Tag: Thai Restaurant

Top 5 Vegetarian Restaurants In Bangkok

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With such overuse of fishy-based key Thai ingredients, finding pure vegetarian food in Bangkok can be a difficult task. If you search hard enough though, you can find some real vegetarian restaurant gems around the city…

Unfortunately, most of the best vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Bangkok tend to be clustered around the Old City near Khaosan Road. Perhaps good news for tourists in the area, but not so much for central-living expats in Bangkok. Anyway, here are my top 5 vegetarian restaurants I’ve found so far – please drop us a comment if you can suggest any others!

Best Vegetarian Restaurants In Bangkok

1: Bonita Cafe – Cosy Vegan International Cuisine

If you’re staying in the Sathorn or Silom area of Bangkok, be sure to check out the homey little vegan restaurant, Bonita, within just a couple of minutes walking distance to the BTS Surasak station. Bonita has an international menu of vegan burgers, pizzas, pastas and all-day breakfasts ranging from around 150 baht to 300 baht. The atmosphere is lovely and cozy inside, plus the owners obviously put a lot of care into the quality of their dishes.

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2 May Kaidee – Traditional Thai Casual

With standard key ingredients such as fish sauce and shrimp paste, it can be particularly hard to find proper vegetarian and vegan authentic Thai food in Bangkok. However, you can rest assured that the ingredients used at Thai restaurant May Kaidee cater purely for vegetarians and vegans. May Kaidee is a successful little chain of restaurants scattered around Bangkok with a total of 3 locations, 2 of which are in the old city of Bangkok near Khaosan Road – perfect if you are staying in the tourist area on holiday.

The Bangkok vegetarian restaurant serves up a range of juices and smoothies, as well as rice, noodle, vegetable, curry and tofu dishes for under 100 baht. The interior of the restaurants is nothing fancy, but casual and informal for a cheap and tasty bite to eat.

3 Ethos Vegetarian Restaurant – A Hippy Vibe With Delicious Smoothies

Located pretty much right next door to the neighbouring May Kaidee near Khaosan Road, Ethos offers a cosy ethnic atmosphere with an extensive vegetarian and vegan menu. With inviting floor seating and colourful lamps, the restaurant has an exotic vibe with welcoming little touches such as a mini library. Thai dishes cost between 80 and 200 baht, while international dishes vary between 150 and 250 baht.

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There is a huge menu of quality dishes with a good range of Moroccan food and pastas. However, for myself, it’s smoothies are it’s biggest highlight. They’re particularly delicious with a great variety of special detox drinks and fruity mixes.

4 Chomp – Cocktails, Burgers and… Yoga?

This family friendly restaurant (again near Khaosan Road) offers more than just tasty vegetarian cuisine in Bangkok – it’s second-floor acts as a community hub for social events such as poetry readings, art exhibitions, comedy nights, yoga classes and jujitsu classes. In an authentic old teak house, the restaurant offers an industrial interior theme with red brick walls and modern furniture.

Chomp is open from the early hours till late night. Despite not being a strictly vegetarian restaurant, it offers a good range of great tasting international dishes including vegetarian burgers and pumpkin sandwiches, offering home-made breads, jams and pastas. Prices range from 200 to 400 baht per dish, and you can even enjoy a delicious cocktail from the extensive menu.

5 Rasayana Raw Café – A Raw Vegetarian Detox in Central Bangkok

With a peaceful patio garden just off Sukhumvit 39 in Phrom Pong, this raw vegetarian cafe is great for a lunchtime visit. The cafe serves up a choice of organic detox drinks such as vegetable juices, smoothies, wheatgrass juices and tonics. A typical meal costs from 170 baht per person and is quite a bargain for the quality of the food. The menu includes raw pizzas and pastas made with dehydrated vegetable bases; a range of salads such as pomelo and caesar (some of the tastiest you’ll find in Bangkok); taco cups and gazpacho soups; and a choice of lovely desserts such as lemon parks and key lime pie.

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Do you have a favourite vegetarian or vegan restaurant in Bangkok? Let us know and leave us a comment!

 

Top 5: Local Thai Eats In Bangkok

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Are you itching to try some real Thai food in Bangkok? Screw all the fancy Thai restaurants, when you dine out off the beaten path – local style – then you can truly experience Thai food in Bangkok.

Not only do the local Thai restaurants in Bangkok serve hearty and traditional cuisine, but they ‘re also super cheap if you’re travelling on a budget. At most of the Thai restaurants popular with the locals, you can dine from just 70 baht per person… And remember that these restaurants are popular for a reason.

Thai Style Restaurants

Local restaurants in Thailand have a very different vibe to the more mainstream restaurants which are aimed at tourists, they’re worth visiting if you want to see a real part of Thai culture that you could otherwise completely miss.

A typical experience dining in a local Thai restaurant is casual, where diners share food platters in the middle of the table, are served drinks from shabby metal trolleys, drink from 5 litre beer towers and maybe even get to hear a Thai folk music performance from a local singer. A really popular feature of some local restaurants in Thailand, also seems to be the do-it-yourself barbecues, where patrons cook their own food on the table in front of them.

For the best local Thai restaurants in Bangkok, here’s my personal top 5:

 

1

Banrie Coffee is by far my best Thai restaurant in Bangkok. It’s open 24 hours a day, has live music, cheap beer towers, a cute beer garden, laid-back atmosphere and simple good food. Banrie Coffee is perhaps a little more sophisticated than your average local Thai restaurant, it’s more of an evening hangout for both young Thais and expats in Bangkok. But not only is it a cool hangout, but this Thai restaurant also has an extensive menu of Thai cuisine at an affordable price, complete with a fairy-lit urban garden.

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2

SD Bar BQ is an all-you-can-eat buffet style restaurant in Bangkok, totally Thai style and packed full of cheerful locals. It’s not got the cheapest of prices by local standards, but for the range of dishes on offer and the unlimited food, it’s really not bad value at 129 baht per person. In fact if you’re looking for a place to sample a complete range of Thai cuisine, SD Bar BQ Buffet might be just what you’re looking for.

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The layout of SD barbecue is casual and authentically Thai – tables are set out in long lines of benches with holes in the middle to barbecue your own food. Yep, this is a typical do-it-yourself barbecue-style restaurant (and it get’s pretty damn hot too) – of course there are other pre-cooked options available too if you don’t feel like cooking your own food. (Tip: another good barbecue restaurant in Bangkok worth visiting is the rooftop restaurant Bar-BQ)

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Yong Lee is a Chinese-Thai style restaurant which has been around for almost 50 years and definitely looks it’s age. With grease splattered walls and tattered old menus, this is about as local as it gets. The restaurant itself is nothing fancy but the food is still pretty good for an off the beaten path visit.

Food at Yong Lee can be a little more adventurous, with Chinese fried bowels and beef tongue soups, however there are also a range of traditional Thai dishes too. Yong Lee is great for a casual lunch off the beaten track in Bangkok.

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4

The Good View is a more extravagant restaurant compared to many other typical, local Thai restaurants in Bangkok. In fact, this is probably the most expensive restaurants out of my top 5 local Thai restaurants in Bangkok.

Located on the riverside, the restaurant has sophisticated wooden decking, a fairy-lit terrace and an indoor bar area with live music performances and a dance floor. It’s still pretty off the beaten path though, and has an extensive Thai, Western and Japanese menu with plenty of typically Thai beer tower’s available. If you’re after a special or romantic night out in Bangkok, Thai-style, then try Good View.

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5

Sabai Jai Gai Yang, like Yong Lee and SD barbecue,  is another humble little eatery in Bangkok. With a battered menu, plastic tablecloths and a modest karaoke-style folk stage, the restaurant maintains a casual yet lively atmosphere. It’s specialty is grilled chicken, however it has an extensive menu of Thai dishes and is great for sampling the local cuisine.

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Picture by leolaksi

The Good View Restaurant Bangkok

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Good View is one of the more upscale local Thai restaurants of Bangkok. With live music from Thai bands, open air dining and plenty of beer towers on the go, a trip to Good View in Bangkok makes for a great authentic Thai style restaurant experience – complete with a tranquil, riverside view.

The Good View Riverside Restaurant

The restaurant itself is rather big with a large, wooden floored outdoor area and an indoor bar. The outdoor part of the restaurant at Good View is partially covered by a roof, featuring open views out onto the Chao Phraya river of Bangkok. You can either sit under the shelter of the roof, or on the open air seating lined along the riverside front of the restaurant.

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Enveloped by the wooden seating area underneath the shelter part of the outdoor seating, is a small, natural grassed area with trees and plenty of greenery. Lanterns hang freely throughout the venue, hanging from the tree branches to give an elegant and charming ambience.

The Good View Menu

The Good View riverside restaurant has an extensive menu of Japanese, European, Chinese and traditional Thai dishes. Prices are a little high considering that the food there doesn’t taste much different from cheaper Thai restaurants in Bangkok. However portions are of a generous size and the pleasant environment makes up for it.

Prices start from 150 baht for a standard Thai dish such as Green Curry or Cashew Nut Chicken. Prices increase to 390 baht for steamed mussels in soy sauce and garlic, sushi, fish heads or grilled whole snappers. As Good View is an authentically Thai restaurant, it also has a large choice of sharer dishes in order for you to dine the traditional Thai way.

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Sharers start from 150 baht per dish and include spicy banana blossom and prawn salad, or northeastern Thai-style grilled beef. Another Thai tradition, the beer tower, costs 560 baht per 5 litre tower. Soft drinks start from just 35 baht. Desserts are purely Thai style: Syrup and ice with fruit.

How to get to Good View Bangkok

Good View is located to the very south of Charoen Krung Road. You can ask a taxi driver to take you to the nearest landmark – Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital – and then keep walking south towards the river from there for about 5 minutes. You can’t miss the restaurant it’s pretty big with a massive car park and signs on the roadside.

Thai-English phonetics are pretty bad, the hospital name is more accurately pronounced like: ‘Rong-pa-ya-baan Ja-roen-grung Bra-cha-rak’… Bit of a mouthful, sorry.

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The indoor bar

Tawandang German Brewery Thai Bar Bangkok

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Bangkok’s Tawandang German Brewery can only be described as a lively cabaret-come-bar and restaurant with a laid back yet energetic ambience. The authentically Thai, modern bar provides an accurate glimpse into mainstream Bangkok nightlife. Popular with both Thai locals and the odd Bangkok expat, Tawandang is the perfect venue for celebrating, partying or simply admiring the dynamic, live performances.  

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The venue

Tawandang Brewery prides itself on four things: Great entertainment, great food, great beer and a friendly atmosphere. Being popular is an understatement –  Tawandang Brewery is a huge success in Bangkok and, despite it’s large, spacious interior, it get’s very busy and packed very quickly.

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The venue consists of a large, central seating area with the best views of the main stage – the in-demand seating here get’s booked up as much as a month in advance. Then, you have seating along the sides and at the back of the venue. The back area of the Tawandang venue provides bar-like seating which surrounds an industrial looking brewing tank; although this section has perhaps the worst view of the stage, there are big screens that you can watch the action on.

Tawandang German Brewery Menu

The Tawandang Brewery brews it’s own German beers on site: Dunkel beer, Weizen beer and Lager beer. You can order beer either by the glass or as a typically Thai beer tower, very reasonably priced and delicious; they even allow you to taste the beers before you order! How sophisticated is that, mind?

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As for the food, Tawandang serves up a selection of both European (mainly German) and local Thai dishes. It’s signature dish is the German style Pork Knuckles with mashed potatoes which are highly reputed among it’s customers. The Tom Yam Goong, Steamed Seabass and German Sausages also go down particularly well with one of their cold, locally brewed beers too.

Entertainment at Tawandang Bangkok

By far the biggest focus of the Bangkok Tawandang Brewery, is the live entertainment. Ranging from traditional Thai performance, pop singers, jazz bands and hip hop dancers, to comedy acts, magicians and exciting stunts, Tawandang has something for everyone. There are a huge number of acts performing throughout the night – great value for money considering the absence of entry fees.

tawandang1 There are slightly less acts performing during the week as there are during the weekend, however this may be better if you’re after a more subdued atmosphere to enjoy with your partner. If you’d prefer an energetic party atmosphere with a larger group of people, the weekend is the best time to go – just remember to book ahead to be safe.

How to get to Tawandang Brewery Bangkok

The closest train station to Tawandang Brewery is BTS Chong Nonsi or Lumpini MRT, however you will still need to take a taxi from either of these stations. You can either ask the driver to take you to Tawandang near Rama 3 Soi 69, or print out the website map here.

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Steve Cafe & Cuisine Bangkok

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Off the beaten track and hidden among rickety, wooden plank pathways along the Chao Phraya riverfront, Steve Cafe & cuisine is truly a unique, hidden gem amongst the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. If you’re an expat wanting to try something different in Bangkok, or simply on holiday longing for somewhere a little more adventurous and local, the laid back Steve Cafe may be just what you’re looking for.

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A journey to Steve Cafe

It’s certainly not an easy feat trying to navigate one’s way to Steve Cafe. Balancing your way along the maze of thin, creaky boardwalks; squeezing through drunken, saucy gangs of fishermen getting lairy on Sangsom; and dodging old locals hauling rice sacks on their backs is a mini adventure in itself. (It’s not that bad – I just got REALLY lost. Follow my directions below to avoid the rabble of local drunks)

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Navigating your way to the little riverfront restaurant is all part of the fun of visiting Steve Cafe & Cuisine in Bangkok though. The quaint, little alleyways and energetic atmosphere of these riverside stilt houses represent authentic, local Thai culture perfectly.

The fruits of a successful search

When you arrive at Steve Cafe, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the contrastingly clean and inviting-looking riverfront building tucked away at the end of a winding alley of ramshackle, wooden planks. Greeted by a welcoming sign on the teak wooden doorway, you’ll be asked to remove your shoes and stow them on the homey shoe rack next to the entrance.

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The layout of Steve Cafe is authentically casual, bright and airy: simple white furniture lines the terrace along the river front, while the inside section features cozy sofas and mismatched seating. The basic setting is complimented with the odd charming, subtle decoration such as rambling roses climbing pillars, minimalist Thai temple paintings on the walls, a typical Thai spirit house embellished with offerings of flowers, and random old stuffed toys in hanging cages… wait, wtf? Creepy.

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As for the view at Steve Cafe, the opposite side of the river provides a rather sparsely populated view: void of impressive Bangkok high rises or grand, Thai temples as you might get at other famous restaurants on the Chao Phraya river like Amorosa. When visiting Steve Cafe, expect a more simple, broad riverfront setting – just sit back and appreciate the rare calm of the big city.

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The soft, lapping sounds of the river, along with the decent mix of popular, easy going background tunes from artist’s like Jack Johnson, give Steve Cafe a pleasantly relaxing ambience. Furthermore, despite the humble surrounding landscape, it’s still fun to watch the little boats and ferries go by, and the giant, creepy river fish thrashing around in the water while the locals feed them from the busy neighbouring dock.

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The menu at Steve Cafe

The menu at Steve Cafe is thickly packed with a huge range of both traditional and modern Thai dishes. Typical meals cost between 140 baht and 200 baht for simple dishes like Pad Thai & fresh prawns or Southern style sour soup with lotus stems & tofu; or up to the 400 baht mark for more elegant dishes such as deep fried sea bass with herbs.

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Food is reasonably priced considering the decent portion sizes and quality – dishes are obviously cooked with love at Steve Cafe. You’ll find pretty much any Thai dish you can think of on the menu at Steve Cafe from dry curries, soup curries and sour soups, to veggie dishes, salads and stir fries.

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How to get to Steve Cafe

Steve Cafe is set in a peaceful area, hidden behind a beautiful temple and museum through the local back streets. The best way to get to Steve Cafe is by ferry. You can take the BTS to Saphan Taksin pier, then take the ferry to pier no. 15, Thewet Pier. This should cost about 15 baht depending on which boat you board.

Once at pier 15, walk straight down the road for a couple of hundred metres until you reach a small bridge on the left hand side. Cross the bridge, turn left and follow the road around the u-bend. Just ahead on your left hand side there should be a narrow alleyway – walk down and turn left at the end. This will take you a temple entrance.

Make your way behind the temple until you come to a parking lot with a museum on the right hand side. Just past the museum is a wooden walkway towards the river that leads to Steve Cafe.

Website: www.stevecafeandcuisine.com

Sabai Jai Gai Yang Local Thai Restaurant Bangkok

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Sabai Jai Gai Yang, also referred to as Baan Tawan Gai Yang, is an authentic, local neighbourhood restaurant to drink and dine in pure Thai style. Located in the sleek and modern district of Bangkok, Bang Na, Sabai Jai Gai Yang is a breath of fresh air where you can enjoy proper Thai food in natural Thai surroundings.

Sabai Jai Gai Yang Style

Sabai Jai Gai Yang is a casual Bangkok hangout where you can simply relax and chill out in your shorts and flip flops. The laid back, family orientated, local ambience make it a a great ‘off the beaten track’ restaurant away from the hectic tourist atmospheres or contrastingly snobbish undercurrents of other Bangkok restaurants and bars.

The Restaurant

The Bangkok restaurant has both a traditional open air section and an air conditioned indoor section. In the typical Thai restaurant style, Sabai Jai Gai Yang consists of a partially sheltered tent like surround, fold-up metal seating, plastic table covers and the standard drinks trolley at the head of the table.

Despite it’s relatively small size, there is a stage at the front where local bands play Thai tunes and pop music towards the later hours of the evening. It can get a bit loud and difficult to hear each other speak during these hours, but if you’re keen to listen to some proper Thai music in Bangkok, you’ll definitely find it here. I can’t help but feel a bit stressed out listening to the crazy overpowering beats of too much authentic Thai music myself though…

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Picture by www.leolaksi.wordpress.com

Sabai Jai Gai Yang is the kind of Bangkok restaurant to let loose, nothing fancy; buy a beer tower or two with friends and share taster dishes in the middle of the table, Thai style.

Sabai Jai Gai Yang Menu

Sabai Jai Gai Yang have an extensive menu of both Isaan dishes and Thai food. The battered, plastic menus are thick with pages of dishes in both English and Thai. Although staff don’t speak much English at Sabai Jai Gai Yang, the menus are pretty clear with plenty of pictures to help you choose.

Isaan and Thai dishes at Sabai Jai Gai Yang are reasonably priced and start from around the 80 baht mark. For 80 baht, you can get their signature dish, half a mouthwatering grilled chicken (as in the name – gai yang) with spicy Thai dips. Admittedly it’s tasty, but it’s also a real ball ache to eat half a chicken with a fork and spoon!

Other typical cheaper dishes at the Bangkok restaurant include Pad Ka Praw (Basil stir fry) and Som Tam (Papaya salad) which cost around 120 baht. Bigger dishes such as whole steamed fish and seafood stir fries cost up to 400 baht per dish. Just bare in mind that this is an authentic Thai restaurant – the spicy Thai dishes at Sabai Jai Gai Yang are damn spicy.

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Photo by www.eatingthaifood.com

How To Get To Sabai Jai Gai Yang

Sabai Jai Gai Yang is located on Bangkok’s Ekamai Road Soi 1. You can get to Ekamai via BTS to Ekamai station, then head up Soi 63 (Ekamai Road) and Soi 1 is on the left hand side opposite Health Land. Although it is only Soi 1, this is a surprisingly long and sweaty walk (10 – 15 minutes) so you may want to take a taxi from Ekamai BTS station.

Sabai Jai Gai Yang is right on the corner of the main road and Soi 1 – the entrance is just around the back.