Food in Thailand

Just like Elizabeth Olsen, we too get way too much happiness from good food! Here’s a rundown of our best picks to help you navigate food in Thailand. The country is teeming with uncountable food options that will add zest to your visit! 

PHUKET

Phuket is dotted with plenty of restaurants, and we had tried quite a few options before pinning down our favourites based on how delicious, fresh, and authentic the food was!

🇮🇹🍴 La Dolce Vita Italian Restaurant is located opposite the Nai Yang Beach which is a 10-minute drive from Phuket Airport. They serve great food and plenty of vegetarian options, our favourite being the brick oven wood fire pizza! The atmosphere is casual, and there’s plenty of sitting space attended by amiable staff. They even have a bar. The restaurant is located near a shopping market, massage shops, and fruit stalls opposite the beach.

💰 Price: THB 300-400 (USD 9-12) per pax 

🇮🇳🍴 Sanjha Chulha: Came across this gem of a restaurant that is located on the RAT U THIT 200 PE intersection. Excellent food quality, one of the best we’ve had in Patong! The food takes a little while to reach your table, mainly because they cook their vegetables and gravies fresh from scratch. Impressive varieties, even catering well to vegetarians. The Thali is a great pick which includes two variants of a vegetable gravy, a dal fry, raita, naan/roti, rice, papadam, and a sweet dish like rasgulla or gulab jamun. The restaurant is relatively new and feels cozy, and the staff members are friendly and hospitable.

💰 Price: THB 250-350 (USD 7.5-10.5) per pax

🇮🇳🍴 Tandoori Flames: A lovely Indian restaurant located across Patong beach. Since it’s usually crowded, you’ll probably have to make a reservation before going. Otherwise, the owner will ensure you’re seated comfortably upstairs in an AC hall where you can place your order while waiting for a table. Food tastes absolutely great, especially the Kadai Paneer! Besides numerous Indian varieties, they’ve got impressive authentic Thai dishes as well. The owner and staff members are friendly and will ensure you get the most out of the dining experience. Thoroughly enjoyed our dinner here!

💰 Price: THB 300-400 (USD 9-12) per pax 

🥞🍨 Pancakes and Fried Ice Cream: While you’re walking the streets in Phuket, you’ll find dime a dozen pancake parlours and few fried ice cream vendors. Banana, mango, Nutella pancakes are the most popular, and you’ll be spoilt by the variety of ice cream flavours available. Now let’s be clear that fried ice cream in Thailand isn’t the sort of ice cream that’s coated in raw egg, rolled in flour and cornflakes or cookie crumbs, and briefly deep fried. Nope! It’s in fact a rolled ice cream made from fresh ingredients such as milk, fruits or other toppings of your choice – mashed, mixed, stirred, and scraped into curls on a −18°C to −35°C metal ice-pan right in front of you. Both are great dessert options, the sort of comfort food that is perfect during an island holiday!

💰 Pancakes: THB 40-60 (USD 1.2-1.8)
💰 Fried Ice Cream: THB 100 (USD 3)

BANGKOK

🇹🇭🍴 Bangkok also has uncountable restaurants and cuisine varieties. One question many people commonly ask is about the availability of vegetarian Thai food, the one you can eat the way locals do! We were absolutely thrilled when we came across CHEAPER&BETTER Street Food, a fantastic place to indulge in some vegetarian street food in Bangkok. It is located in Silom, in the alleyway opposite The Sri MahaMariamman Temple. The owner is super welcoming and will cater to your special requests. We requested him to serve us vegetarian food cooked in a freshly cleaned wok, and he kindly obliged. He also allowed us to customize the dishes according to our tastes and preferences (definitely ask for less sugar in your Thai curry). You’ll either be seated on the tables by the laneway, or inside a shop if it’s raining. Fried Rice, Pad Thai, Red Thai Curry, Tom Yum Soup, and Som Tam (Papaya Salad) were some of the dishes we tried and thoroughly enjoyed. Not to mention, do give their mango with sticky rice a try if you’re curious to know what the traditional Thai dessert tastes like!

💰 Price: THB 50-100 (USD 1.5-3) per dish

CHIANG MAI

🍙🥦🍴 Chiang Mai is a lovely town in Northern Thailand and home to one of the best places we’ve had a vegetarian fried rice. Alice’s Restaurant is a cute little restaurant in Chiang Mai offering a wide range of organic vegetarian and vegan food varieties. We personally loved their fried rice with tofu that contained plenty of vegetables. Their blue rice is a unique item on the menu, and the friendly staff kindly explained how it was coloured using a bright blue edible flower called Blue Butterfly Pea Vine. She even showed us the report written about that flower describing in detail its health benefits. Science talk during dinner, how cool 😎! The restaurant is a 10-minute walk from the night bazaar and is worth every Thailand Baht for the healthy vegetarian food options the restaurant serves!

💰 Price: THB 100-150 (USD 3-4.5) per pax 

🇹🇭🍴 The Night Markets in Chiang Mai include the ones at the intersection of Chang Khlan Road and Loi Khro Road, Tha Pae Gate to Ratchadamnoen Road (Sunday night market), and Wualai Road with Thipanet Road (Saturday market). You’ll find plenty of local Thai food vendors there!

PAI

🍛🍣🍴 Pai was our favourite eating destination, but we recommend ditching fancy restaurant dining and head to the Walking Street instead. You will be stunned by the very many food stalls available, and you’ll definitely want to visit it at least twice to try everything out! Some of our best picks from the Walking Street include: Green Thai curry with brown rice, vegetable pad thai, khao soi, spinach avocado bruschetta, sushis, fried sandwiches, spring rolls, curry puffs, gyozas, coconut pancake with banana, juices and milkshakes. Truly an eater’s paradise, to say the least!

CHIANG RAI

🍝🍄🍴 Chiang Rai located further north in Thailand also hosts some impressive eating spots! Connect Café is a lovely little restaurant located opposite Chiang Rai Bus Terminal 1. Their food quality is top-notch, and the portion size is huge! They serve vibrant dishes containing fresh and bright ingredients, and tend to adorn the plating with a watermelon slice and flower. The stir-fried vegetables are served with brown rice, and the fried rice as well as the sweet and sour pasta can be ordered with tofu and Shiitake mushroom. Besides the owner’s cute puppy, the highlight of our visit was the irresistible coconut ice cream. The best tasting coconut ice cream we’ve ever taken delight in 🥥🍨! It’s on the specials of the day menu, so availability is seasonal. 

💰 Price: THB 100-150 (USD 3-4.5) per pax

🥗🥦🍴 Smiling Moon Café is a tiny restaurant containing only 5 tables, located on the opposite side of Chiang Rai Night Bazaar entrance gate (towards the left). They serve plenty of vegetarian food options with very reasonable pricing and impressive portion size containing colourful veggies and tofu! Oh and just a heads up – they serve only Chinese broccoli, which is different from the Western broccoli you may be accustomed to. Not too crowded usually, so you may just be the only one in the restaurant, specially if you’re visiting after 8pm. The restaurant is open till 10pm which is lifesaving as many other vegetarian restaurants in Chiang Rai close by 8pm. 

💰 Price: THB 120-150 (USD -4.5) per pax

🍔🍩🍴 The Saturday Night Market in Chiang Rai is located at the junction of Suk sathit and Thanalai street. You’ll find umpteen food varieties such as tornado potatoes, fried cheese balls, samosas, veggie burger, donuts and pastries, mini coconut ice cream, brownies, rotis, coconut water, dessert drinks made out of coconut milk, and so much more! Not to mention the live music and local Thai dancing that will fascinate you along the way.

We would also like to make a special mention to Easyhouse restaurant located on Pemavipat Road in Chiang Rai. We had the best vegetarian Yellow Thai Curry there, the one that warmed our hearts and made us fond of Thailand even more! No photos available since we were too hungry and busy devouring the tasty goodness 🍛😋

Enjoy travelling! It’s delicious. Cheers! 🥂

Read More:

Check out our 4-day itinerary guide for planning a holiday in Phuket

Check out our Bangkok travel guide 

Check out our temple hopping ventures in Chiang Mai

Check out our discoveries in Pai, Northern Thailand’s Tranquil Hippie Town

Check out our 3-Day Travel Guide For First Time Visitors to Chiang Rai