Where to Eat in Bangkok, High and Low: 11 Must-Visit Thai Restaurants

80/20

This was our most expensive splurge. Chef Andrew Martin’s menu was also the most avant-garde on our jam-packed agenda. The restaurant’s name is a reference its commitment to source at least 80 percent of ingredients locally, or at the very least from Thailand, with a focus also on Thai techniques. The other 20 percent draws from outside inspiration. You’ll need to reserve months in advance for this. The highlight: squid with mangosteen. 8020bkk.com

Aksorn

Chef David Thompson is widely recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts on Thai cuisine. Few other chefs or anthropologists have studied the country’s foodways as intensely as him. He has written three of the most definitive books on Thai cuisine. And at Aksorn, his menus are an ode to the cookbooks of those who came before him. You’ll need to reserve weeks in advance for this. The highlight: red curry. aksornbkk.com

Celadon

Long before Bangkok became one of the world’s greatest food cities, Celadon reigned as one of Thailand’s most luxurious restaurants and one of the last adherents of royal Thai cuisine. The restaurant has evolved in recent years, but one thing has not changed: the food and service here are outstanding. The highlight: miang kham — perhaps the best you’ll find in Bangkok. sukhothai.com/bangkok/en/dining/restaurant-celadon

Co Limited

Trendy, fun and absolutely delicious. This place serves all the Thai classics. It’s packed every night with locals, with seldom a tourist in sight. The crying tiger is an Australian wagyu tomahawk ribeye. The highlight: Beef-fat fried rice. instagram.com/colimited

Flourish

After cooking Thai food in Switzerland at the lavish Bürgenstock resort (and at Hua Hin’s famed Chiva-Som resort before that), chef Chatsorn Pratoomma returned home to Bangkok in 2022 to launch Flourish at the Sindhorn Kempinski, where she introduced a terrific six-course Thai tasting menu in the fall. The highlight: Crispy fish cake with coconut and roe. kempinski.com/en/sindhorn-hotel

Paste

This Michelin-starred restaurant from chefs Bee Satongun and Jason Bailey is one of Bangkok’s original breakout stars of modern Thai cuisine. A grand, multi-hour affair, lunch here is leisurely and lovely. It’s important to note that the food tastes more French than Thai. Nevertheless, everything is indisputably delicious. The highlight: Giant river prawns and pomelo. pastebangkok.com

Phed Mark 

Born of the wildly popular YouTube channel of Mark Wiens, this 20-seat bolthole tucked beneath the skytrain tracks serves one thing: pad kra pow topped with fried duck eggs. And this is seriously some of the best pad kra pow you will ever eat. But if you know anything about pad kra pow, you know it’s meant to be spicy. Heed this critical warning: The “medium” spice level here would qualify as EXTRA-EXTRA-SPICY just about anywhere else. Every dish at Phed Mark is a surreal endorphin experience. The “spicy” version contains more chilis than meat. The highlight: beef pad kra pow. (Cash only)

Papaya salad at Phra Nakhon at Capella Bangkok (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

The riverside terrace at Phra Nakhon at Capella Bangkok (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

Southern-style crab curry at Phra Nakhon at Capella Bangkok (Photo by Brad A. Johnson)

Phra Nakhon

Phra Nakhon opened at the posh Capella Bangkok mid-pandemic when international tourism was intermittently shut down, so the restaurant’s early customers (and now loyal regulars) were entirely local. It’s an elite clientele (largely from the adjacent Four Seasons Residences tower) who demands authentic Thai flavors and expects nothing less than perfection, which is exactly what chef Kannika Jitsangworn delivers. It’d be wise to reserve at least a week in advance for dinner. The highlight: Yellow crab curry. capellabangkok.com

Rongsi Pochana

In the same Sindhorn Village complex as Co-Limited, next door to the Sindhorn Kempinsky hotel, this Thai seafood grill became a last-minute substitute for a different long-laid plan after the city’s traffic came to a standstill in a rain storm and rendered the original plan impossible. No worries, though. This place hit the spot. It’s thronged every night of the week with a loyal, locals-only crowd. We got in at the last minute for the same reason we couldn’t make it to our intended restaurant: someone else cancelled here because of traffic, so we slipped right in after a 20-minute wait. Normally you’ll want to reserve at least a day or two in advance. They serve a long roster of Thai classics. The highlight: perfect pad Thai with giant river prawns. instagram.com/rongsipochana

Thai Niyom

You really need to know just two things about the menu here. First, nobody asks how spicy you want it. By default, they serve everything VERY SPICY. And that’s exactly how you want the pineapple salad calibrated — the interplay of sweet vs spice is exhilarating. Second, no matter what else you order, ask for the red-curry-infused pork sausage called sai oua. Theirs is as good as you’ll ever taste. The highlight: sai oua.  instagram.com/thainiyombkk

Ting Larbped

There’s no way would I have found this place without the help of chef Kannika of Phra Nakhon. (I’ll be writing more about Ting Larbped and Phra Nakhon for OLTRE, the new luxury travel magazine I produce for Internova Travel Group.) You might have to ask around to find it. The address is basically unsearchable, and the restaurant doesn’t have any social media channels. Google Maps and TripAdvisor will prove useless. It’s a pop-up cafe that operates entirely outdoors on the sidewalk, moving from corner to corner in roughly the same area of the old Bangrak neighborhood. The food is absolutely outstanding. The highlight: shrimp salad. 

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