One of the most frequently asked questions I get from followers is, "I'm going to Bangkok, where should I eat?" Despite the fact that I grew up in Bangkok and I go back every year, I don't live there and naturally my experience is limited compared to people who are in the thick of it.
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While I can, and will, give you some recommendations of my own, I feel that the most qualified people to recommend restaurants are local foodies who actually live in the city simply because they've tried A LOT of places. So the places they recommend are ones that stand out above many others. Not to mention they're also up-to-date with interesting new places.
Luckily I know a LOT of locals. My family, childhood friends, new friends, most Thai people I know are in Bangkok, and most of them are serious foodies (that's why we're friends!). So I asked them to each recommend a few places, restaurants and/or street food areas, that they think have delicious Thai food they would highly recommend to visitors to Thailand.
How to Navigate This List
The first 3 on the list are street food destinations, hubs of inexpensive eateries where you can walk around and wander into places that entice you. The rest are sit-down restaurants or street side restaurants with seating.
At the very bottom are some additional videos you might want to watch for more ideas on what to eat in Thailand!
Jump to:
- How to Navigate This List
- 1. Mall Food Courts - Street Food in AC
- 2. Song Wat Road ถ.ทรงวาด - Street Food and Hip Cafés
- 3. Banthat Thong Road ถ. บรรทัดทอง - Where Young Thais go for Street Food
- 4. Ruen Mallika เรือนมัลลิการ์ - Royal Thai Food in Thai Costume
- 5. Charmgang ชามแกง - "Fancy Rustic" Thai Food
- 6. Phed Phed เผ็ด เผ็ด - Som Tum and Isaan Food
- 7. Yim Yim ยิ้มยิ้ม ภัตตาคาร - Century-Old Teochew Fare
- 8. Baibua ร้านใบบัว - Northern Thai Curry Counter
- 9. Steve Cafe & Cuisine - Spicy Thai Food with River View
- 10. White Flower Factory ครัวดอกไม้ขาว - Thai Food for Cake Lovers
- 11. Iam Pochana เอี่ยมโภชนา - Street Side Hot Pot and BBQ
- 12. Supanniga Eating Room ห้องทานข้าวสุพรรณิการ์ - Classic Thai Food with Stunning View
- 13. Kungthong Seafood กุ้งทอง - A Thai Seafood Experience
- 14. Thong Smith Boat Noodles
- 15. Methavalai Sorndaeng - Michelin Starred Institution
- 16. Thanying - Royal Thai Cuisine
- 17. Ruay Mitr - Experience Thai Rice Porridge Culture
- 18. Hiso Curry Rice Pa Aew ข้าวแกงไฮโซ ป้าแอ๋ว - Humble Street Stall with Luxurious Seafood
- Need More Ideas? Watch My Thailand Food Vlogs!
1. Mall Food Courts - Street Food in AC
Let's start with my recommendation: Mall food courts. Yes. If you live in N. America you may be surprised because mall food courts here are basically graveyards of greasy chain takeouts. But in Thailand, it's a different story.
Thai people LOVE shopping malls. We basically LIVE in malls and Bangkok is filled to the brim with malls. Everything you could possibly want can be found in malls, including the bank, your kid's art class, and yes, great places to eat.
Thai mall food courts are made up of eateries who either started out as street food, but have done well enough to get into malls, or popular sit-down restaurants who have expanded into quick service. So you get a great selection of street food without the heat of the actual street, and sit-down restaurant food without the lengthy meals.
Mall food courts will usually have all the staples: khao mun gai, pad see ew, pad thai, boat noodles, papaya salad...so if you have a bucket list of popular street food to try and you don't know where to go to find it, food court is a pretty good start.
NOTE: Not all food courts are cheap. The style of food court depends on the style of the mall. Fancier malls such as Siam Paragon will have fancier food courts (yes, fancy food court is a thing), and less fancy malls such as MBK will have more down-to-earth food courts. And small "community malls" (kinds like strip malls), do not have food courts but still have great restaurants and are also worth exploring.
2. Song Wat Road ถ.ทรงวาด - Street Food and Hip Cafés
This recommendation comes from Banc, my high school bestie who knows all of the trendy spots in Bangkok. He's always the first one to check out any trendy new spot. Song Wat Road is in Chinatown area, but is a few blocks away from the main strip, Yaowarat Road (which is also worth checking out, especially at night).
While Yaowarat has a lot of the old "institutions," Song Wat is a mix of old and new. You'll find a 100-year-old bao shop, Chinese style braised goose, a hip coffee shop with French pastries, and a cute cafe with traditional Thai desserts and snacks, including these purple flower dumplings.
Song Wat happens to be right next to the Chao Phraya River, so if you go into the right place, such as this beautiful coffee shop, you'll get a river view as well.
3. Banthat Thong Road ถ. บรรทัดทอง - Where Young Thais go for Street Food
This one is from my high school buddy and mom-friend, Chalintip. Banthat Thong (pronounced bun-tut-tong) is another street great for walking around and exploring great food. (Side note: If you like lining up for hours to eat at super hyped places, it's also home to Jeh-O Chula tom yum noodles.)
I went here during my last trip and the Reel embedded above was from that trip. It was a bustling street full of Thais in their 20s and 30s, waiting in line at famous restaurants. For a street like this I was surprised how few tourists there were (and I'm sure it won't last long.)
We had a great dinner at Somboon Seafood which is apparently the inventor of the famous Thai curry crab. For dessert we went to a milk-toast-dip cafe which was super fun, and then brought some pork satay home (which I didn't love, my pork satay recipe is actually better.)
4. Ruen Mallika เรือนมัลลิการ์ - Royal Thai Food in Thai Costume
This one is my recommendation, and full disclosure, it's my friend's family restaurant. But to be fair my family has been their customers long before we became friends, and the food is reliably good.
Ruen Mallika is one of many restaurants owned by A. Mallika Leeraphante, but this one is particularly suited for travellers because of its central location and because of its unique offering: royal Thai cuisine, complete with gorgeous fruit carvings.
For the complete experience you can even change into traditional Thai outfits and eat with your hands like Thai people used to do back in the day, as per my video above. I filmed a video of my experience several years ago, check it out! Also, if you go here, tell them I sent you 😉.
5. Charmgang ชามแกง - "Fancy Rustic" Thai Food
This place was doubly recommended by two of my friends, so that's a good sign. Charmgang describes itself as a "cozy curry shop," and indeed the food is rustic and homey. However, it uses expensive ingredients and is pricier than what you might imagine a "cozy curry shop" to be.
For Thai people I think the appeal of Charmgang lies in the nostalgic, familiar dishes that are extremely well executed, plus the use high quality and unique ingredients.
For example, here's an item on the current menu: "Grilled Koji-Aged Picanha (Beef) Skewer with Fermented Fish Chili and Tomato Relish." This is essentially a fancy version of the humble Thai grilled steak with nam jim jeaw. So if innovative, elegant versions of classic dishes are your thing, this is the place for you.
6. Phed Phed เผ็ด เผ็ด - Som Tum and Isaan Food
Isaan food is food from northeastern Thailand, the most famous of which is green papaya salad or som tum and laab. If that's your thing, then this place is for you. They have endless varieties of som tum, most of which you will have never seen at your local Thai place. It's a great place to explore.
Recommended by my friend Kwang, she said that though it is more expensive than the average som tum place, the portions are huge so it's not unjustified. For visitors, the location in Central Chidlom mall is probably the most convenient, and it's worth noting that different locations have different menu items.
Phed Phed - Central Chidlom Location (there are a total of 8 locations)
7. Yim Yim ยิ้มยิ้ม ภัตตาคาร - Century-Old Teochew Fare
This recommendation comes from someone you might know, YouTubers Chris and Steph from Chinese Cooking Demystified, who have been living in Bangkok for the past few years. And it is apparently...over 100 years old!
They, of course, recommend a Thai-Chinese restaurant:
Very old Thai-Chinese restaurant (over 100 years) with very high quality classic Teochew fare. The business seems to rely on catering gigs at this point (unless it's a Chinese holiday, sometimes, like... you're the only table there), which is borderline insane because it's leagues better than any of the tourist-focused restaurants in the area. Touch pricey but well executed and the restaurant itself has a storied history.
Chris, Chinese Cooking Demystified
If you're thinking "I'm not going to Thailand to eat Chinese food," you may want to reconsider. Chinese food in Thailand is not the same as what you've had elsewhere, it has changed to adapt to the Thai palate, and it's also specifically Teochew Chinese. And in my biased opinion, I like it better 😉.
8. Baibua ร้านใบบัว - Northern Thai Curry Counter
Another one of Chinese Cooking Demystified's recommendations. If you won't get a chance to go up north for this trip, here's where you can find some northern food in Bangkok.
A khao soi joint. Maybe I'm crazy - and you can certainly correct me if you like - but I feel like a lot of the Khao Sois in Bangkok are *way* too rich. This restaurant is run by a family originally from Keng Tung and does a very tasty beef Khao Soi
Chris, Chinese Cooking Demystified
Yes, I 100% agree with the too-rich khao soi sentiment, which is why my khao soi recipe is also on the brothy side, so I can endorse this recommendation!
Note: Keng Tung is a town in Burma, close to Northern Thailand and the cuisines are closely tied together. On Google the restaurant describes itself as Cheng Tung (alt spelling of Keng Tung) and Northern Tai Cuisine. That's Tai, not Thai, referring to the ethnic group in Northern Thailand.
9. Steve Cafe & Cuisine - Spicy Thai Food with River View
Okay, I know a Thai restaurant called "Steve" is a hard sell, but this recommendation comes from First, my high school bestie, whose taste in food I trust!
There are 2 locations, but the one I'd wanna go to is the cute little house right on the Chao Phraya river. First said the flavours are strong (what I like to hear) and the food is spicy, so if your heat tolerance isn't high you have to tell them to make it milder.
It's got a bit of everything: central, southern, and northern Thai food all make an appearance on the menu. So this is a good place to come if you don't have much time to explore all the regions. Reservation is recommended because the place is small.
10. White Flower Factory ครัวดอกไม้ขาว - Thai Food for Cake Lovers
If you're like me and you always need something sweet after a meal or it doesn't feel complete, this is the place for you. Another recommendation from my friend First, White Flower Factory has a wide selection of Thai food AND an extensive cake/cheesecake/crepe cake offering. They have a whole display case full of cakes, in fact.
They also have some Western dishes such as pasta and pizza. While in Canada I am suspicious of places that offer more than 1 cuisine (no Thai & Sushi places for me, thank you), in Thailand Western food offered in Thai restaurants is quite common and can be really good. You might even find some Thai-style pasta dishes, which are totally awesome.
White Flower Factory - Siam Square One Location (there are two other locations called White Flower and White Flower Cafe)
11. Iam Pochana เอี่ยมโภชนา - Street Side Hot Pot and BBQ
My friend Banc who suggested Song Wat Road had another recommendation in the Chinatown area, and this one will make you feel totally immersed in the street food culture because you'll be eating literally on the street, on cheap plastic stools no less.
Iam Pochana specializes in Thai hot pot and "moo gata" which is a self-cooking BBQ where you cook thin slices of meat on a dome-shaped pan, an experience I highly recommend because you can't find it overseas. The highlight of both these dishes are the delicious dipping sauces (you'll find that Thai people love dipping sauces!).
12. Supanniga Eating Room ห้องทานข้าวสุพรรณิการ์ - Classic Thai Food with Stunning View
This place was double-recommended by both my brother and my cousin, so you really cannot go wrong here! My cousin regularly hosts foreign business guests here and he says it's always a hit.
The menu has all of the popular classics that are core to central Thai cuisine such as green curry and tom yum goong. If you want to try all the world-famous dishes from Thailand in their home country, this is a great place for that, and you can be sure you're trying "the good version" of those dishes.
Note: They have a few locations, but my cousin says the best one is the one at Tha Tien as it has a stunning view of the Chao Phraya River. It's located very close to Wat Arun and Icon Siam, so you can easily put them on the same day's itinerary.
13. Kungthong Seafood กุ้งทอง - A Thai Seafood Experience
This recommendation comes from my cousin Art (not to be confused with my brother Art), a man who appreciates all the fine things in life, including fine food. So when he says this is his favorite seafood place, it becomes mine also even though I haven't been there, lol!
There are a few food experiences I think you should not miss when in Thailand, and barring any allergies, seafood is one of them. Thai people do seafood SO INCREDIBLY WELL I have yet come across another cuisine that does it better (not at all biased of course).
Being a country with very long coastlines, we take seafood very seriously. So much so that we have thousands of restaurants dedicated to nothing BUT seafood. Entire menus with hundreds of items made with fish, shrimp, crab, and all manners of bivalves, cooked in every way imaginable: soups, salads, curries, stir fries, deep fried, steamed, you name it. It is mind boggling.
I'll throw another one in that my family often goes to, Laem Charoen Seafood which has many locations in Bangkok. Wherever you go, do make sure you go to at least one seafood restaurant in Thailand!
14. Thong Smith Boat Noodles
Another recommendation from Cousin Art is a "fancy" boat noodle chain called Thong Smith (pronounced Tong Smit) that you can find in many shopping malls. Boat noodles are incredibly rich, flavourful and unique, and is a must-have for people visiting Bangkok in my books. You can find many boat noodle vendors around the city on the streets or along rivers (hence "boat").
But if you don't have time to go looking for one out on the streets, you can also find great boat noodles in the comfort of shopping malls, and don't worry, mall restaurants in Thailand are NOT like mall restaurants in America. They can be just as good (or sometimes even better) than street food, so don't let the allure of "rustic hole in the wall places" stop you from trying places in AC!
At Thong Smith you can also get unusual things like wagyu boat noodles and boat noodle hot pot, but of course, the prices are going to be much higher than what you can find on the street.
15. Methavalai Sorndaeng - Michelin Starred Institution
This recommendation comes from my brother Eddie (the one who got me started on Hot Thai Kitchen actually!). It's a 60-year-old restaurant with one Michelin star, and their longevity is enough reason to visit given the intense competition in Bangkok.
The decor has a vintage and royal feel, and the same can be said about the food. It's got all the classic Thai dishes you probably know about, and also a few older, harder to find gems, beautifully presented with fruit and vegetable carvings.
16. Thanying - Royal Thai Cuisine
This recommendation comes from Chef Hong Thaimee, the only Thai woman who has ever competed on Iron Chef America. Though she's based in NYC today, I think we all want to hear her recommendations!
Thanying serves royal Thai cuisine and is actually owned by a member of the royal family, Khunchai Jack, who brought the cooking traditions of the palace to the public through this restaurant. There's one specific dish Chef Thaimee recommends:
I highly recommend Khao Chae , a summer royal delicacy that showcases chilled jasmine rice in jasmine water with superb Thai condiments such as shrimp paste balls) and stuffed sweet peppers. It's one of a kind experience and the royal court's recipe and tradition is a rare fine.
Chef Hong Thaimee
*Khao chae may be seasonal as it is served usually in the summer.
17. Ruay Mitr - Experience Thai Rice Porridge Culture
Another recommendation from Chef Thaimee is Ruay Mitr, and I've been here myself and can confirm it is delicious. They are a "khao tom gui" restaurant, which means they serve meals that are centered around rice porridge instead of steamed rice. It's a truly unique experience I recommend you try at least once when in Thailand.
You can experience another part of Thai eating culture at Ruay Mitr, a Thai-Chinese restaurant where tapas-size dishes are shared and enjoyed with boiled rice (khao tom). My recommendations are: steamed savory egg custard with shrimp in a hot pot, Chinese morning glory with crispy pork, and squid wok-fried with salted egg.
Chef Hong Thaimee
18. Hiso Curry Rice Pa Aew ข้าวแกงไฮโซ ป้าแอ๋ว - Humble Street Stall with Luxurious Seafood
This recommendation comes from a long-time Hot Thai Kitchen fan and Patreon supporter, Simon, who has fallen so in love with Thai food and culture that he moved to Bangkok from England. He regularly sends me photos of dishes from this place that look like they come from high-end seafood restaurants...except they're in plastic bowls from a street stall!
First, let me explain the type of place this is. This is what we call a raan kao gaeng or a "curry rice restaurant," though it does not mean that they serve only curries. It refers to places with a variety of dishes that are pre-cooked (buffet style), and when you order they will simply spoon the food over your rice. It's the perfect "fast food" since you don't have to wait for your food to be cooked! It's an experience I recommend you try at least once in Thailand.
What's unique about Hiso Curry Rice is the quality and amount of seafood used. Usually, raan kao gaeng are humble places that serve basic, inexpensive dishes. Here, they certainly look humble, but serve giant lumps of crab, enormous prawns, and other luxurious ingredients. But the prices are a fraction compared to what you'd pay for the same thing in a sit-down restaurant!
PS. "Hiso" is the Thai slang for things that are luxurious, it's short for 'high society.' "Pa Aew" is Auntie Aew, the name of the chef/owner, presumably.
Need More Ideas? Watch My Thailand Food Vlogs!
If you're looking for more ideas, here are a few more videos to watch!
Durian and Fruit Buffet. If you're in Thailand during Thailand's peak fruit season, around April-June, you can look for these durian and fruit buffets at various shopping malls. It's a great way to taste Thailand's best fruits all in one place!
All About Thai Desserts. If you have a sweet tooth, watch this video to see what kinds of delicious desserts you should try beyond mango and sticky rice!
How To Order Thai Food Like a Thai. And if you're going to be eating in Thai restaurants, here's an important guide for how to order Thai food like a Thai!
Scynthia Larsen says
What is the name of this restaurant please
webech says
Eu li algumas coisas excelentes aqui Definitivamente vale a pena marcar como favorito para revisitar Eu me pergunto quanto esforço você fez para fazer esse tipo de site informativo excelente
bizzlyn says
Its like you read my mind You appear to know a lot about this like you wrote the book in it or something I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a little bit but instead of that this is fantastic blog An excellent read I will certainly be back
นีโคล says
I live in Bangkok and can’t wait to try some of these! We love the Suppaniga Eating Room, but we’ve been to their other locations, not the one on the river.
Sylvie Parent says
Thanks Pailin , we go back in Thailand next winter and your list will be very helpful..
I have a question is mostly fish and sea food come from farm raised ?
If so do you think it’s raised without pesticides and environmental friendly ?
You make a fantastic job promoting Thai food which we loved so much Salutations from Quebec 🌻
Pailin Chongchitnant says
Hi Sylvie, thank you! The seafood, it depends. I would guess that they are mostly farm raised, but I don't know enough to comment about the sustainability practices. Like most places it's probably a mix, but unfortunately there is no sustainable seafood certification that we can look for like in Canada.
M Ayon says
Hiso Curry Rice Pa Aew is awesome. Get there early, before noon. If you arrived at 12 the crab and shrimp (The dishes you want) could be gone.
Jonathan Hayes says
I've just come back from 3 months of eating in Bangkok, and I really want to give an extra shout out to Charmgang - SO good! They now have a sister restaurant, Charmkrung - a wine bar, really, with a serious wine list and serious food to match - a few minutes walk away. You'll need reservations for both, as they're really popular.
MT says
Do you have recommendations of Thai Beef noodles? I love it and it is not easy to find good ones in BKK. Thanks!
MT says
I want to go BKK NOW!!!! I lived in Thailand for about 5 years and even some of this dishes I have not tried!!! Thanks!!!
Patricia Wong says
Hello Pai,
We will be in Bangkok next Spring’25 and this is a great list to start. It is so overwhelming when you don’t know where to start. Great timing, now I can do some research on sightseeing.😁
Daniel says
That's a killer list… Food courts in BKK are legendary