Thai food has always enjoyed a special place in Singapore’s heart. Classic spots such as Thanying have been around for decades and there is no shortage of fresh, new entrants sprouting up across the city, inspired by the busy streetside stalls of Bangkok or the bucolic towns of Chiang Mai.
Whether you’re looking to try something entirely new, test your tolerance for spice in a tangy som tum, or just want a good old pad kra pao, these Thai joints will have something good to satiate your cravings.
1. CHEDI
The latest darling of new Thai restaurants in town, Chedi is chef-owner K-Jin Lim’s love letter to a cuisine whose pull impelled him to uproot his young family in 2014 for a life in Chiang Mai.
There, he immersed himself in the study of Thai cuisine under a chef whose pedigree is distilled to the year his grandmother served as head chef to the Thai Royal family. What he learnt over his eight years in Thailand is expressed in an eight-course tasting menu that changes throughout the year.
Miang Kham. (Photo: Chedi)
Gaeng Som Fak Thong. (Photo: Chedi)
Nam Jim Jeaw. (Photo: Chedi)
Tom Kha Gai. (Photo: Chedi)
The swell of bright dishes includes familiar staples like miang kham, a betel leaf-wrapped snack served with a tamarind water palate cleanser; tom kha gai, a chicken wing deboned and stuffed with mushroom-flecked glutinous rice; and gaeng som fak thong, a traditional orange curry thickened with Japanese pumpkin puree that serves as a base for a delicate tile of grilled seabass.
15 Hamilton Rd, Singapore 209185. Details here.
2. HUE
What happens when a pair of Thai nationals, a chef and a bunch of interior designers put their heads together to create a Thai restaurant? In Hue’s case, you get a youthful, colourfully tricked-out spot that serves modern renditions of classic Thai recipes.
Green and Curry. (Photo: Hue)
Moocano. (Photo: Hue)
Pulps Garden. (Photo: Hue)
Pad Thai Remix. (Photo: Hue)
Not A Tom Yum. (Photo: Hue)
The food is a bright, spicy and tangy dreamscape. Start with bar bites like glazed crispy chicken wings set on a nest of Thai herbs or Scotch quail eggs wrapped in minced pork collar with a dollop of lime aioli. Despite names like Pulps Garden (pomelo salad) and Moocano (sticky rice with grilled pork), the food is familiar, creative and served with cool confidence. Hue, incidentally, is Thai for ‘hungry’.
123 Tyrwhitt Road, Singapore 207549. Details here.
3. NAKHON KITCHEN
It feels impossible to talk about Thai restaurants in Singapore without mentioning Nakhon Kitchen. With four outlets across Singapore serving excellent and affordable Northeastern Thai classics, it has become a cherished part of our dining landscape.
The menu is extensive, with everything from chicken wrapped in pandan leaves to pad Thai and crispy whole grouper with Thai chilli sauce. Among our faves: The Thai vermicelli salad with seafood, tom ka soup and stir-fried clams with sweet basil leaves. For a simple, always satisfying one-dish meal, the basil pork rice never disappoints.
Outlets are located in Sengkang, Holland Village, Bedok and Kovan. Details here.
4. SABAI FINE THAI ON THE BAY
With a kitchen led by a former cook for Thailand’s late Princess Srinagarindra, Sabai Fine Thai leans into the elegance of refined Thai cooking. Its polished setting overlooking Marina Bay is a great match to the beautifully presented food.
Pad ga prao talay. (Photo: Sabai Fine Thai)
Roasted duck red curry. (Photo: Sabai Fine Thai)
Steamed bass with birds eye chilli. (Photo: Sabai Fine Thai)
The selection of curries and soups are the restaurant’s strengths, so save the pad Thai for another day and opt instead for tom kha (coconut and galangal soup) or the gang jued tai huu orn (clear chicken broth with tofu, minced chicken and prawns). The mussaman curry with beef or chicken and potatoes is comfort food at its elegant best, while the chuu chii (dry red curry with prawns or cod) is so more-ish, you might be tempted not to share.
70 Collyer Quay, #01-02 Customs House, Singapore 049323. Details here.
5. THANYING
For many Singaporeans of a certain vintage, Thanying was and continues to be the go-to for fine Thai food. Established in 1988, when the rare fine dining restaurant was reserved for special occasions, this stalwart underwent a facelift in 2019 to keep its aesthetics up with the times.
The food is as time-honoured as ever – lip-puckeringly sour tom yum soup, red curry with tender slices of roast duck and baked crab and glass vermicelli in a clay pot remain evergreen favourites among the generations of regulars.
Amara Singapore, Level 2, 165 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088539. Details here.
6. UN-YANG-KOR-DAI
The Singaporean love for spice does not always equate to a high tolerance for spice. If you’ve ever told a restaurant in Thailand that you want your food spicy and lived to regret it, you’d understand. And so it is at this Michelin Bib Gourmand-endorsed Isaan restaurant founded by former lawyer Panchana Vatanasathien in Thailand’s Kao Yai National Park.
Keep your bravado for spice in check and you’ll enjoy Un-Yang-Kor-Dai’s wonderful selection of Isaan classics like gai yang (grilled chicken saturated in a coriander marinade), sweet corn salad with salted egg, and crisp-skinned pork belly with a spicy dipping sauce.
57 South Bridge Rd, #01-02, Singapore 058688. Details here.
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Whether you’re looking to try something entirely new, test your tolerance for spice in a tangy som tum, or just want a good old pad kra pao, these Thai joints will have something good to satiate your cravings.
1. CHEDI
The latest darling of new Thai restaurants in town, Chedi is chef-owner K-Jin Lim’s love letter to a cuisine whose pull impelled him to uproot his young family in 2014 for a life in Chiang Mai.
There, he immersed himself in the study of Thai cuisine under a chef whose pedigree is distilled to the year his grandmother served as head chef to the Thai Royal family. What he learnt over his eight years in Thailand is expressed in an eight-course tasting menu that changes throughout the year.
Miang Kham. (Photo: Chedi)
Gaeng Som Fak Thong. (Photo: Chedi)
Nam Jim Jeaw. (Photo: Chedi)
Tom Kha Gai. (Photo: Chedi)
The swell of bright dishes includes familiar staples like miang kham, a betel leaf-wrapped snack served with a tamarind water palate cleanser; tom kha gai, a chicken wing deboned and stuffed with mushroom-flecked glutinous rice; and gaeng som fak thong, a traditional orange curry thickened with Japanese pumpkin puree that serves as a base for a delicate tile of grilled seabass.
15 Hamilton Rd, Singapore 209185. Details here.
2. HUE
What happens when a pair of Thai nationals, a chef and a bunch of interior designers put their heads together to create a Thai restaurant? In Hue’s case, you get a youthful, colourfully tricked-out spot that serves modern renditions of classic Thai recipes.
Green and Curry. (Photo: Hue)
Moocano. (Photo: Hue)
Pulps Garden. (Photo: Hue)
Pad Thai Remix. (Photo: Hue)
Not A Tom Yum. (Photo: Hue)
The food is a bright, spicy and tangy dreamscape. Start with bar bites like glazed crispy chicken wings set on a nest of Thai herbs or Scotch quail eggs wrapped in minced pork collar with a dollop of lime aioli. Despite names like Pulps Garden (pomelo salad) and Moocano (sticky rice with grilled pork), the food is familiar, creative and served with cool confidence. Hue, incidentally, is Thai for ‘hungry’.
123 Tyrwhitt Road, Singapore 207549. Details here.
3. NAKHON KITCHEN
It feels impossible to talk about Thai restaurants in Singapore without mentioning Nakhon Kitchen. With four outlets across Singapore serving excellent and affordable Northeastern Thai classics, it has become a cherished part of our dining landscape.
The menu is extensive, with everything from chicken wrapped in pandan leaves to pad Thai and crispy whole grouper with Thai chilli sauce. Among our faves: The Thai vermicelli salad with seafood, tom ka soup and stir-fried clams with sweet basil leaves. For a simple, always satisfying one-dish meal, the basil pork rice never disappoints.
Outlets are located in Sengkang, Holland Village, Bedok and Kovan. Details here.
4. SABAI FINE THAI ON THE BAY
With a kitchen led by a former cook for Thailand’s late Princess Srinagarindra, Sabai Fine Thai leans into the elegance of refined Thai cooking. Its polished setting overlooking Marina Bay is a great match to the beautifully presented food.
Pad ga prao talay. (Photo: Sabai Fine Thai)
Roasted duck red curry. (Photo: Sabai Fine Thai)
Steamed bass with birds eye chilli. (Photo: Sabai Fine Thai)
The selection of curries and soups are the restaurant’s strengths, so save the pad Thai for another day and opt instead for tom kha (coconut and galangal soup) or the gang jued tai huu orn (clear chicken broth with tofu, minced chicken and prawns). The mussaman curry with beef or chicken and potatoes is comfort food at its elegant best, while the chuu chii (dry red curry with prawns or cod) is so more-ish, you might be tempted not to share.
70 Collyer Quay, #01-02 Customs House, Singapore 049323. Details here.
5. THANYING
For many Singaporeans of a certain vintage, Thanying was and continues to be the go-to for fine Thai food. Established in 1988, when the rare fine dining restaurant was reserved for special occasions, this stalwart underwent a facelift in 2019 to keep its aesthetics up with the times.
The food is as time-honoured as ever – lip-puckeringly sour tom yum soup, red curry with tender slices of roast duck and baked crab and glass vermicelli in a clay pot remain evergreen favourites among the generations of regulars.
Amara Singapore, Level 2, 165 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088539. Details here.
6. UN-YANG-KOR-DAI
The Singaporean love for spice does not always equate to a high tolerance for spice. If you’ve ever told a restaurant in Thailand that you want your food spicy and lived to regret it, you’d understand. And so it is at this Michelin Bib Gourmand-endorsed Isaan restaurant founded by former lawyer Panchana Vatanasathien in Thailand’s Kao Yai National Park.
Keep your bravado for spice in check and you’ll enjoy Un-Yang-Kor-Dai’s wonderful selection of Isaan classics like gai yang (grilled chicken saturated in a coriander marinade), sweet corn salad with salted egg, and crisp-skinned pork belly with a spicy dipping sauce.
57 South Bridge Rd, #01-02, Singapore 058688. Details here.
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