How to Find the Best Food in Bangkok

I’m compiling a list of places to eat in Bangkok. Research is key. “Google-ability” is important. If a restaurant is written up in English, it’s already very popular. If it has a facebook page, it’s either new or very hip, though often not both. If a friend who has a brother who knows a Bangkok foodie with a blog says he can put me in touch with so-and-so who owns a restaurant/lounge/cafe, then I’ll happily be put in touch. And if my mother’s former student who knows a guy who just opened a bar who’ll let me cook out of his kitchen since my hotel doesn’t have one (for detox breakfasts and lunches after supper—and lunch and breakfast—feasts), then that goes on my list, too.

I like to have an obsession when I go to a new city. Right now, I’m hunting kamun jeen (fermented rice noodles with a selection of curries and pickled toppings. It’s eaten for breakfast and lunch and while sort of falling out of favour, is seeing a mini resurgence with the young and hip of Bangkok). Of course, I’m also looking for “the best” Pad Thai made with green papaya slices, restaurants with their own herb gardens full of basil, wholesale markets where the chefs go in the early morning, perfectly balanced (hot-sour-salty-sweet) tom yam soup, and vegetables I’ve never eaten before.

There’s method to my madness. I want a mix of mom-and-pop shops and fine dining. Probably also a rooftop bar and a Sunday brunch buffet–the best reviewed of each (I read hundreds of reviews, from Trip Adviser to Bangkok Coconuts to bloggers and Bangkok online magazines. I want to see pictures. Directions. Names of chefs—the famous and the “old woman named XXX who has a stall at the Khlong Toei Market.”

So far, the “maybes” on my “Must Eat Bangkok” list include:

Fine Dining

1. Bo.Lan (on many “best of Bangkok” lists. They have their own garden)
2. Issaye Club Restaurant (recommendation of a Canadian ambassador)
3. Nahm (chef David Thompson’s place, author of the most famous English-language Thai cookbooks)

Markets:

1. Khlong Toei (wholesale market. Also the site of the market tour for the famous “Cooking with Poo” cooking class. Poo is the instructor’s name. Jamie Oliver loves her)
2. Or Tor Kor (recommended by Thompson)
3. Nang Loeng Market (sweets market from the 19^th C.

Homestyle Thai

1. Krua Apsorn
2. Chote Chitr
3. Thip Samai (pat tai: pad thai)
4. Thonglee
5. Phat Thai Ari (pad thai with green papaya “noodles”
6. Kanom Jeen Buffet Chao Din (buffet of 59 baht for all-you-can-eat fermeted rice noodles and accoutrements. 5^th fl. Of MBK (Maboonkrong) Mall
7. Kanom Jeen Shop in Soi Suan Phlu

South Indian Dosa

1. Chennai Kitchen (arm-length dosai)
2. Little India (area)

Healthy Thai Food

1. Anothai (all organic Thai cuisine)
2. Sustaina (organic grocer with Japanese and international dishes)
3. Rasayana (raw food)
4. Jay Fai (market tom yam soup with fresh herbs)
5. Lemon Farm (chain, but organic ingredients)

What did I miss? What’s your favourite Bangkok place? Bangkok foodies, bloggers, and insiders, if you want to join me on any adventures, email me at Watson dot amie at gmail dot com. Otherwise, please leave comments to guide my hunger.