Bangkok Restaurant Tips by saracen

Restaurant Name: Hong Kitchen

Friendly and relaxed informal restaurant with a small but very appetizing menu.

They serve good beer and even better dim sum, all at ridiculously low prices. Also, if you pick up one of the flyers outside, you get half priced dim sum at lunchtime.

Favorite Dish: Al the dim sum - fresh, light and fluffy.

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Theme: Chinese/Dim Sum
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: In Times Square on Sukhumvit

Restaurant Name: Cabbages & Condoms Restaurant

Great Thai restaurant with some excellent regional cooking.

Restaurant is set in a nice, secluded garden with lots of lights in the trees and waterfall effects. There is also an air conditioned indoor area if the heat is too much for you.

The staff are polite and friendly, if a little reserved. The food is plentiful, beuatufully presented, and tastes great.

The best bit is that the restuarant profits help provide sexual health initiatives and education in the developing world.


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Theme: Local
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 229-4611
Address: Sukhumvit Soi 12

Restaurant Name: Papa Alfredo's

Nice, relaxed setting with friendly, attentive waitresses.

A reasonably sized menu with lots of salads, pastas and pizzas as you would expect.

It was very quiet when I was there for lunch, which was appreciated, getting away from the noise, bustle and heat of the city.

A complimentary bread basket was very tasty but a mistake - I never anticipated the vastness of the portions. The bruschetta would have easilly fed 3 for a started, and the pizza would have been too much without the starter!

The prices are a little steep, but the size of the portions make you feel like you are getting value.

When I never managed to finish even half of my pizza, they very kindly offered to wrap it for me.

Favorite Dish: The pizzas are thin crust, crispy and light. The toppings are generous without becoming sloppy or too much. As pizzas go, probably an 8 out of 10...

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Theme: Italian
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 0-2632-4043
Address: Ground Floor, U Chu Liang Building, Rama IV

Restaurant Name: The Swiss Cafe

A very nice restaurant decorated in a pretty non descript, European steak-house manner. Neither dull nor memorable. Maybe vague is better than bland...

Service is prompt and polite, the menu is large and ranging from local Thai to Italian to Swiss to American.

The food came all in the right order with exemplary service - neither too intrusive nor too relaxed.

Compared to local restaurants it was rather expensive, but the service and isolation from the bustle of the city comes at a price.

Favorite Dish: The Thai platter for starters was great, and more than enough satay, chicken wings and patties to share.

The thai mint pork salad was particularly tasty, and had a very nice bite to it...

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Theme: Eclectic/International
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: (662) 233 5345
Address: THE SWISS LODGE, 3 CONVENT ROAD, SILOM
Website: http://www.swisslodge.com/

This was one I was invited to by some Bangkok based friends, otherwise I would never have found it, nor probably considered it.

You pay a set price per head (I think we were 70 bhat each) for the meal, drinks extra. You have a sort of mini brazier placed on your table and you go to collect the many different things to put on it from the vast selection available.

You are also given a teapot filled with broth that you use to make the soup in the same brazier (it is easer to do than to describe!). You place on your meats, seafood, vegetables, and cook as you like.

You can make limitless trips to the counter for more food, they will also replenish your brazier if it starts to cool down, although in the 2 hours we were there, we never needed this.

The staff in our place were very attentive and friendly. No other farang were visible - it was nice to do as the locals do!

Favorite Dish: There are some great starters and salads that don't need cooking, including some wonderful papaya salad, spring rolls, meat patties.

The meats are wide and varied, all prepared small so you can easilly cook them on the brazier. Also the fish, prawns scallops etc looked very fresh (can't comment on the taste as I hate fish...). There are also loads of green leafy veg, including lots of pak choi which I adore. You use this with the broth to make your soup.

Add in some of the noodles and you can have a very fun, incredibly cheap night, although as they are outdoors, check which way the wind is blowing before you choose your seat, and it is probably best not to get too dressed up!

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Theme: Barbecue
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Directions: They are all over Thailand - this one ,just off Rama IV, close to Lumpini and the Lumpini underground. Sorry I can't be more specific!

Restaurant Name: MBK Food Court

Really busy cafe where you can choose a huge variety of regional and international food from many different counters. No frills, nothing fancy but good food served cheap and fast.

Before you start, you need to locate the coupon booth where you buy coupons for your food - you don't pay for the meals at the counters. I guess this increases the hygeine and reduces the waiting time.

100 bhat (about $3) will provide you with a vast amount of food, but if you don't spend all your coupons you can swap them back to cash - just make sure you do it the same day as they are only valid for the day of purchase.

Once you have your vouchers, have a good look at all the different counters to see what is available - lots of local food, plus Indian, italian, salads etc. Simply hand over vouchers to the value of the food you want, and take your dish.

Favorite Dish: The fried chicken was great - very tender, juicy, succulent and fresh. It was served with rice, a little salad and a bowl of broth. The counters also have a range of sauces and condiments if you want to spice things up a bit.

Once you have your meal, next move is to find a free table - no always easy!

This is a great choice if you are in a hurry, but don't want any of that golden arches rubbish - healthy, fast and incredibly cheap.

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Theme: Local
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: MBK Mall, 444 Thanon Phayathai, Pathumwan
Directions: On the 6th floor.

These style of restaurants are also located elsewhere - Pantip Plaza has a smaller, more crowded version.

Restaurant Name: Coffee Society

Nice coffee shop right in the heart of hectic Silom, with a wide range of food and drinks.

They have a large open area at the front of the cafe, covered from the sun but still open to the road. If the heat is too much, inside there are booths on the ground floor and more seating on the first floor.

Free wi-fi onsite, plus a couple of computer terminals, again with free net access.

The staff are very friendly and attentive.

Favorite Dish: Like all good coffee houses should have, they sell lots of gooey looking cheesecakes and other wicked deserts.

My favourite is from the savoury options - eggs benedict, sharp, creamy and plentiful for a filling breakfast.

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Theme: Coffeehouse
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: +66 (0)2 235 9784
Address: 12/3 Silom Road
Directions: 1 minute from Sala Daeng skytrain.
Website: http://www.coffeesociety.co.th/

Restaurant Name: Black Canyon Coffee

More like a western coffee shop, but with an extensive menu of local foods, plus some imaginative variations such as fettucini with green chicken curry.

The menu is pretty big and covers lots of SE Asian favourites. Oh - and the coffees are great too!

Price wise - main courses are around $1.50

Favorite Dish: The spicy salads are nice, but the current summer special of spicy fried rice with fried pork strips was great, the rice cooked to perfection.

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Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Everywhere in the City

Restaurant Name: Crepes and Company

A great break from Asian food - with what must be the world's friendliest staff!

Not a huge menu, but varied and interesting, and pretty much everything including light, fresh spongy crepes.

Service is prompt and attentive, and unfailingly charming.

Favorite Dish: I was sorely tempted to go for their variation on my favourite, eggs benedict, but twice in 1 day would not be good for the waistline so I had the Moroccan crepe - filled with soft, tender chicken, fried onions, nuts and cramy honey.

With that, the most exquisite mango lassi, just the refreshment needed after a morning in the Bangkok sun!

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Theme: Eclectic/International
Comparison: more expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: (66-2) 653-3990-1
Address: 18/1 Sukhumvit soi 12
Directions: Walk down Soi 12 - Crepes and Co is about 20m past Cabbages & Condoms.
Website: www.crepes.co.th

Restaurant Name: Tonnamthai

Good restaurant with extensive menu of regional dishes.

Service was very friendly and, initially prompt, although several people who came in after me were finished their meals before I got mine.

Lots of curries and fish dishes, but I chose a very tasty fried chicken with papaya salad and sticky rice. In the end, it was worth the wait. The chicken was cooked to perfection - crispy and tasty on the outside, succulent inside. The papaya salad was also very good, sharp, spicy and sweet all at the same time.

The restaurant is open 24 hours.


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Theme: Local
Comparison: about average
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Times Square, Sukhumvit
Directions: At Times Square, look down into the basement on the left of the main door, down the flight of steps.