Bangkok Food Guide

Bangkok is one of the world's great food cities, and most of its best eating doesn't require a reservation. What it does require is being in the right place at the right time: some streets are best at lunch, others only come alive after dark, and the best stalls often sell one dish and nothing else.

This page is the overview. For specifics, see our street food guide and markets guide.

How eating works in Bangkok

• Specialists, not menus. Many of the best stalls and shophouses cook one or two dishes. A noodle stall does noodles; a chicken-rice shop does chicken rice. Go to several places rather than ordering everything at one.
• Thai meals are shared. At a sit-down meal, order several dishes for the table plus rice for each person.
• Eat with a spoon. The spoon goes in your right hand and the fork pushes food onto it. Chopsticks are for noodle soups.
• Season it yourself. Noodle stalls have a condiment caddy: chilli flakes, fish sauce, vinegar with chillies and sugar. Taste first, then adjust.
• Vegetarian, vegan or Jain? Fish sauce and shrimp paste are in many dishes that look meat-free. See vegetarian and Jain food in Bangkok.
• Lunch is early. Many local places are busiest from about 11:30am to 1pm and some sell out by mid-afternoon.

Dishes worth seeking out

Everyday classics

• Pad kra pao — minced pork or chicken stir-fried with holy basil and chilli, over rice, usually with a fried egg on top (khai dao). The default Bangkok lunch.
• Khao man gai — poached chicken with rice cooked in chicken fat, with a ginger and soybean sauce.
• Pad thai — stir-fried rice noodles with tamarind, egg, tofu, peanuts and often prawns. Popular with visitors; many Thais eat it less than you'd expect.
• Khao pad — fried rice, often with crab or prawn.

Soups and curries

• Tom yum goong — hot and sour prawn soup with lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves.
• Tom kha gai — chicken in a coconut milk soup with galangal.
• Gaeng keow wan — green curry, usually with chicken or beef.
• Massaman curry — a mild, rich curry with Persian and Indian influences.

Noodles

• Boat noodles (kuay teow reua) — small bowls of dark, intensely flavoured pork or beef broth. Order several.
• Kuay jap — rolled rice noodles in a peppery pork broth, a Chinatown speciality.
• Pad see ew — wide rice noodles with soy sauce and greens.

Isaan (northeastern) food

• Som tam — green papaya salad, pounded with chillies, lime and fish sauce. Ask for phet nit noi (a little spicy) if you're unsure.
• Gai yang — grilled chicken, eaten with sticky rice.
• Larb — minced meat salad with lime, chilli and toasted rice.

Sweets

• Mango sticky rice (khao niao mamuang) — best in mango season, roughly March to May.
• Khanom krok — small coconut-rice pancakes cooked in a dimpled pan.
• Roti — a sweet fried flatbread with condensed milk or banana.

Where to eat, by area

Restaurants: how we handle them

Restaurants open and close quickly, and street stalls move. We name individual venues only where we've checked they're operating, and we focus on dishes and areas that stay reliable even when a particular stall doesn't. Two long-standing Old Town names are worth knowing:

For our short list of verified restaurants at every budget, see the best restaurants in Bangkok. For a wider selection, the Michelin Guide's Bangkok listings — including its Bib Gourmand picks for good value — are a useful, regularly updated resource.

Cooking classes and food tours

A cooking class is one of the most rewarding things to do in Bangkok, especially one that starts with a market visit — see how to choose a cooking class. A food tour helps if you're short on time or nervous about ordering.

Food safety

Choose busy stalls with high turnover, where food is cooked to order. Bottled water is cheap and everywhere; ice in most places is factory-made. If you have a serious allergy — especially to peanuts or shellfish — carry a card in Thai explaining it, since fish sauce, shrimp paste and peanuts appear in many dishes.