Bangkok Restaurant

Food is of the utnost importance here. Locals have been know to brave the beast of Bangkok traffic adn make cross-town journeys with the sole purpose of sampling a bowl of noodles at a famous local shop. Thais often ask each other "Gin Kao Leu Yung" or "Have you eaten rice yet?" This shouldn't be understood in the literal sense, but almost as another way Thais say hello. It's how Thai people socialize. Whether the occasion calls for family, friends, business or anything in between, there's usually food nearby. The Thai dinning experience requires that all dishes be shared - real evidence of the importance of dining to the Thai sense of community.

A taste of Bangkok doesn't just stop at Thailand's world famous national cuisine, flag of all nationalities fly here, and the results can be amazing. Tom yum soup and creamy curries as Kang Keaw-hwan can be found alindside seared foie gras, crispy tempura and heart-stopping steaks. It won't be a challenge to dine some culinary dynamite for your plate. You would be better off compiling a list of what the city doesn't have an offer. You are bound to eat very well, whether it is at the sexiest, high-end locales, or at the origin of most local food - the streets, where you can get a very tasty, heartly meal at a non-descript stall or even crackling grasshoppers and worms.

Fantastic food is also available round the clock, although choices narrow as it gets closer to midnight, Many restaurants closeing time at 9 p.m or earlier. However, plenty of them feed late-night appetities. If you really want to bump elbows with the locals and get to the heart of things, Bangkok's street food culture doesn't acknowledge the concept of time, with some vendors even carrying on into the wee hours. If a business can survive by trading when everyone is asleep, then it must be good, right?

So whether you are a night owl or an early bird, slightly picky or a try-anything once daredevil, you're in for a non-stop gastronomical journey.

The added value
One of the Asia's great dinning bargains, Bangkok has an incredible range of culinary venues and food offering to suit any budget. You can stuff yourseld with local delicacies at hawker stalls on the street for less than B35($1) a plate, or treat yourself at one of Bangkok's finest eateries for arounf the price of a gastropub meal in London.
With each of the following restaurants listing we present an approximate scale (see the box below this) of the per-person cost for a three-course meal (starter, main and dessert), not including drinks. Most restaurants charge 7% goverment tax(VAT) plus 10% service charge. Additional tipping is the diner's prerogative but is not expected. Credit card are widely accepted, unless otherwise noted.

$under B600
$$ B600 - B1,000
$$$ B1,001 - B2,000
$$$$ over B2,000

Butt Out
Smokers beware. Lighting up indoor is forbidden at air-conditioned restaurant citywide - you risk being finded B2,000 ($60), and subjected the restaurant to a lasing B20,000 ($600) penalty. Exempted are licensed pubs serving food, and in practice, many Japanese and Korean restaurants.