city guides where i actually eat

Where to eat in Bangkok.

My very good friend Noah reached out and asked if I could recommend some spots for his friends who are going to Bangkok for their 40th anniversary. My first recommendation is to go to Thailand for as long as you can. If you only have a little bit of time in Bangkok, here’s what I suggest.

Bangkok ◆ thailand · six places and one fight

I’ve been to a lot of cities this year. Bangkok is the one I keep thinking about.

◆ my number one
Margo
sathorn · french bistro · thirty five seats

A French bistro in a sun filled house in Sathorn. Chef Wilfrid Hocquet opened it in July 2025 after six years running Blue by Alain Ducasse, where he held a Michelin star. He came out of the Ducasse world, Monaco and New York before Bangkok, and then he walked away from the fine dining room to cook something more personal.

You can feel that in the food. Classical technique, no stiffness. House made terrines. A long bar you can drop into. A wine cellar behind the dining room. This is the kind of place I want to build. Small, serious, relaxed.

52 Soi Naradhiwas 10, Sathorn, Bangkok 10120
dinner thursday through tuesday
margobkk.com ↗
◆ the tables
Ojosilom · mexican · 76th floor Three hundred meters up King Power Mahanakhon, the highest restaurant in Thailand, three hundred sixty degree views of the city and the Chao Phraya. It is real Mexican, not a view with food attached — chef Francisco “Paco” Ruano came from Alcalde in Guadalajara. Michelin Plate in 2024 and 2025. Get the guacamole with corn tostadas, the coconut ceviche, the cochinillo. Table by the window or on the terrace, at sunset, with margaritas. It is pronounced o-ho. 76F, The Standard Bangkok Mahanakhon, 114 Narathiwas Road, Silom, Bang Rak 10500
daily 11:30–14:30 & 17:30–23:30 ↗ Jay Faiphra nakhon · one michelin star You go for the experience. You wait in line. You watch an eighty two year old woman named Supinya Junsuta cook every single dish herself over two charcoal woks, wearing ski goggles to protect her eyes from the heat. First street food stall in Thailand to get a star, in 2018, and she still checks the produce herself at seven in the morning and sends it back if it is not right. Get the crab omelette — a torpedo of egg, thin and crisp outside, packed with huge chunks of crab. Split it between two. Know before you go: this is not cheap street food anymore. The omelette runs around 1,500 baht and a full meal lands between 1,500 and 3,000 baht a person. Bring cash. Bring patience. Worth it once, for what she is and what she has done for Thai food. 327 Maha Chai Road, Samran Rat, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200
wednesday–saturday 09:00–19:30 · closed sun, mon, tue ↗ Thip Samaiphra nakhon · pad thai A few doors down from Jay Fai on the same road — the two most famous street food places in Bangkok, side by side. People call it Pad Thai Pratu Phi, Ghost Gate pad thai, after the intersection it sits on. The family has been cooking here since the 1940s, four generations deep, and there is a story that the prime minister who named the dish called this the real one. Get the signature, wrapped in a paper thin egg crepe like a packet, prawn oil in the noodles. Then the fresh orange juice, which is famous on its own. There is a line. It moves. If Jay Fai is booked out, and it will be, walk here instead. That is not a downgrade. 313–315 Maha Chai Road, Samran Rat, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200
closed tuesdays · open late into the night ↗ Rongrostha tien · thai · on the river Right on the river at Tha Tien, next door to Supanniga. The name means house of flavours. It used to be a garage. Now it is two floors of traditional Thai cooking with Wat Arun sitting directly across the water — a vintage room downstairs with chandeliers and painted Chinese panels, a rooftop terrace upstairs, twenty to thirty seats total. Get the green curry with rib eye and roti, the glass noodle salad, the shrimp fried rice. Menu changes quarterly. Book the terrace and go at sunset, that is the whole point. This is a tourist area and the room fills, so reserve ahead — they take bookings through LINE at @rongrosbkk or by email, and they are slow to reply, so give yourself time. In the Michelin Guide every year from 2019 through 2025. 392/16 Maha Rat Road, Phra Borom Maha Ratchawang, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200
daily 11:00–15:00 & 17:00–22:00 ↗
◆ once in a lifetime
Gaggan
sukhumvit soi 31 · a counter for fourteen · save up for it

I staged in this kitchen. Gaggan Anand was a drummer before he was a chef, then he cooked at El Bulli with Ferran Adrià, then he opened here in 2010 and changed what people thought Indian food could be. Five times named the best restaurant in Asia. Number one in 2025, number three in 2026, number six in the world. One Michelin star in the 2026 Thailand guide.

A counter that seats fourteen. Over twenty courses. Loud music, no dress code, the chef talking over everything and making fun of you. Courses named with emojis. Dishes you eat with your hands. It is a show and a meal at the same time and it does not care about a single rule of fine dining. A counter like that is what I am building. That is not an accident.

Sukhumvit Soi 31 area, Bangkok
expect around 16,000 baht · book months out or do not bother
reservations and info ↗
◆ not food. do it anyway.

Here is the move. The stadium is in the old town, same side of the city as Jay Fai and Thip Samai. Go to the fight, then go get pad thai after — Thip Samai is open late. That is a perfect Bangkok night and it costs almost nothing.

Rajadamnern Stadiumold town · muay thai · since 1945 Polina and I went to a fight here and it was one of my favorite nights in Bangkok. The oldest Muay Thai stadium in the world, open since 1945, still running fights almost every night, seven to eleven bouts a card. It starts with the Wai Khru Ram Muay, the ritual each fighter does to honor his teacher, with live Piphat music over it. Then it goes. Sit in the Leo section if you want the real thing — that is where the local crowd is, shouting and betting in real time, and the energy in there is the reason to come. Ringside if you want to see the sweat. Tickets run roughly 1,500 to 4,500 baht depending on where you sit. 8 Thanon Ratchadamnoen Nok, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Bangkok 10100
fights most nights · doors around 6pm ↗

That is where I would eat in Bangkok. Jason

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