London’s best Thai restaurants

A veteran of the Leytonstone scene (and still something of a local secret), this tiny family-run Thai café scores in every department. The BYO policy is definitely key to its boozy appeal, but the food is also a blast – staunchly traditional, potently spiced and delivered without ceremony from the open kitchen. Prices are fair, service is matter of fact and the place is rampantly popular.

Based on his successful mini-chain Night Market in LA, chef Kris Yenbamroong’s deeply Californian take on Thai food offers everything from authentic larb gai with chicken, lime, mint and coriander chilli, to rich coconut-and-lemongrass-seared sea bass fillet. But there’s also a distinct Americana angle, with blue-cheese wedge salad with candied pork jowl and garlic nam jim dipping sauce, as well as flashy breakfast offerings such as caramel-battered babka french toast and mushroom and cheese roti for lunch. Lots of fun.   

Kaosarn has always been one of the crowd-pullers in Brixton Village Market and quite rightly so: the food is not only cheap, but is bursting with authentic Thai flavours. The menu is pared down to a handful of classic curries, noodle dishes and stir-fries, although everything is up to standard. Soft drinks include fragrant homemade lemongrass or ginger tea, and you can also BYO. Service can be a little matter-of-fact, but staff are unfailingly friendly.

For intense, edgy and exciting Thai food, head to the ground floor of chef Ben Chapman’s Soho barnstormer, where a stainless-steel counter gives terrific views of the theatrical open kitchen. Stripped-back dishes – mostly cooked on the chargrill or over coals in the ceramic charcoal burner – are inspired by rural Thailand, but much of the produce comes from the UK. To drink, you can choose from spice-friendly wines, cool cocktails and eastern-flavoured iced teas.

This no-frills southern-Thai canteen on the mezzanine level of Arcade Food Hall next to Centre Point is a hot commodity. From the striplights to the rickety wooden chairs and bright patterned plastic tablecloths, Plaza Khao Gaeng pays meticulous attention to detail and manages to bring Thailand to Londoners without ever feeling gimmicky or fetishsised. This is hot and potent Southern Thai food ranging from curries to salads. Bring a big group of mates (who can handle their spice), order a bucket of Singha beers and sit on the big table to see all the fiery action from the kitchen.

As a modern Thai restaurant, Kin + Deum (literally ‘eat + drink’) is the whole shebang: a laidback, minimalist space serving up big helpings of thrilling Bangkok-inspired food with the help of some genuinely lovely staff. Our top picks? The hearty house massaman curry, honey-duck cilantro slices in a sweet marinade and refreshing khao soi broth. Pineapple fried rice is a must, too. 

For all of Speedboat Bar’s flashy, fabulous chaos – the real Thai racing boats strung from the ceiling, the pool table in the first-floor bar, the wobbling three-litre towers of Singha beer that are constantly being carried across the room and the 1am weekend licence – there is some seriously sophisticated cooking going on at what at first glance seems to be a simple Rupert Street party restaurant. 

Talk about fusion: Farang must be the only restaurant in London that mixes tongue-blasting Thai cuisine with an Italian-style dining room. Farang has wowed north Londoners with its keen prices and ingenuity, and with chef Seb Holmes (ex-Begging Bowl and Smoking Goat) at the helm, you’re in extremely good hands. 

With full-frontal, never-dumbed-down flavours from Thailand’s north-eastern provinces, the cooking at Som Saa is guaranteed to blow you away. Unforgettable dishes include deep-fried sea bass with regional herbs, jungle curry and mu parlow five spice soy braised pork – but don’t miss dessert. Recent decents include silky palm-sugar ice cream (think burnt toffee and salt), matched with grilled turmeric-tinged banana.

Smoking Goat promises smack-in-the-face Thai barbecue in a jam-packed industrial-meets-rustic setting – all smoke, loud music and high-strength alcohol. The food is laced with volcanically hot ‘mouse-dropping’ chillies, and the flavours will hit you for six (try the crab-fried rice or the signature fish-sauce chicken wings). Drinking food at its best.

Esarn Kheaw has long been serving north-eastern Thai food to an appreciative crowd of locals. The dark dining room may be starting to show its age, but the cooking is as good as ever – witness marinated chargrilled beef with a minced catfish, anchovy and green chilli dip or a blisteringly hot vegetarian jungle curry. Also don’t miss the boiled and deep-fried ‘son-in-law eggs’ – a delicious mouth-cooling foil to the spicy food.

A spicy favourite in Parsons Green, Sukho exudes Thai elegance and charm. The dining room is tailor-made for a romantic meal, while the menu offers some good-looking dishes for sharing and ogling – we’re thinking of the sea bass marinated in red curry paste, attractively presented on a banana leaf. To drink, there’s plenty for wine lovers, plus Thai beer and a sweet, herbal chrysanthemum infusion. 

The cooking at this no-nonsense Hammersmith establishment is largely from the Isaan region of north-eastern Thailand – including multiple versions of green papaya salad, accompanied by anything from salted duck egg to sausage. Also expect various southern dishes such as sour prawn curry or turmeric-marinated sea bass. Staff treat locals with congeniality – whatever their age.

It may be part of an international chain, but Patara still feels distinctive: the low-lit wood-panelled dining room exudes an air of confident sophistication, staff are polite, and the cooking is a refined take on generic Thai cuisine overlaid with westernised ideas – think lamb-shank osso bucco braised in massaman curry sauce with lotus seeds. With a zesty cocktail list added to the mix, Patara is great for a night on the town. There are branches across the capital.   

Tapas-style sharing is the name of the game at this Peckham favourite, and much of the menu is built around less familiar street-food options. Seasonal Western ingredients are given the Thai treatment – perhaps stir-fried hispi cabbage or palourde clams in an aromatic broth of ginger, celery, samphire and pickled plum. The dining room’s contemporary feel is matched by the enthusiastic young staff.

In Malay, ‘champor-champor’ means ‘mix and match’ – a fitting name for both the interior and the menu at this long-running restaurant. The interior exudes a yogic calm and the cooking is Thai-Malay, although you’ll also find some east-west fusion in the shape of, say, pan-fried red snapper with Malaysian sambal sauce and squid-ink linguine. Veggies get a decent deal, and desserts such as steamed taro and black rice pudding are more than just an afterthought.

Squirrelled away in the Lancaster London hotel, Nipa Thai is plush and polished – note the waitresses in traditional attire and immaculately laid white-clothed tables. Grab a window spot for views of Hyde Park across the road. The menu offers classic Thai cooking (including a few less-familiar dishes), everything is attractively presented, and chilli is used in moderation, so as not to upset the well-turned-out international patrons. For smart dining at relatively affordable prices, opt for the set menu.

Housed in the basement of a shabby boozer around the back of the Edgware Road, the Heron is a rough diamond, but within its slightly dingy interior, you’ll discover some of the most authentic Thai food in London. The kitchen specialises in north-eastern cooking, with an impressive range of spicy salads, sour curries and stir-fries. Service couldn’t be friendlier.