Where To Eat in Bangkok

by - January 05, 2020




Finding a place to eat in Bangkok can seem overwhelming because of the abundance of choices. Thai food encompasses a mix of all the flavours - spicy, sweet, salty, sour and I wish I could have ticked more authentic Thai restaurants off my list, but sometimes we were just too lazy to travel further for food! Here is my short guide to a variety of eateries, from budget-friendly to more gourmet.


The Sixth

£££££
Nestled in the side streets of the Phra Nakhon District, this is the perfect place to indulge in some homemade Thai food after some temple hopping as it's close walking distance from Wat Pho. Very small with only a few tables and seats, we were the first to get here when it opened in the morning. Our favourites were the flavoursome Tom Yum Goong (which we requested for a less spicy version, but still packed a punch) and the Pad Thai. Some of the other dishes were just ok, but there are a lot of dishes to chose from and the prices are very reasonable.

Maha Rat Rd, Phra Borom Maha Ratchawang, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200, Thailand




Thipsamai

£££££
Dubbed "the best Pad Thai in Thailand", we definitely didn't want to miss this. As with many overly-hyped places, the online reviews are very mixed, but that's also probably because the waiting times are so long. We decided to skip the queues at the original branch and went to the small one in King Power where we found a seat and ordered straight away. It sits in the food court of a luxury mall, so naturally the Pad Thai wasn't one of the cheapest that we've had, but still affordable. I opted for the signature which comes enveloped in the thinnest, most perfect layer of egg and tasted shrimpy and full of flavour, and I loved it. Undeniably the best Pad Thai I"ve ever had.

8 Rang Nam Alley, Thanon Phaya Thai, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand




Flavors

£££££
Bangkok is full of hotels serving up popular seafood buffets and we decided to try Flavors, located in the Ploenchit area, in the Renaissance Bangkok Hotel. We booked a pretty quiet Thursday night; the buffet is more expensive at the weekends. They have lots of different stations snaking around one side of the restaurant including salads, sushi, seafood, oysters, roasts, and Thai and Western desserts. The food was great and my favourites ended up being the roast beef (I had so many cuts), and the little grill station where you pick the food and cook it on the spot for you and I think I devoured at least half their enoki mushroom stock.

518/8 Phloen Chit Rd, Lumphini, Pathum Wan District, Bangkok 10330, Thailand






Pier 21

£££££


Pier 21 is the food court in the shopping mall Terminal 21 on the 6th floor, and it's always super busy here. You have to queue up to put money onto a card and then spend as you please - there are two desks where you can top-up and the one at the back always has a shorter queue. If you don't spend all the money on your card, you can take it back to the desk to get your cash back. There are lots of different stalls selling noodles, pad thai, rice dishes, desserts and drinks. Everything here is super cheap and tends to range from about 30-50 THB. Go crazy.

Don't expect the best food you've ever had, but for the price it's not bad and also a pretty clean place. There's something really satisfying about having a meal for just 90p.

88 Soi Sukhumvit 19, Khlong Toei Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand




1st Floor, Terminal 21

£££££
Whilst you're at Terminal 21, don't miss the stalls on the 1st floor selling a huge variety of Thai foods and snacks. This is where we went to get our fix of Thai desserts like my ultimate faves mango sticky rice and the sweet and salty pandan coconut jelly. We also stocked up on snacks to bring back home like corn snacks and crispy fish skin. Also, whilst you're at it, go to the basement floor and visit the Gourmet Kitchen supermarket for lots of other foods that are high quality (and a bit more expensive) that you can buy as souvenirs such as dried mango, honey glazed pork jerky and spicy dried squid.

88 Soi Sukhumvit 19, Khlong Toei Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand






Ratchada Night Market

£££££
Of course you have to visit one of the top tourist attractions in Bangkok - if not for the food, at least for the atmosphere and experience. Initially quite hesitant to try street food, I ended up feasting on plenty of skewers and grilled bites, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Brace for a huge, pushy crowd, particularly at the entrance - the place is very busy. There are stalls upon stalls of everything from grilled skewers and seafood to fresh juices and (if you're feeling adventurous) insects. We had some quite unpleasant noodles where the broth tasted like the Chinese herbal medicine my mum forces me to drink, but apart from that blip, everything else we had was tasty. Fresh enoki is not that available in the UK and is kinda expensive, so I ended up satisfying my craving by having a million grilled enoki skewers, and I also don't eat spicy food, but the grilled spicy squid was good, albeit I was trying not to die whilst the sauce burnt my insides. There is so much to eat here though, and was definitely in my top 5 Bangkok experiences.

Ratchadaphisek Rd, Din Daeng, Bangkok 10400, Thailand




Up and Above

£££££
If you fancy a spot of afternoon tea, Up and Above at The Okura Prestige serve very aesthetically-pleasing sets in cute boxes, seasonally-themed. For autumn, they had an orange-themed set, but we decided to go with the traditional Japanese option. Beautifully presented and we also had a nice view of the city. I thought the afternoon tea was reasonably priced for the presentation and what you get, in comparison to prices here in the UK. Sets are from 990++ THB per person including a choice of two drinks each.

57 Witthayu Rd, Lumphini, Pathum Wan District, Bangkok 10330, Thailand






Odean Crab Wonton Noodle

£££££
Located in Chinatown, we came here at an off-peak time for a quick lunch (and we were the only customers). A nice cheap-eat that specialises in wonton noodles and crab claws. The noodles are very affordable with the crab claws being a bit pricier. You can choose what size crab claw you want, with the bigger sizes being more expensive. The egg noodles are thin with a slightly harder firmness and also really good - if you've had the 生麵王/Noodle King noodles, that is what they taste like!

724 Charoen Krung Rd, Talat Noi, Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100, Thailand




Chatuchak Weekend Market

£££££
You come here more for the shopping than the food, but whilst you're here, it's a good place to sample some authentic Thai food and quench your thirst (which trust me, you will need because it's so hot and busy) with juices and young coconuts. You might want to skip any mango and sticky rice stalls though as the ones we had were not that great and the mangoes tasted quite old. However, the spicy clams we had here at a random stall in the eating area was actually one of the best dishes we had on this trip.

สวนจตุจักร Kamphaeng Phet 2 Rd, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand




Cabbages and Condoms

£££££
Honestly, I didn't love this place and we found the food quite disappointing. However, I am sticking this into my guide because this restaurant comes up in literally every 'top places to eat in Bangkok' list with rave online reviews, so I will say that I personally think this place caters more for Westerners to dabble into Thai food. The Tom Yum Goong, whilst being a nice, blended vegetable soup, was definitely not an authentic Tom Yum Goong. The biggest disappointment was the chicken in pandan leaves which were incredibly dry, but some of our other dishes like the salad and morning glory were better.

The outdoor decorations are pretty cool, and also quite condom-y (as the name suggests), but it's all for a good cause and they help to support non-profit organisations as well as helping raise awareness in sex education. The interiors are also very aesthetic and it feels like you've entered a secret garden.

10 Sukhumvit 12 Alley, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110, Thailand






Hawker Chan

£££££
Not Thai food - Hawker Chan hails from Singapore and is the world's cheapest Michelin star restaurant specialising in soy sauce chicken. I went to the branch in Terminal 21, which is right next to the Pier 21 food court. I actually preferred this branch over Singapore's original because I was really hangry in Singapore and the waiting time was so long, whereas there was no queue for this one. The soy sauce chicken was nice and affordable. Get the version with noodles and not rice - it's so much better.

88 Soi Sukhumvit 19, Khlong Toei Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand



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