Classic Thai food is renowned world over, yet rarely does one find it presented in such an innovative way as at Paste. Paste Bangkok is the brainchild of Australian award winning chef Jason Bailey and his Thai partner Bongkoch "Bee" Satongun, who received acclaim for their Thai restaurants in Australia , relocated to Bangkok, and have since been awarded a Michelin star for their outstanding Thai cuisine. Bailey now focuses on the business end and projects for Paste, while Satongun runs the kitchen, focusing on original Thai flavors and textures, with ingredients sourced fresh from the grower and best markets in the country. Traditional Thai food is done here with beautiful creative twists and a total attention to taste combinations enough to wow the most discerning diner. Try the exquisite Andaman lobster with crispy fish skin or the watermelon and ground salmon with betel leaves and shallots, both are heavenly. The restaurant used to have a branch over on Sukhumvit 49, but has relocated to the posh Gaysorn Plaza, bringing some refined truly refined dining to Bangkok's most elegant shopping plaza.
Recommended for Pathumwan's Best Restaurants because: For outstanding Michelin-starred Thai cuisine in Pathumwan, Paste is well elevated!
Dave's expert tip: Paste is located on the third floor of the Gaysorn Plaza. Take the direct entrance into Gaysorn from the Chidlom BTS skytrain station. Reservations are essential.
Truth is you probably could find equally as good fried chicken in many other spots in Bangkok, but Soi Polo has been famous for so long, why bother traipsing through the heat looking for something else? The chicken here really does put the Colonel to shame, the som tam papaya salads are tasty, and there is even a nam tok gai tawt spicy chicken salad to go with your chicken. It's all Formica tables and metal stools, but nobody comes here for the decor. Besides the fried chicken, Soi Polo also does a handful of other Isaan specialties like pork.
Recommended for Pathumwan's Best Restaurants because: Cheap, crowded, consistently good, and long running all describe the famed Soi Polo fried chicken.
Dave's expert tip: Try to avoid eating here from 12-1, as all the nearby office workers flood this place due to its taste and prices, and you will be hard pressed to find a seat or get served.
For those missing Mexican food in Bangkok, La Monita is all the rage. While most folks do head over for tacos and burritos for lunch and dinner, La Monita also does some of the best breakfasts in the city, with big plates of huevos rancheros on tap, served with plenty of guacamole, salsa, and chorizo, guaranteed to jump start your day. La Monita also does an excellent breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs. An added bonus here as well in that breakfast is served all day, for those who want to sleep in or decide that their jet lag has not yet left, and that 8pm is the breakfast hour.
Recommended for Pathumwan's Best Restaurants because: La Monita was Bangkok's first Mexican restaurants, and it remains the best.
Dave's expert tip: Take the BTS Skytrain to Ploenchit to get here. If you have a hangover, try La Monita's michelada, which is beer, lime juice, and hot sauce, guaranteed to burn out just about anything!
Renowned French chef Herve Frerard presides over Le Beaulieu, which recently reopened in a stylish new location in the posh Athenee Tower Complex on Wireless Road. The focus is on bistro, and the French haute cuisine remains as top notch as ever. The bouillabaisse is outstanding as a starter, and then one can move into the heartier fare, such as the baked morteau sausage with lentil sauce, roasted Bresse chicken, or terrine de pot au feu that has plenty of savory vegetables and meat to indulge in. Ingredients here are extremely fresh, with produce sourced from the Thai Royal Project organic gardens in Chiang Rai.
Recommended for Pathumwan's Best Restaurants because: Fine French food created by a master chef make Beaulieu a top draw, and the Chef's Table is superb.
Dave's expert tip: Reservations are essential here. For a real treat, splurge on the Chef's Table, where Chef Frerard will create a personalized set dinner with wine pairings.
Zuma, the posh Japanese eatery with branches in London, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Miami, and Dubai, has arrived in Bangkok. Based on a traditional Japanese izakaya, yet with a very sophisticated and elegant twist, and designed by Noriyoshi Muramatsu, the renowned architect and design head of Tokyo's Studio Glitt, Zuma features some of Bangkok's freshest and most innovative Japanese cuisine, in an immaculately planned urban setting. Signature dishes include the gyuhire sumibiyaki karami zuke- spicy beef tenderloin with sesame, red chili and sweet soy, as well as the gindara saikyo misoyaki, a fine black cod marinated for 3 days in miso and served wrapped in a hoba leaf
Recommended for Pathumwan's Best Restaurants because: The "rhubabu" signature cocktail and the black cod marinated in miso are just a few reasons to visit this outstanding restaurant.
Dave's expert tip: Absolutely not to be missed at Zuma is their unique signature cocktail, the "rhubabu," which combines rhubarb infused sake and vodka chilled at -42 along with passion fruit and served as a martini. Additionally, Zuma's outstanding wine cellar is stocked with over 1500 bottles of fine sake, wine, and champagne.
There is a reason why Din Tai Fung has been named one of the world's ten best restaurants by the New York Times, one of the best franchises by CNN, and awarded a Michelin star. This Taiwanese originated franchise excels at clean and delicious Chinese food, and is extremely well noted for its xiao long bao dumplings, made to perfection with 18 folds. At this new outlet, located in the elegant Central Embassy Mall, you can watch the master chefs in the open kitchen showing off their talents, churning out their artistic food creations for the hungry masses. The dumplings here are light and truly a bit of master craftsmanship (they even offer dumpling making workshops, same as the one poster boy Tom Cruise took in Taiwan). Showmanship aside, it's the food here you're after. Menu standouts include the steamed chicken or pork rib soups, black fungus with vinegar dressing served with wolfberries and ginger, and the green chilies stuffed with marinated mincemeat, a specialty served only at the Thailand branches. The xiao long bao are available in their original juicy pork filling as well as in seasonal varieties like crab meat in Singaporean-style spicy chilli-and-crab broth, an autumn treat. This new location offers great views of downtown Bangkok from its large glass windows and the spacious layout affords plenty of room for that exploding dumpling juice coming from the mouths of delighted diners.
Recommended for Pathumwan's Best Restaurants because: Bangkok doesn't have many great places to eat top notch leisurely weekend brunches and Hyde and Seek sets the trend with its great breakfasts.
Dave's expert tip: There is also a branch of Din Tai Fung at Central World on the 7th Floor. To get here, take the BTS Skytrain to Ploenchit and use the Central Embassy exit sky bridge straight into the mall.
Not only is JoJo sleek, sophisticated, and one of Bangkok's most elegant dining spots, it also happens to serve some of the city's most refined and delicious Italian food. You can sit in the stylish dining room or out on the romantic candlelit patio and indulge in offerings like squid ink tagliolini in Boston lobster sauce or a fettucine alfredo served on a Castelmagno cheese wheel. Absolutely don't miss trying the D.O.P Burrata cheese and rocket salad, which is a half kilo of creamy cheese that will leave you salivating with pleasure. Don't forget to save room for the tiramisu martini for dessert!
Recommended for Pathumwan's Best Restaurants because: The D.O.P Burrata cheese and rocket salad is one of Bangkok's most delicious dishes, at this stylish Italian restaurant.
Dave's expert tip: Reservations are essential here and the restaurant can be accessed directly from the BTS Skytrain Rajadamri Station, using the entrance into the St. Regis.
Dutch chef Henk Savelberg knows his cuisine. Awarded a Michelin star in four different restaurants across the Netherlands, Savelberg has brought his culinary magic to Bangkok, working the kitchen along with his team, creating French inspired dishes with molecular touches that are worth the splurge. Lobster here is served with papaya, pomelo, Tzar caviar, and yuzu dressing, there is slow cooked guinea fowl, and a roast lamb neck and rack served with carrot, yellow curry, lamb jus and foam of couscous/brie. All the ingredients are high end, and the best selections are available as a four, six, or eight course menu, with fine wine pairings available as well. The gleaming bright kitchen ensconced in the dapper Oriental Residence enhances the experience as well. Just make sure to bring a credit card of fat wallet, as it isn't cheap.
Recommended for Pathumwan's Best Restaurants because: For a Michelin chef's devotion, Savelberg is worth a splurge.
Dave's expert tip: The Sunday set lunch, with 5 courses and half a bottle of champagne, is an excellent way to celebrate.
It might be more like going to a magic show than a restaurant when you see what comes out of the kitchen at Sra Bua. Modeled on the award winning Kiin Kiin restaurant in Denmark, run by chef Henrik Yde-Andersen and Lertchai Treetawatchaiwong, a Thai engineer-cum- gastronomist, Sra Bua sets out to overwhelm its patrons with dishes of amazing taste, texture, and presentation. The tasting menus here are the way to go, offering a gastronomic road trip through all the best of Thai cuisine. The dishes don't look anything like what you are used to in Thai restaurants, yet all the flavors have been preserved and enhanced to the utmost. The tom yum soup is served as a broth with prawn noodles accompanied by a bowl of the ingredients like galangal and lemongrass which have been made into cold foams and powders. Mix the two together and you get one of the most amazing renditions of the dish you will ever experience. Another signature dish is frozen red curry with lobster, in which the red curry has been made into frozen ice cream and is served topped with lychee foam and comes on a plate that is smoked with liquid nitrogen. Mango and sticky rice for dessert comes disguised as a cotton candy ball, which explodes when syrup is poured over it, revealing the mango inside. Food presentation and taste doesn't get better than this, and Sra Bua is truly a Bangkok experience not to be missed.
Recommended for Pathumwan's Best Restaurants because: For a foodie's gourmet take on Thai food, Sra Bua is unique and highly recommended..
Dave's expert tip: reservations are essential and dinner is not cheap, running over 3000 baht for a tasting menu. Get here by taking the BTS Skytrain to Siam, then walking through the Siam Paragon Mall following the signs for the Siam Kempinski.