.

This small two-story shophouse serves some of the best Isan (northeastern Thai) cooking in the entire neighborhood, and since it opened a decade ago, the owners have expanded to branches in New York, Tokyo, and Taipei. The menu boasts several varieties of the namesake somtum, including a few that use plaa raa, a more pungent version of the fish sauce used in most Thai cooking. The varieties of laap---the spicy minced-meat salad---are done particularly well here, as is the goi, a similar salad heavy on fresh lemongrass. Almost everyone orders the fried chicken, served here with a thick dark-red chili sauce called jaew.

The Hua Hin area, including Takiab, is famed for its fresh seafood, and there are literally dozens of great places to sample its marine bounty cooked Thai-style in an array of stir-fries, soups, and spicy salads. Among these venues, Sopa gets consistently good reviews, and the very reasonable prices add to its cache among the discerning local audience.

This family business is famous for their juicy charcoal-grilled rotisserie chicken, stuffed with generous amounts of fragrant local garlic. Papaya salad, sticky rice, and other Northeastern/Isan favorites such as pork laap and grilled beef with sweet, spicy, tart jaew dipping sauce are all recommended, too.

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.

The homemade chocolate rolls and croissants at this bakery are fresh and tasty, and the decor featuring vintage Kellogg's boxes, toy soldier figurines, and cherry-red Sugar Bloom lettering evoke a quirky sense of Americana. The coffee, made with local, medium dark-roast beans, are great as well.

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 prix-fixe meals and à la carte options.

On the northern side of the Khao Takiab headland, this restaurant has outdoor seating with views of the nearby standing Buddha. Entrées are mainly seafood, such as prawn soup with a deep-fried green omelet, although other Thai dishes and vegetarian options are also available.

This large restaurant has a wooden deck overlooking the Nan River banks and live music every night. Get here early, as it's often full of diners looking for authentic food at fair prices and a prime spot along the water.

Just 5 minutes from the main historic park by car, this bright colonial-style café is in a lovely manicured garden. The menu offers a mix of Thai staples and Western comfort foods, but they’re really known for their noodle soup with roast pork. Also don’t miss their wide variety of ice creams which even includes durian flavor when in season.

This open-air seafood restaurant is full of festive round tables and tanks containing live whole crabs, lobsters, and sea leeches ready to be cooked in traditional Thai-Chinese style, with a major Teochew influence. 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.

The view is definitely what you come here for—high up on a mountain, the restaurant juts out above the beach and the turquoise ocean—but the food is also memorable. Check the seafood tank as you walk in; you might spy something you can't resist.

From the outside Tawandang looks like a big barrel, which represents the 40,000 liters of lager and other beers brewed here every month under the supervision of a German brewmaster. Its specialties are lager, weizen, and dunkel beers on tap. With such an active brewery, you might think food would be an afterthought, but the kitchen actually turns out quite good Thai food, with some German, Japanese, and Chinese fare thrown in. The stage in front puts on cheesy but very fun entertainment, which includes comedy drag, Thai folk music, and Thai pop.

Chinese and northern Thai dishes dominate the extensive menu at this traditional timber-built restaurant in a lovely garden. They're known for khantoke dinners (northern Thai set meals, served on a tray) and their delicious khao soi noodles. A Thai traditional ensemble plays nightly.

Located in one of the Old Town's most impressive mansions, this stylish eatery pays homage to classic home-cooked Phuket dishes—hence the name, which translates as "pantry." Pay attention to your dining neighbors, as the cuisine draws Thai celebrities from as far away as Bangkok.

Nestled atop the biggest hill in Phuket Town, Tunk Ka serves Thai food made from fresh local ingredients and the views are marvelous, especially at sunset, which more than justify the tuk-tuk drive up. The Ruby Red dessert (red water chestnut in coconut cream with lashes of young coconut and jackfruit) will satisfy even the most demanding sweet tooth.