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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.
Jarrett Wrisley, a food critic turned restaurateur, and Paolo Vitaletti, a five-star chef whose dad toiled in a storied Roman meat market, run this small cozy space for which reservations are highly advisable. The Italian menu is mostly devoted to Rome specialties.
Bangkok has hundreds of Japanese restaurants, but only Isao has a line out the door almost every night, thanks to the most creative sushi rolls west of California. The owner studied under the chef at the revered Green Tea in Chicago, and the repeat clientele attests to the widespread enthusiasm for his culinary flights of fancy in sleek modern surrounds.
A top contender as Bangkok's best pizzeria, the warmly industrial-looking Peppina is booked solid most nights (although there are other locations). The attention to detail includes wood firing, pizza dough that's left to rise overnight, and fresh buffalo mozzarella and other ingredients imported from Italy.
Launched by food critic Jarrett Wrisley, this gem of a restaurant and bar is in a converted Chinese shophouse in trendy Thong Lor and is usually packed to the rafters. It's no surprise, as the place serves some of the city's best Thai food, with double-pour drinks that are every bit as good as the food.
Thanaruek Laoraowirodge, a successful restaurateur in New York City and Bangkok, has earned high praise for this cozy shophouse venue that specializes in regional dishes based on the recipes of his grandmother. The au courant cocktails go well with the eclectic menu, and Supanniga now has several other locations: in Bang Rak, Sathorn, and Tha Thien.
The emphasis at this traditional Thai restaurant in a century-old house is on fresh seasonal ingredients and hard-to-find regional delicacies, with a regular menu but also a smaller one of specials that is consistently changing. The Local's decor, outdoor terrace, wood floors, and antiques and old photos make for a pleasant setting.
You wouldn't expect much by looking at this nondescript restaurant on Sukhumvit Road from the outside, but locals have been packing it night after night for years. The place, which started out as a late night khao tom rice soup eatery, has expanded to having one of the most extensive and tastiest Thai-Chinese menus in town.
Established in the 1980s to raise funds for the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), a sex education/AIDS prevention organization, this restaurant serves traditional Thai dishes amid a quirky decor. The fairy lights and condom-decorated mannequins contrast with the traditional teakwood.
Locals adore this Thai-Chinese eatery for various stir-fried seafood dishes, loaded with fried garlic, pepper, and fragrant curry, as well as reasonably priced lunch set menus. The decor is homey but attractive, with warm colors and lots of space, making the Sukhumvit location of this popular chain both comfy and convenient.
This light-and-airy space maintains the aura of its former life as a warehouse, but it's certainly more chic than shabby these days, with polished metal and blond wood adding a hip counterpoint to cement floors. Kuppa serves traditional Thai fare as well as many international dishes, and it has a dedicated following for its coffee, roasted on the premises.
This branch of the Michelin-starred Sri Lankan restaurant, Ministry of Crab specializes in fresh, meaty crab flown in daily from that country. Crabs are prepared with your choice of sauce–garlic chili, baked, black pepper, or curry–and range in size from 500g "small" crabs to five-pound "crabzillas." Also on the menu are a variety of other crab dishes, including a creamy crab liver pate, fresh king prawns, clams, and oysters.
My Choice might be located a bit far off the main Sukhumvit drag, but it’s very popular among Thais with a taste for their grandmothers' traditional recipes. Natural light, modern wood furniture, and leafy plants create a warm and inviting atmosphere, but when the weather is cool, diners prefer to sit outside.
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.
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.
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