4 Best Restaurants in England

Earthy northern Thai cuisine bursts out of the charcoal-fired kiln and hot clay pots at this barbecue-focused wonderland in Soho. Take in the action in the fascinating tiny open kitchen and you'll spy sizzling cumin-dusted cull yaw mutton skewers and chargrilled chicken thigh bites, along with other local Thai village-style dishes that crackle with influences from Laos, Myanmar, and Yunnan in China. Pick up pungent wafts of Thai parsley and Burmese wild ginger in a slew of authentic dishes such as lime-bathed langoustines or claypot-baked glass noodles with Tamworth pork belly and chewy crab meat.

Considered by Guildford locals to be one of the best Thai restaurants in the Southeast, Rumwong has an incredibly long menu, with dozens of choices from all over Thailand. Tasty dishes include the poh-taek, a "seafarer's soup" made with lemongrass, lime leaves, and shellfish, and kai pud krapraw, a spicy stir-fry made with ground chicken, fresh chilies, and basil.

This colorful and inviting restaurant, where diners are "shaded" indoors by a faux cherry blossom tree, mainly serves Thai food, but the eclectic menu is also scattered with Japanese, Chinese, and Indonesian dishes. A rather dizzying culinary trip around Asia can take you from Thai green curry to sizzling Mongolian lamb to Japanese teriyaki beef. There are also some less familiar dishes like cod fillet wrapped in banana leaves and served with chili and lime. This place is a local favorite, so make reservations if you're coming on a weekend.