Winners For

Best Thai

You can tell a lot about a Thai place from its pad thai—a dish too many of the city's restaurants have "dumbed down" for American palates. May Thai, however, executes authentic Thai cooking in a gorgeous space built out of a century-old teak house imported piece by piece from overseas. You won't find a trace of that overly sweet, oily, so-called...

In Thailand, diners eat with either chopsticks or a spoon. No knife is placed on the table, and the fork is to be used only to push food onto the spoon. That's a revelation to most first-time travelers from the West, much like the fried basil duck, shrimp pad thai, green papaya salad, and red curry pork are to those who visit Sawaddee Thai-Sushi...

It's time for SriPraPhai and Chao Thai (even the new one!) to step out of the limelight for a moment and let the East Village's Zabb Elee take its rightful place among the great Siamese restaurants of the city. For a Manhattan place to grab this distinction is unprecedented, because even Hell's Kitchen fave Pam's Real Thai Food can't measure up....

Thai food in America is mostly relegated to a take-out affair, stuffed into white Styrofoam containers to steam away into limp incarnations that hardly evoke their original counterparts. When Bambu opened in Richardson, though, the ubiquitous ethnic chow became more than worthy of a sit-down meal. It may be the enthusiastic staff as much as the ...

What's better than dinner and a movie? Thai food at Yupha's and a cheap flick at Pollack Tempe Cinemas. Thanks to owner and Bangkok native Yupha Dequenne, we can score tasty Thai dishes pre- or post-show time at her easygoing restaurant right next door to the cinema. We're partial to the kanom jeeb (potstickers), drunken noodles served up Thai h...

Tucked away in an unassuming strip mall on Richmond near Hillcroft, Thai Gourmet is one of those places that are authentically Thai yet still accessible to relatively untutored palates. Dishes like Penang Beef ordered "Thai hot" may scorch the tongue in true Thai style, while others, like the basil beef or their excellent tom kha gai coconut chi...

Pearl Cafe isn't dangerous because it dares diners to complete its "King of Spice" challenge: a series of four dishes, ranked from "Level 25" to "Level 100," each spiked with an increasingly more potent blend of hot chiles (including the fearsomely scorching ghost pepper). The challenge is strictly voluntary. No, Pearl Cafe is dangerous because ...

You've probably knocked around the county trying every pad Thai joint from San Clemente to La Habra and slurped tom kha gai until your spice-lashed tongue couldn't take it anymore. But there really is no getting around it: If you're going to go eat Thai and want it done as close to how they do it in Thailand, you need to go to Thai Nakorn, the p...

Bodhi Thai Bistro Restaurant Review: Bodhi Thai Bistro’s menu ranges from starters like shrimp dumplings to curries (served over noodles or rice) and entrées such as spicy steamed mussels and lemon grass chicken. What’s of particular note here is the secret menu and fact that the kitchen will make anything you crave and may have tasted on travel...

P.S. Bangkok Restaurant Review: A mind-boggling menu and lavish decorations that have become increasingly ornate over the years set this deep storefront apart from other Thai restaurants. While mainstays like pad thai, chicken satay and close to two-dozen curries fare well, it’s fun to go exploring. Banana blossom salad with chicken and steamed ...

Star of Siam Restaurant Review: Star of Siam, one of the first Thai restaurants in the city, is not free of complacency or carelessness. While it is a solid-enough option and some of the dishes are decent, it just does not always deliver. However, the soups are of note, especially the tom yum, and the chicken preparations --- including stir-frie...

Thai Classic Restaurant Review: This is a pleasant Thai restaurant with an easy-to-deal-with menu and attractive prices. We favor the noodles dishes---pad thai, glass noodles, drunk noodles, though there’s not much to say about the chicken satay or the Thai rolls. The orchid chicken with its tangy sauce and pineapple chunks, on the other hand, i...

Arun's Restaurant Review: Beautiful Thai art and antiques set the serene stage for 12-course, prix-fixe dining ($85, plus $50 for wine pairings) at chef-owner Arun Sampanthavivat's Northwest side place. Gracious, efficient servers begin by inquiring about dietary restrictions, desired spice levels and culinary preferences. Then the kitchen goes ...

Thai Pastry & Restaurant Restaurant Review: By now, Thai cuisine isn't exotic to most diners. Still, Uptown’s Thai Pastry & Restaurant manages to make it seem new again. Sure, they serve all the usual suspects---pad thai, satay, chicken coconut soup---and they do them very well, but it’s the specials and less commonplace dishes that we find ours...

Thalia Spice Restaurant Review: On weekends, in particular, it’s a lively place to be. But who could have known such a tiny spot would create this hullabaloo? Rustic wood and swirls of ironwork make the restaurant feel organic and comfortable; fuzzy roll pillows lining a banquette exude hip flair. The kitchen, which is located one floor up, chur...

Amarind's Restaurant Review: After cooking at Arun's for nearly a decade, Rangsan Sutcharit followed in his mentor's footsteps. He opened his own restaurant, a mini-castle lovingly decorated with Thai artwork. Located in the city’s far west side at the fringe of Oak Park, it showcases his sophisticated preparations and beyond-what-you’d-expect p...

Dao Thai Restaurant Restaurant Review: This pleasant, civilized dining room (one big one) is housed in a nicely rehabbed brick building. Tables --- located on either side of a well-and-cushion seating area in the center of the room --- are filled with diners eating the usual Thai suspects. We're happy to join in, given there’s little fault found...

Siam Cafe Restaurant Review: Time-honored food at low prices keeps this circa 1969 Thai spot high on our list. Favorites include smoky charcoal chicken; beef, onions and hot-and-sour sauce atop cucumbers; stir-fried Chinese greens with oyster sauce; and chicken-filled, coconut milk-based curry. The menu lists about 100 choices, very few of them ...

Bua Thai Restaurant Review: Bua Thai is one of the original trendy Thai restaurants in Washington. With its stark brick walls, the décor is unconventional and the cooking inventive. Pad woon sen is an interesting spin on the traditional pad Thai noodles, and the coco bouillabaisse is a Thai-influenced takeoff on the French seafood soup. The papa...

Rice Restaurant Review: In a gesture of complete culinary creativity, the chef at this Logan Circle destination takes Thai cooking several steps away from the ordinary with a menu that divides itself into three sections: contemporary (read aggressively creative), traditional (well, not very), and vegetarian. Yet, in this city where Thai cooking ...

Basil Thai Restaurant Restaurant Review: This compact, bright-colored Thai restaurant attracts a young crowd, who love the hard-edged colors and for-sale artwork decorating the walls. They also come for the Thai cooking, although it doesn't fully explore the great cuisine. Still, what comes from the kitchen is sound and true to its origins. On t...

Thai X-ing Restaurant Review: Tucked away in the basement of a weathered townhouse is this one-man show, that of Taw Vigsittaboot, an artist-turned-chef who mans the wok. The menu is brief but ambitious; the quirky décor consists of a fish tank, several bird cages with twittering parakeets, and the chef’s own artwork. The signature salmon in red...

Bangkok Joe's Restaurant Review: This waterfront destination is a spruced-up and rather elegant take on the usual Thai theme, with decorative touches that celebrate this restaurant's signature dish: the dumpling, or rather, numerous kinds of dumplings. Management has even installed a dumpling bar---as opposed to, say, a sushi bar---and the resta...

Thai Chili Restaurant Review: A neighbor of the Verizon Center, this busy restaurant offers good, inexpensive food that's served fast, all benefits in this hurry-hurry town. Another plus: the kitchen strays from the tried-and-true by offering several unusual dishes including the khao soi, a thick chicken stew-curry that has its origins in Burma....

Thaiphoon Restaurant Review: In a city saturated with Thai restaurants, is there room for more? Thaiphoon may truly make you wonder. Be warned that the flavors are slightly off kilter, so that true Thai aficionados may be disappointed in such dishes as the duck salad, composed of sliced roast duck nestled in a bed of field greens. (It would have...

The Regent Thai Cuisine Restaurant Review: Before you shrug and assume this is just another Thai restaurant, sample some of the kitchen’s fare: it’s robustly flavored and technically correct. While the menu is far too short to let you glimpse the real joys of the Thai kitchen, at least the chef knows a thing or two about seasonings. Your best be...

The Old Siam Restaurant Review: The Thai flavors at The Old Siam are somewhat mellowed out and dishes too Westernized to fit the authentic label, but the dedicated Thai foodie may find solace with a few dishes, such as the pad thai.

Bangkok One Restaurant Review: This downtown eatery has the same sleek look as the trendier Thai places around and offers much the same fare: In other words, no surprises here. Small and compact, Bangkok One does well at lunchtime, but due to its location where there are fancy trendsetters as neighbors, it faces stiff competition. Will the menu ...

All the exotic Thai flavors you love are here: The som tum papaya with sticky rice is a garlicky experience, with crunchy strands of papaya and dried shrimp. A lime dressing adds pep to the minced pork laab with herbs and toasted rice. The chicken satay, crispy spring rolls, and mango fried rice, meanwhile, serve as a tasty gateway to the wonder...

Dok Bua Restaurant Review: Formerly an Asian grocery with a small café on the side, Brookline's Dok Bua---which means lotus flower---is now the reverse, thanks to the word-of-mouth raves of Thai hounds. The menu is enormous, atypical and authentic: Burmese-influenced Northern specialties, rootsy favorites from the Northeastern Thai region known ...

Jae's Cafe & Grill Restaurant Review: Many years ago, Jae Chung brought contemporary Pan-Asian cuisine to the South End when he opened his bright, modern flagship. Today, the restaurant is owned and operated by executive chef Shun Chen, who diligently maintains the tradition of Jae’s. The place’s hallmark is its enormous menu that hop-scotches a...

Bamboo Restaurant Review: Bamboo’s décor includes funky dangling cobalt lamps and bold chartreuse walls that are dotted with colorful abstracts and a portrait of the King of Thailand. Start with the tender beef satay with peanut sauce and cucumber vinaigrette, or spicy sriracha wings served with a cool mango dipping sauce. You’ll find traditiona...

Montien Restaurant Review: Boston's Theater District is a peculiar realm, where song-and-dance shows full of tourists meet European-mobbed discos along the shadier edges of Chinatown. At the heart of all this stands Thai spot Montien. It's more upscale than most places of its ilk in Boston, with a full bar, mahogany aplenty and sliding French do...

Bangkok City Restaurant Review: Bangkok City’s interior recalls a Buddhist temple with its hand-carved antique benches, emotive royal blue walls and gilded artifacts. Waitstaff don formal attire, but are approachable in attitude, and crackerjack at communication. The menu offers the usual suspects like fried Bangkok wings, beef satay skewers ser...

Thai Basil Restaurant Review: A lively young crowd gathers at this basement level Newbury Street restaurant for flavorful pad thai, soups (tom yum and wonton), curries (red, green or yellow), and stir-fried noodle dishes. The friendly staff also serves up fiery dishes: spice lovers should order items that have a red hot chili next to them. The s...

Chilli Duck Restaurant Review: This well-kept secret on Boylston Street is a subterranean hidden gem offering authentic Thai cuisine complete with a variety of noodle dishes, curry and vegetable entrées. The kitschy interior of salmon colored walls, avocado hued chairs and duck paintings seems to mimic the bright tastes of the food, like the hot...

Bangkok Blue Restaurant Review: You won’t find anything over the top at this Copley Square Thai restaurant. Located across from the Boston Public Library, Bangkok Blue is a bright, plant-filled room that offers a nice respite after shopping nearby. In the evenings, college students swarm here to nosh on drunken noodles and yellow curry dishes. D...

The Bangkok 96 Restaurant is an authentic Thai restaurant that serves lunch and dinner. We have a wide selection of dishes to choose from, including pot Thai noodles, stir fry, tofu and vegetables. We serve a large variety of chicken, beef and pork dishes. Appetizers and desserts are also available.

You can feel the bestness of Stang of Siam even before you order. The tastefully minimal wooden decor of this well-lit corner spot on Calvert is both simple and elegant, like the food—only the food is mind-blowingly so. Stang of Siam has the best mussaman curry we’ve ever had—with just the right amount of peanut flavor—and the panang gets an ext...

The 2011 James Beard Award winner of Best Chef, Northwest, now has a string of Thai-inspired eateries, both in Portland and New York City, but Andy Ricker’s empire started when Pok Pok opened in 2005. The restaurant’s flavors are bold, spicy, and truly authentic to northern Thailand, despite that Ricker doesn’t hail from the area and has honed h...

Thai cuisine is considered among the worlds finest and most delicious. Thai House invite you to come and discover the blending of distinct Thai flavors ranging from hot and sour to savory and sweet, traditionally highlighted with the fresh citrus flavors of lemongrass and lime. At Thai House Restaurant a warm and inviting atmosphere waits to gre...

Great Thai food and a fun time continue to draw Clevelanders to this Tremont restaurant, where they find artfully plated dishes like chicken massaman curry, classic pad Thai, and the signature deep-fried red snapper served with a choice of zesty sauces. No surprise this intimate eatery continues to earn the Thai title.

OK, so we'll admit that one of the things we like about Galanga is that they gi ve us the components for our Thai iced tea, which enables us to mix it to our liking, and all of the specialized sauces that accompany the appetizer plate. But those things are symptomatic of something systematic — an attention to detail, which definitely sets Galan...

When Jam Sanitchat opened Thai Fresh, she already had fans from her farmers market stands and Thai cooking classes. All the meats are procured from local sources; vegetables and fruits are local and organic whenever possible. Fresh selections are presented in a deli case, and customers can either purchase items by the pound (in reusable to-go co...

The hours — or lack of them — are maddening at Thai Street Food, which, despite whatever the posted schedule may read, is sometimes open when it's meant to be and sometimes not. In other words, dial the digits first. But once you've pushed your way through the front door slapped with signs, glowing reviews, notices of holiday and vacation closur...

The ambiance may be a little lacking at this Eat Street outpost of St. Paul's Bangkok Thai Deli, but the incredibly delicious and authentic Thai food more than makes up for the absence of dim lighting and cloth napkins. In fact, once seated over sweet and spicy red duck curry with anise-y Thai basil and pops of sweet peas, or one of the many fre...