The Best Thai Restaurants in Sydney
What most of us think of as “Thai food” is better conceived as several regional cuisines that share common ingredients and techniques. We're lucky – Sydney is one of the few places outside Thailand where you can experience many of those cuisines distinctly.
From the grilled meats and eye-watering som tam salads endemic to Isan in the north-east, to the familiar curries and soups found in and around Bangkok, Sydney does real-deal Thai dishes that’ll transport your taste buds. Here are our favourite joints around town.
Restaurant
Porkfat
A Long Chim alumnus is behind this 30-seat Chinatown restaurant, where you’ll find punchy takes on classic Thai street food and home-style cooking. Think deep-fried barramundi with mango salad, Phuket-style curry with tiger prawns and betel leaves, and a refreshing coconut ice-cream with roasted peanuts and candied pumpkin.
Restaurant
Spice I Am
This slamming Thai institution has all the classics you know. Plus, a hardcore Thai following to rival the corporates and students dropping in for an affordable lunch and dinner.
Restaurant
Chat Thai Haymarket
A trailblazer in Sydney’s Thai restaurant scene. When the late, great Amy Chanta opened it in Darlinghurst in 1989, it brought Bankgok flavours that were then-unknown to Sydney diners. The Thai street food here is fine-dining quality, served at very reasonable price points. Today, it’s a super-popular chain with stores all over Sydney.
Restaurant
Joe’s Table
Visit this flavour-punching Thai-ish diner and see why Joe Kitsana might be the hardest-working man in Sydney hospitality. The Hanoi-style spring rolls and dumplings swimming in chilli, ginger and soy sauce are both must-orders.
Restaurant
Viand
Thai-food legend David Thompson’s right-hand woman is behind this seductive eatery. From the theatrical open kitchen, she’s celebrating the nuances and beauty of Thai cuisine, with flavour-punching dishes you might not find anywhere else in Sydney.
Restaurant
Yok Yor Thai Food Factory
For fast-paced, real-deal Thai.
Restaurant
Dodee Paidang Haymarket
Thai food that pulls no punches.
Restaurant
Alphabet Street
Thai cuisine meets industrial aesthetic.
Restaurant
Khao Pla
Bangkok-inspired plates matched with 90s hip-hop.
Restaurant
Caysorn
A restaurant in Haymarket specialising in southern Thai cuisine.
Cafe
Boon Cafe and Jarern Chai
Find this cavernous Thai grocer and cafe in the heart of Sydney’s Thai Town. Despite serving burgers, bowls and pasta, Boon doesn’t mix elements of Thai and western cuisine – it reimagines them like they always belonged together.
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