Thai

Thai food is very regional, and in Bangkok many of the restaurants will serve a pan-Thai cuisine, with the hot curries of the South, the seafood and grilled dishes of the Central region, the fine Chinese and Burmese influenced cooking of the North, and the herby, spicy dishes of the Northeast all represented on the menu. Vegetarian food is also a treat, even for meat-eaters, because there is a long tradition of vegetarian cooking in Thailand.

As eating out is one of Bangkok’s great passions, no matter where you go you will find a fascinating and enjoyable experience. Along the banks of the river are many restaurants, often specialising in seafood. These tend to be large places, with both indoor and outdoor eating areas. In all of the areas of the city popular with visitors you are going to find Thai restaurants, many of them large and sumptuous, but equally there are a very large number of tiny places run by families and offering good home cooking. There are many trendy outlets at areas such as Silom Road, Siam Square, Sukhumvit and Khao Sarn Road, and these will offer a refined style of Thai cooking that might have its roots in tradition but pushes the Thai food experience to new levels. And everywhere you go you will find roadside stalls with a few tables and chairs, usually packed out with diners lingering over the special of the “house” together with a bottle of cold beer and, as often or not, inviting visitors to sit down and join them.

Indian
With a large and long-established Indian community, there are naturally some superb Indian restaurants in the city, with concentrations around traditional Indian communities such as the upper end of Sukhumvit Road and the lower end of Surawong Road.

Chinese
Chinatown naturally has the city's best selection of Chinese restaurants, many of which specialise in expensive delicacies like shark fin, bird nest or fresh seafood, the fish and shellfish often still swimming in tanks near the entrance. There are also substantial Japanese and Korean communities, and their cuisine styles are well represented.

Western
Within the city, and in the hotels, you will find just about every Western style of food. Italian food is wildly popular, and there are some excellent French restaurants. Steakhouses abound. Most of the big fast-food names are also in Bangkok.

Thai cooking classes
With Thai food now one of the world's favourite cuisines, Thai cooking classes have become very popular over the past decade or so. Most of these are offered within hotels, although there are plenty of cooking schools that offer courses of different lengths, ranging from a morning session to a week-long course. Many of the classes offer cookbooks, and all end up with an enjoyable meal.