Crab omelette street stalls, upscale Indian cuisine and Mexican menus with an illustrious Thai twist – crunch, sip and slurp your way through our top 10 best restaurants in Thailand.
It’s no secret that good food can catapult an average holiday into a memory-making escape. That’s the power of top-notch bites. From slurpy Pad Thai noodles to succulent jumbo tiger prawns tossed in garlic butter and tom yum soup that strikes the perfect balance between hot, sweet and sour, Thailand embraces flavour punches and umami roundhouse kicks with open arms.
Trailblazing restaurants, Michelin-starred dining and world-famous street food stalls herald Thailand as a hero in Southeast Asian cuisine. Embark on your own culinary voyage and read on to discover the top 10 restaurants in Thailand for 2023.
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Ojo, Bangkok
Set your sights and expectations sky-high at Ojo, a retro-glam eatery atop one of Bangkok’s tallest buildings, the landmark King Power Mahanakhon. At this lofty location, feast your eyes on striking city panoramas while a menu of Mexican dishes with a twist crafted by award-winning chef Francisco Paco Ruano will tantalise your taste buds. The menu serves up a powerhouse of flavours – opt for the tuna tartare with burnt habanero and a seaweed layer, try the pulpo ceviche with fresh octopus and sea urchin, or go all in with a charcoal-grilled steak with chiles toreados and cricket martajada sauce. Wash it down with a mezcal paloma and you’ve got yourself a muy bueno spread.
Vertigo, Bangkok
Butter-poached Canadian lobster risotto, melt-in-your-mouth ribeye steak served alongside a truffle mushroom sauce, and jumbo tiger prawns tossed in garlic butter...you can enjoy these and more mouthwatering morsels at the open-air Vertigo at Banyan Tree Bangkok. This stunning rooftop restaurant offers 360-degree vistas of Bangkok’s neon nightscape, while the adjacent Moon Bar is the perfect spot to sip sparkling wine under a sky sprinkled with stars. The extensive cocktail and wine list offers more than enough choice, while the Wine of the Month selection makes it all too easy to select an extra-special drop.
Mrs B, Phuket
Mrs B is all about the simple pleasures: the crackle of an open flame, the smoky aroma of sizzling beef, and local produce seasoned simply but perfectly. Easily discovered, the restaurant is in the heart of Phuket’s buzzing food and drink precinct, right near Bang Tao Beach. Bring the whole family to this casual and welcoming venue built around a wood fire hearth. You may like to start your feast with barbecue zucchini appetisers with goat cheese and mint, before moving onto the main course (might we suggest the locally caught fish of the day or succulent Chiang Mai pork chops?). Don’t skimp on dessert – it would be a crime to miss out on the New York cheesecake or smoked coconut panna cotta.
80/20, Bangkok
Your first bite is an explosion of flavour, your last a reluctant farewell. Awarded one Michelin star, 80/20 is a must-do stop on your Thai food pilgrimage. An innovative menu is reflected in the restaurant’s decor; an industrial loft with dark timber and brushed metal meets authentic Thai murals and textiles. The in-house fermentation lab helps to create classic Thai dishes with its signature piquant flavours. The menu is constantly evolving, but you can expect enticing dishes like Moo Pad Puan Kin (red pork stir-fry), Thai crepes with grilled prawn and cacao, and roasted pork with rose apple.
Aksorn, Bangkok
This former family-owned 1950s bookstore is now a one-Michelin-star restaurant with a cosy vibe and open kitchen. While dining at Aksorn, watch as your food is prepared right before your eyes from your seat in the intimate lounge or enjoy a spot of al fresco dining out on the terrace. Order the grilled chicken salad with yellow eggplants and betel leaves or try the braised river prawns with green watermelon for a fresh twist. Finish with jackfruit simmered in fragrant coconut cream for something sweet.
Gaa, Bangkok
An eclectic fusion of modern Indian cuisine and Thai influence has rightly earned Gaa one well-deserved Michelin star. Mumbai-born chef Garima Arora was voted the winner of Asia’s Best Female Chef 2019 award thanks to her innovative cooking techniques and one-of-a-kind dishes. The restaurant itself is housed inside a traditional Thai home in the heart of Bangkok. You won’t just be eating meals here– you’ll be embarking on a journey through culinary excellence. Avante-Garde 10- and 14-course tasting menus shine a spotlight on hero dishes such as spicy uni toast, oysters with pomegranate and spicy shallots, and Surin wild rice served with tamarind cola. These menus change every few months to keep everything feeling fresh.
Le Du, Bangkok
You’ll find the menu at Le Du (which means ‘season’ in Thai) changes regularly and embraces a slight French influence. This Michelin-starred establishment offers either a four-course or six-course tasting menu crafted by chef Thitid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America and cooked at world-class NYC restaurants like Eleven Madison Park. A hero dish which often returns to the menu due to popular demand is khao kluk kapi – melt-in-your-mouth river prawns served with brown rice risotto infused with shrimp paste. If you find this item on your tasting menu, you’re in for a treat.
PRU, Phuket
Farm-to-table dining takes on a literal meaning at PRU, where fresh and seasonal ingredients are plucked straight from the restaurant’s 237-acre organic farm. You’ll find this Michelin-starred restaurant tucked away inside the five-star Trisara resort. Teaming up with local farmers and Thai producers, PRU commits to a menu of sustainably sourced ingredients. Even the wine list follows a strict set of principles: sustainable, organic, biodynamic and natural. Exquisite plates feature everything from suckling lamb with shrimp paste and eggplant to aged duck with tamarillo and grapefruit, and even oysters with oxidised wine and caviar.
Jay Fai, Bangkok
Rub shoulders with gourmands and backpackers alike at this Michelin-starred street food stall named after the queen of Thai street food, Supinya ‘Jay Fai’ Junsuta. Jay Fai has been filling the bellies of locals, travellers and delighted food critics since the 1980s with one perfect meal: the crab omelette. It’s easy to spot the stall on Bangkok’s Maha Chai road – just look for the promising queue of diners waiting to get their hands on the iconic dish. The crab omelette is best shared with your travel buddy, so you can leave room for other mouthwatering dishes like the slurp-worthy drunken noodles and the hot and sour tom yum soup.
Pad Thai Fai Ta Lu, Bangkok
Keep your baht at the ready when you arrive at Pad Thai Fai Ta Lu on Dinso Road, a Michelin-recommended street food stall where you’ll have a Pad Thai spiritual awakening. The ubiquitous Thai dish is found across Thailand (and the globe), its popularity cultivated by the combination of sweet-slash-savoury flat noodles, crushed peanuts, tangy lime and crunchy bean sprouts. At Pad Thai Fai Ta Lu, the aroma of char-grilled pork loin slice will have you drooling in no time. The pork is carefully laid atop a bed of Pad Thai served on a banana leaf in an unassuming red plastic basket. Unpretentious and unbelievable, it’ll be love at first bite.
Looking for Thailand travel inspiration? Read An A-List Guide to Luxe Living in Bangkok.
