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Food & Drink Guide

What to Eat in Thailand

The Thai dishes worth seeking out, grouped by category, with the key ingredients, spice levels, and common allergens for each one. So anyone can walk up to a menu and order with confidence on a first trip. Romanized names are how dishes usually appear on English menus. Point at the photo if the spelling looks different. It almost always works.

A Thai street-food vendor cooking at a market stall
A Thai street-food vendor cooking at a market stall Unsplash
Belle
Thai American who travels to Thailand every other year
Spice level
▮▮▮Mild, gentle warmth
▮▮▮Medium, a real kick
▮▮▮Hot, ask for less if unsure
Editor’s Picks
Editor’s Picks

The dishes first-timers fall for, and the ones worth going out of your way to try.

Allergens
Peanut Shellfish Egg

Allergic? Carry the bilingual Allergies & Dietary cards to show your server.

A bubbling shabu-shabu hot pot with plates of thinly sliced meat and vegetables at Mo-Mo-Paradise
Editor’s Pick

At a glance

Mo-Mo-Paradise

All-you-can-eat shabu-shabu & sukiyaki

My not-Thai indulgence, and I make no apologies: a set-price hot pot buffet where you cook thin-sliced meat and vegetables in your own simmering broth. The quality is genuinely excellent for the price, and you leave very, very full.

Eat like this
A vendor behind a glass cart of bagged cut fruit and fresh orange juice on ice at a Bangkok market
Cut fruit, 20 baht
Bagged mango, guava, and rose apple on ice, the best snack going.
A restored Sino-Portuguese shophouse with green louvered shutters and red lanterns on the Chinatown Route, Bangkok
Off the Chinatown Route
Green shutters and old signage, the backdrop to the best eating in town.
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Dish photo
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Editor’s Picks

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Key ingredients

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Allergens {{ a }} None of the big ones
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How to eat

Eating in Thailand, the Easy Way

A few small differences make every meal smoother, whether you are at a restaurant, a market, a mall food court, or a street stall.

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The easy food rule

Eat with a spoon and fork, share dishes politely, start mild if you are spice-sensitive, carry small cash, expect to-go food in bags, and never be afraid of a mall food court or 7-Eleven. Tipping is appreciated but not required: round up or leave small change, and at nicer places check whether a service charge is already added.

Keep planning

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About this guide

Written by Belle, a Thai American who travels to Thailand every other year and has family in Bangkok. Everything here comes from my own visits unless the text says otherwise. Prices and journey times are typical cases rather than quotes, so recheck anything time-sensitive before you pay. Brand mentions are never paid placements, and the guide is reader-supported: some links may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

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