BANGKOK RESTAURANTS
Bangkok is such a gastronomically vibrant city for global foodies. You can choose to have all of your meals from carts at the street markets or at a nice sit-down restaurant that explores a modern twist to traditional Thai cuisine. I did a mixture of both!
Issaya Siamese Club ***: $$$, Their soft shell crab is a MUST and one of my top 10 favorite bites ever! The massaman lamb was rich, creamy, and perfectly tender. A few of the dishes come with an elaborate presentation. Whether something is smoking, steaming, flambe-ing, or being plated right on the table, all of your senses are stimulated. The coconut soufflé dessert for 2 gets plated right on your table and has a very surprising ending. I don’t want to ruin it, but just make sure your napkin covers your top! They also have a set tasting menu if that’s more your style.
Jay Fai ***: $$, The famous Jay Fai and her Michelin Star winning fried crab omelet. Be warned - there is a long wait time! The sign-in sheet opens at 9 am and only has 100 spots daily. So once those 100 lines are filled, they close the registration. We came at around 9:15 am, were number 42 on the list and were seated at 1 pm. They don’t have an online waitlist so it was hard to figure out how long it would take until our name was called. So we walked around and circled back every 30-45 minutes to check our spot. In that time, we got a massage, checked out a cafe, walked around a local park, bought some souvenirs, and visited a temple. Anyway, the fried crab omelet is gigantic and fantastic. It’s not at all greasy and the flavor was out of this world. The egg has a nice crunch and adds texture to the soft and sweet HUGE chunks of crab meat. The yellow curry crab dish was also delicious.
Rongros ***: $$, A small restaurant with great food and a fantastic view of Wat Arun across the river. Reservations are a must. We made ours the day before in person because the online booking was full. The fish cakes were fantastic and the garlic tiger prawns were packed with flavor.
Maze Dining: $$$, The restaurant of highly acclaimed Chef May Thongthong. We followed her through Top Chef All Stars! She has multiple tasting menus. Chef May presents each dish and gives backstories into how she created the dish as well as the whole menu. My favorite of the menu was the prawn that she paired with 3 different sauces to resemble the 3 most common prawn dishes in Thailand. You get a lot of intimate, one-on-one time with her which was a cool experience.
Madam Somtum: $, This place felt like where the locals went to eat. Most of the clientele were in their school uniforms or business people in suits so I knew we were in the right place for some nice home-cooked meals. The papaya salad was really good but also incredibly spicy. At the end of the day, I tried to eat like a local, but I’m still not at their level in terms of spice!
Make Me Mango Tha Tian (Dessert): $$, The perfect dessert place after a meal at Rongros. Also the perfect place for a refreshing, mango dessert on a hot Thai day!