10 Best Restaurants in Bangkok Old Town

Steve Café & Cuisine is tucked away on the riverside, far from the busy streets, with no easy access and with no big signage. It's almost as if you have to be worthy to find it. Of course, it's not an unknown restaurant thanks to word of mouth spreading the good news that Steve Café has got everything just right, guaranteeing its success. So much so that it's now recommended that you call in advance if you want to come for dinner.

Steve Café combines several successful key ingredients: a great riverside location with no tall buildings blocking the view, thousands of fish swimming around as locals feed them, and a permanent ballet of old-fashioned wooden boats floating by almost silently. The most important thing is, of course, the food, which is very Thai and uses quality ingredients cooked with passion.

In a cosy double shophouse on a quiet road that visitors don’t really use, you'll find one of the best restaurants in Bangkok. Seven Spoons is so popular that it's recently expanded, but still has the warm atmosphere and large portions of Mediterranean and vegetarian food that regulars are familiar with and first-timers will be excited by.

It now opens for lunch and offers sandwiches alongside its hearty mains. The reason behind its expansion is simple; with delicious food and strong cocktails, Seven Spoons is a rare find in the city – a restaurant with real passion and prices so low that you'll be doing a double-take when they bring you the bill. Seven Spoons is almost too good to share, and despite its popularity it still feels like a fantastic secret.

Most visitors to Bangkok have heard that the iconic Wat Arun on the riverside is also known as The Temple of Dawn, but the best time to capture its beauty is at sunset. And the best place to witness the sun disappearing precisely behind the monument is from the balcony of Arun Residence, a great restaurant located right across the Chao Phraya River. For this exact reason, the hard-to-find Arun Residence is now an increasingly popular restaurant and reserving a table has become necessary.

Serving excellent Thai food, it's the perfect place to dine with friends on a trip to Bangkok, or even for a romantic tete a tete. The restaurant is quite narrow, but there's plenty of space over the 3 floors and wooden terrace.

Offering uninterrupted views of Wat Arun from its roof terrace, Sala Rattanakosin is part of a sleek and fun hotel, but the restaurant is definitely the highlight. There’s a deck and buffed concrete-lined dining room on the second floor (don’t worry, the floor to ceiling windows guarantee a backdrop of the temple), and a 5th-floor rooftop that’s ideal for pre- or post-dinner drinks and sunset photos. Make sure you book ahead as it’s extremely popular.

The food is a mix of traditional Thai with a twist and western dishes with Thai flavours, and there’s a different menu for lunch and dinner. Getting there from town isn’t very easy, so we recommend taking the boat and disembarking at Tha Tien Pier (N8).

Err Restaurant Bangkok is a casual dining concept where delicious Thai food and snacks can be enjoyed with a collection of tasty cocktails. The menu runs through expertly prepared street-food favourites, single dishes and some more filling curries. With cheap prices (the most expensive item on the menu is around 360 baht) you can pretty much eat your way through the menu without destroying your holiday budget.

Developed by renowned Chefs Dylan and Bo, the couple behind incredibly popular fine-dining Thai restaurant Bo.Lan, Err Restaurant is very different in scope. Kooky graffiti on the bare brick walls, tin plates, soul and funk tunes on the stereo – the vibe is a nostalgic look back at Thailand of the past. It’s really well done and makes a cool ambience for dinner and drinks.

Sheepshank is hidden down a small alleyway but arrive by riverboat and the welcome is warmer, with the restaurant lights shining onto the water (disembark at Phra Arthit Pier, N13).

For those who are familiar with American cuisine, there are plenty of comforting dishes on the menu. The food is not only easy on the eye, but it has the kind of spirit and flavour combinations that leave you feeling happy and satisfied. The restaurant is run by Joke, a chef who seems to have an instinct for what people want. He’s also a bit of an interior designer, taking the abandoned boat shed and turning it into the dining room you see now.

This pretty Indian restaurant is tucked along Soi Rambuttri towards Chao Fah Road, and is a favourite with locals and visitors. Take off your shoes and relax back in their sumptuous cushions – this place is all about deep-red velvet and silk.

There's a great choice on the menu, with amazing mutton curries and homemade rotis and naan bread. If you’re not hungry, sit outside on the terrace enjoying a jug of beer and a shisha pipe. On Saturdays, Bombay Blues plays host to local Indians who are more than happy to teach you some Bollywood dance steps. Bombay Blues is a great value place for a romantic date or a low-key supper.

This is possibly the most famous – and the best  – pad Thai joint in the country. With over 50 years of experience, Thip Samai offers 7 types of delicious pad Thai ranging from 30 baht to a little over 100 baht per dish. The signature version, pad Thai song-kreung, consists of shrimp roe, prawns, fried egg, fresh crabmeat, ground cuttlefish and sliced mango – very delicious. Beside pad Thai, Thip Samai is also known for its freshly squeezed orange juice and ice smoothies with pieces of sliced coconut.

This retro restaurant is located on the smart boulevard that leads off Democracy Monument. The whole atmosphere transports you to another world – one where the waiters are dressed suits and ties and the service is excellent. A live string quartet and pianist play classic tunes at a volume that makes conversation easy. The food served here is in keeping with the surroundings – traditional Royal Thai cuisine with just the right amount of spice and a decent variety of dishes.

The majority of Escapade is taken up by a long bar offering the best cocktails in the Old City, with an award-winning mixologist creating custom blends. They also offer a limited but mouthwatering range of burgers, with the Angus beef burger being a popular option. From the outside, this tiny burger bar looks like a house built for an eel, so the interior of this shophouse surprises with so much style in such an ultra-narrow place.

There's plenty of interesting artwork haphazardly displayed on the charcoal grey walls and a small garden area out back. A chalk board promotes running specials. When the craving for a juicy burger hits, instead of heading over to one of the fast-food chains on Khao San Road, check out the bespoke burgers at Escapade – they are so superior it’s beyond comparison.