The best Thai restaurants in Brisbane

Holy Basil is positioned on a side street, so you can eat outside without any traffic spoiling your meal. The menu features all the greatest hits of Thai cuisine as well as a few regional specialties, such as a vegetarian cashew nut stir fry, which comes with lots of perfectly cooked veggies that retain a slight crunch, vividly-flavoured sauce and a generous amount of cashews. The massaman curry is also a highlight, with creamy potatoes nestled among chunks of tender beef, coated in a rich, fragrant sauce. The drinks are also well-priced, with a surprisingly large selection of beers starting at $8.50.

You can, of course, dine in at Ping Poing, but it’s their gigantic servings that make them a winner for takeaway diners; you can get away with ordering one main and two entrees for two people, and you’ll still have leftovers for an office lunch the next day. Just make sure you get the Peking duck spring rolls, which are fat, crispy and moreish. Another menu highlight is the Char kway teow, which is a titanic serving of Hokkien and rice noodles, pork belly, prawns and beansprouts for $30 – mildly spiced and perfectly tangy. The fried whole reef fish with kaffir lime is also a delight for $42. Dine-in customers can enjoy a banquet for $70 pp in the bubble-gum pink, eye-popping surrounds, and they wash down their feed with a playful range of signature cocktails including alcoholic slushies for $16 a pop.

Tucked into a little old garage on a side street, Ruen Phae feels somewhat out of place among all the Crossfit gyms of Teneriffe, but its complete lack of pretence is what makes it so good. The chairs are plastic. Overhead fans stir the air. We got the jungle curry ($18.90), which was zesty and fresh with big prawns in generous numbers, all imbued with that delicate smokiness of a scolding hot wok. Their spring rolls ($7.90) are perfectly crunchy, while their papaya salad ($21.90) is sweet and fragrant. This is some of the best Thai food in Brisbane.

The “phat” restaurants are an unofficial Brisbane chain that also includes Phat Elephant on Adelaide street. As the latest edition to the family, Phat Boy pushes the playbook in a more adventurous direction. Their interior features colourful posters and rocks in steel netting that form native stone walls. The set menus are great value at $35 or $45 per person, depending on your hunger level. Both include delectable spring rolls and satay chicken skewers, but the larger one comes with a truly masterful pad thai chicken served in an egg net. Presentation is a real highlight at Phat Boy, with everything served in unexpected formats. For example, the Kung Tung is an enormous seafood stir fry drenched in chilli sauce and poured directly onto your table. Tuck in with your hands, medieval feast-style.

Head Chef Jason Margaritis is a legend in Australian-Asian cuisine, and was the brains behind Melbourne’s Spice Temple before he moved to Brisbane. Now, the River City is blessed with some of the country’s most interesting, innovative Thai cuisine. A highlight of the menu is the slow-cooked brisket with green guava and roasted coconut rice which summons a mix of rich, hearty flavours and delicate notes of mint. You also can’t skip the curries, which combine traditional recipes like panang and massaman with local Queensland seafood, like the ​​turmeric curry, loaded with fat banana prawns served with baby corn and cucumber relish. The restaurant is open every night for dinner, plus lunch from Friday to Sunday. Pro tip: book ahead on weekends – especially if you want to sit near one of the windows.