Siam Restaurants

Au Bon Pain

This Boston-owned bakery ('Au Bon Pain' meaning 'the place of good bread') gives customers the option to design their own sandwich through ticking off preferences of bread and fillings via a clipboard, so fear not any language barriers. Beyond sandwich design you can opt for a tailor-made treat or choose from the delicious selection of pastries (both sweet and savory) on offer. Even if you’re not feeling that hungry, the coffee here is great; both iced and hot.

Baan Khun Mae

Known previously as Baan Khun Po, this delightfully Thai establishment has been around since 1998. It has achieved quite a reputable status over the years as a place that serves up conventional Thai dishes from all four regions of Thailand. The atmosphere, blending retro-style interior décor and old wooden furniture, transports you back some 50 years, when dining out was considered a rare luxury. Apart from the extensive a la carte menu, the restaurant offers a set menu for two, catering mainly for foreigners, with classical Thai music performances from 19:00 to 21:00 daily.

Belguardo

Belguardo’s head chef Marco Camarrata sums the restaurant's ethos up as, "fresh, simple, and imported". The open kitchen and predominant use of natural light lends an extra sense of space to the restaurant – Belguardo fittingly translates as 'beautiful vista'. The menu features all your typical Italian treats from pastas, pizzas, steaks to risottos and Belguardo also rustles up some mean desserts.

Chabuton Ramen

For those serious about Japanese ramen, this noodle house offers award-winning recipes whipped up by the 2002 TV Champion’s Best Ramen Chef, Yasuji Morizumi. The menu features eight types of ramen, including the signature shoyu zaru ramen, plus a selection of side dishes such as gyoza and chicken tatsuta-age. Besides the pedigree title, what makes Chabuton different is the perfectly cooked noodles that goes so well with the complex taste and aroma of the soup.

Crystal Jade

As Chinese restaurants go in Bangkok this is a contemporary and up-market affair, offering no compromise on food, quality and service, unlike some of the cheaper Cantonese venues around the city. In between shopping we recommend a pit stop here where you can sample the array of Hong Kong-style dim sums on offer at lunchtime. The menu offers a large selection of mains from seafood, lobster and prawn dishes to specialty bird's nest and shark fin soup.

Doo Dee

A favourite haunt among university students and office workers, Doo Dee is best known for its spicy, flavourful noodle soups. The signature dish, glass noodle tom yam, is a perfect blend of fiery flavours, plus a tangy note of lime, while other tom yam noodle dishes are equally tasty. The portions are quite generous for the price that you pay. There’s also an extensive menu of Vietnamese fare and made-to-order Thai dishes for those who prefer something less spicy, but the taste may disappoint you.

Greyhound Cafe

Fast, friendly and efficient, the cafe presents an imaginative selection of Thai food, pasta, great sandwiches, and a few Western favourites. All are reasonably priced with generous servings, accompanied by a hearty choice of beers, wine and many creative cocktails.

The Grill Tokyo

This Japanese fusion restaurant features an array of imported meats including red whale meat, horse meat, kobe beef, and Matsuzaka beef. For a fusion touch, try grilled foie gras sushi, or romaine lettuce and cheese salad. The extensive sushi menu comes highly recommended as does the prime tuna belly and spring onions.

Hard Rock Café

This is not the place to venture out to if you are looking for Thai cuisine. Tex Mex, burgers and steaks fresh from the grill are the order of the day here. One of the Hard Rock's most redeeming features is the nightly live entertainment, which ranges from live reggae, pop, soul and rock performances.

Hong Kong Noodle

Two decades old, this 30-cover restaurant has Hong Kong-style noodles with grilled duck or pork. Homemade egg noodles, shrimp wonton soup and khao moo deang (rice and grilled pork topped with red sauce) are other specialties.

iberry

This sweets café serves up a range of delectable a la carte ice creams, waffles and cakes. Housed inside a tastefully decked out shop, with DIY chandeliers, rough-painted brick walls and buffed concrete floors, iberry is a welcome alternative to existing ice cream chains like Swensens, Baskin Robbins and Haagen Dazs. For starter, it offers a creative selection of flavoured ice creams, most with a local touch, such as santol sorbet, Thai iced tea, green mango, pandanus, and a whole lot more that will keep you going back for more. There’s also an array of themed ice creams, such as the high-tea ice cream set, which you can share with your friends.

Izuya

Fusing culinary techniques of the East and West, this cosy dining establishment is all about creativity and freshness. The menu highlights an exciting range of colours, tastes and textures, presented as edible art on a plate. Ingredients are selected daily and prepared according to traditional Japanese cooking style, whereas Western techniques are applied to enhance the flavour and presentation. The atmosphere is laid-back and contemporary, with sakura blossoms painted on a deep red background, black leather chairs and bright yellow sake wall. Coupled with impressive service, Izuya has all the elements for a pleasant dining experience.

Jim Thompson's

Possibly one of the nicest places to eat in Siam, the café is surrounded by water and greenery along with exotic butterflies and birds. A tour of the teakwood mansion after or before a meal is definitely a great way gain an insightful glimpse at the silk trade in Thailand and the life of the American who led it to be so prevalent on a global scale, Jim Thompson. The café features both Thai and western dishes, cooked and presented to perfection with pretty good coffee, too. It goes without saying that the café interior décor is completely delightful. Read More...

Manna

Feast away on spring greens with fried shrimp, beans, pork crackling with herbs and a tasty pork dip. Savoury gourami fish salad is highly recommended, with its explosion of spicy onions, lemongrass, mint and other piquant ingredients spread on crispy pieces of fish. Bean curd and mixed vegetables with minced chicken in gravy is served in a big bowl alongside baby corn, carrots and thinly sliced mushrooms that balance with extremely soft chunks of tofu.

Marina HK

This quick-and-easy eatery is a good place to drop by for a casual meal. With wooden square stools and tables, the place almost feels like a dim sum joint in Hong Kong, except for the sleek white floors and brightly lit interiors. The menu offers everything from roasted duck noodle soups, barbecued pork over rice and congee to a whole spectrum of Issan dishes like som tam, bamboo shoots salad and grilled marinated chicken. Service is quick and efficient.

Outback Steakhouse

Pepper Lunch

Fusing fast food and casual dining concepts, Pepper Lunch serves up sizzling sukiyaki, teriyaki, steaks (Australia and New Zealand imported beefs) and meat over rice dishes on an iron hot plate. Your order arrives at the table raw but slowly cooked through as you season the dish with either honey brown sauce (amakuchi) or garlic soy sauce (karakuchi). The innovative concept has proven popular among new-generation Thais, who enjoy an element of fun, even while eating. Pepper Lunch is a franchise of the Japanese chain with the same name.

Siam Boat Noodles

If you like the taste of your noodle soup complex and spicy, then sample a bowl of original boat noodles here. The portions are small enough to allow for a few bowls, and the prices are also minimal. Decked out with wooden square stools, tables and the signature rowboat out front, this compact-sized eatery is always packed with diners. With early success, the restaurant now offers additional items on the menu, including som tam, Issan-style spicy pork rib soup, Thai-style sukiyaki, phad thai, and more.

Som Tam Nua

Before the arrival of Som Tam Nua, the best place to go get a bite of zesty Isaan cuisine was at one of the street-side stalls across the city. Som Tam Nua, the brainchild of a group of local art students, was among the very first to place the entire som tam parlour inside an air-conditioned room and has since shot to fame. Famous for its fiery offering, from som tam lao (raw and spicy papaya salad) to laab moo (pork salad) and fried chicken with ‘jaew’ sauce, Tam Nua is not the place for the faint-hearted – even seasoned veterans can expect to shed a few tears.