Must-see restaurants in Thailand

  • Imm Aim Vegetarian and Bike Cafe

    Chiang Mai

    This vegetarian place was originally opened as a sister restaurant to Pun Pun. Although it is now independent, the manager still sometimes buys vegetables…

  • Krua Renu

    Hua Hin & the Upper Gulf

    There are both budget and beautiful restaurants along the coastal road, but some of the best food in Pak Nam Pran is in the town at this tall restaurant…

  • La Gritta

    Hat Patong

    This spectacularly positioned, smart Italian restaurant serves generous portions of deliciously creamy pasta, gourmet pizza and meat and seafood mains…

  • Der

    Hua Hin

    Located in the beachfront Seenspace mall, Der serves northeastern Isan food the way it should be: spicy and boldly flavoured. A modern set-up is given…

  • Free Bird Cafe

    Chiang Mai

    Chiang Mai’s original 'cafe with a cause', Free Bird Cafe supports community art and language classes for refugees from Myanmar. The vegan restaurant is…

  • Anchan Noodle

    Chiang Mai

    No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you, those really are blue noodles. Naturally coloured by dark-blue butterfly pea blossoms, and known as anchan in…

  • Bai Fern

    Mae Sot

    Unpretentious and friendly, Bai Fern is also surprisingly good. The Western food – breakfasts, steaks, pasta and pizza – is especially reliable, but this…

  • Lucky 13

    Hat Patong

    At this expat fave you can gorge on excellent, flavour-packed sandwiches, no matter what time of day or night. Pick your bread (baguette, ciabatta,…

  • Nee Papaya

    Ko Lipe

    Delightful Nee offers an affordable fish grill nightly, all the standard curries (including a dynamite beef pá·naang), noodles and stir-fries (beef,…

  • A Spoonful of Sugar

    Phuket

    Practically everything is wholesome and tasty at this sweet, whitewashed cafe coated in flower prints. Wholemeal pancakes are topped with mango or kiwi…

  • Drunken Sailors

    Ko Lanta

    This super-relaxed place features beanbags, hammocks and low-lying tables spilling out onto a terrace. The global, want-to-eat-it-all menu employs quality…

  • Lock Tien

    Phuket Town

    Communal tables cluster under whirring fans at fast-and-furious food court Lock Tien, which works up a vast, tempting range of classic Phuket Town dishes…

  • Kaab Gluay

    Hat Patong

    At the north end of town, busy, semi-open-air roadside Kaab Gluay is a hit for its authentic, affordable Thai food, with switched-on staff to match the…

  • Isaan Popeye Thai Food

    Phuket

    One of the few restaurants in Kamala where you'll find locals dining, thanks to the winning combination of authentic and spicy northeastern dishes, fresh…

  • Raw Cafe Phuket

    Phuket

    A popular roadside health-food cafe, where a creative, vegetarian-bliss menu of granola bowls, zucchini rolls, avocado salads, zucchini-almond burgers and…

  • China Inn

    Phuket Town

    The organic movement meets Phuketian cuisine at this restored turn-of-the-20th-century shophouse with beautiful detailing and a hibiscus-dotted courtyard…

  • Coconuts

    Hat Khao Lak

    This lovely beachside restaurant has a nice selection of Western and Thai options, including a tempting grilled seafood platter for two, delicious sweet…

  • Asa

    Chiang Mai

    This shophouse eatery serves nutrient-packed vegan dishes ranging from herbal Burmese and Thai-style salads to creamy curries and rice bowls topped with…

  • Rabiang Phatchanee

    Udon Thani

    On the lake's east shore, this sprawling restaurant offers all the usual Thai dishes, but also many you've probably never tried, such as fish-stomach…

  • Tapui

    Sukhothai

    Consisting of little more than a brick floor with a tin roof over it, Tapui claims to be the first shop in Sukhothai to have sold the city’s namesake dish…

  • John's Garden Restaurant

    Ko Samui

    This picturesque garden restaurant has seating within intimate little bamboo and palm huts in the manicured garden. It's particularly romantic when…

  • Chez François

    Ko Samui

    With no à la carte menu, but a reputation for outstanding cuisine that has sent waves across the culinary map of Ko Samui, Chez François serves a three…

  • Thanon Phadungdao Seafood Stalls

    Chinatown

    After sunset, this line of open-air restaurants – each claiming to be better than its neighbour – becomes a culinary supernova of outdoor barbecues,…

  • Page

    Ko Samui

    If you can’t afford to stay at the ultra-swanky Library, have a meal at its beachside restaurant overlooking the azure waters of the Gulf of Thailand. It…

  • Chicken Rice Briley

    Hat Patong

    This is one of few places in Patong Food Park to offer sustenance while the sun shines, and it's almost always busy. Steamed chicken breast is served on…

  • Jok Pochana Mr Lek

    Banglamphu

    Operating out of a quiet side street in the Samsen area, the affable Mr Lek serves traveller-oriented local delicacies such as crab yellow curry, squid…

  • Phad Thai Rock'n'Roll

    Ko Lanta

    It's not every day you get your spiced-to-taste pàt tai whipped up street-side by a guitarist. Choose from just six options ('jazz' fried rice, 'blues'…

  • Surin Chill House

    Phuket

    Loved for its coffee, cakes and breakfasts (from fruit-salad bowls to omelettes and waffles), this relaxed, polished-concrete, cafe-like space does a bit…

  • Royal India

    Chinatown

    This hole-in-the-wall restaurant has long been the most reliable place to eat in Bangkok's Indian neighbourhood. The kebabs and naans (oven-baked…

  • Rim Nan

    Phitsanulok

    Just north of Wat Phra Si Ratana Mahathat, plant-filled, semi-open-air Rim Nan is the most attractive of a few similar restaurants along Th Phutta Bucha…

  • Whitening

    Ko Tao

    This starched-white beachy spot is somewhere between a restaurant and a chic seaside bar – foodies will appreciate the tasty twists on indigenous and…

  • Hoon Kuang

    Chinatown

    Serving the food of Chinatown's streets in air-con comfort is this low-key, long-standing staple. The must-eat dishes are pictured on the door. It'd be a…

  • Patty's Secret Garden

    Ko Lanta

    This casual, family-friendly place set in a pleasant, plant- and flower-filled shaded garden consistently dishes up tasty meals. The menu mixes Thai…

  • PhuKhaoLak Restaurant

    Hat Khao Lak

    With tables spilling to the lawn edge at the southern end of Khao Lak's highway strip, this place is hard to miss. And you shouldn’t, because there’s a…

  • Suananda

    Bangkok

    Down a quiet residential alleyway, this tiny yoga-themed health cafe does a wonderful range of inventive vegetarian Indian cuisine. Favourites are the…

  • On the Rocks

    Ko Lipe

    Clinging to the cliff side at the far southern end of Hat Sunrise, this attractive, semi-open-air bar-restaurant turns out Thai curries, stir-fries and…

  • Sushi Tsukiji

    Bangkok

    Our pick of the numerous Japanese joints along Th Thaniya is Tsukiji, named after Tokyo’s famous seafood market. Dinner at this sleek sushi joint will…

  • Krua Canadian

    Mae Sot

    Dave, the eponymous Canadian owner and long-term Mae Sot resident, dishes up some of the finest fa·ràng (foreigner) food in town: the Mexican entries on…

  • Stacked

    Ko Samui

    With a team of busy, efficient staff working out of a modern, stylish open kitchen and with a cracking menu, this awesome burger joint is a visual and…

  • Nopparat

    Banglamphu

    Featuring floral murals and portraits of royals on its bare concrete walls, this stylish restaurant serves some of the best Thai food in this part of town…

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