Where and What to Eat in Thailand

Though he is originally from Australia and then studied French cuisine, chef David Thompson’s passion for Thai cuisine has helped make Nahm one of the world’s most critically acclaimed restaurants. Top dishes include fragrant coconut-and-turmeric curry with blue swimmer crab and banana blossoms; a refreshing kingfish salad with pomelo, lemongrass and lime; and crab wafers with coconut, coriander and galangal (similar to ginger).

Bangkok has a significant Indian population. Indeed, the city even has its own ‘Little India’ around Phahurat Road. The best Indian dining options, however, can be found around the main Sukhumvit and Silom drags. The daddy of them all, at least according to the judges at the Restaurant Magazine’s inaugural list of Asia’s 50 best restaurants in which it came in at number 10, is Gaggan. Don’t expect traditional curries here however, as chef Gaggan Anand specializes in contemporary Indian with a dash of molecular gastronomy thrown in. For a more old school take on fine dining from the sub-continent try Rang Mahal at the Rembrandt Hotel, regarded as the grande dame of Bangkok’s Indian restaurants.

One of the longest-standing restaurants in Chinatown’s Yaowarat Road area, Tang Jai Yoo fits the template of many of the dining venues in this part of town. The decor is faded and the harsh lighting would cast a sickly glow on even the most glamorous diner. Unlike glitzy restaurants elsewhere in the city, people come here solely to eat. Superstar TV chef Anthony Bourdain is among those to have lauded its signature whole roast suckling pig. Other choice items on the Thai-Chinese menu include steamed crab with black olives and ground pork, and deep-fried mantis prawns with chili and salt.