If you want great Thai food in Sydney, your first port of call should be Thai Town. That walkable strip where Pitt Street intersects with Goulburn and Campbell Street. There you'll find some of the city's best Thai grocers, restaurants, and dessert vendors. But there are other gems too if you know where to look. In fact, Thai restaurants are most-concentrated in Sydney's Inner West. A decade ago, of some 100 restaurants listed in the Australian Restaurants Directory, 38 were marked as Thai. A fact that rings true for anyone who's spent time up and down King Street.
So what are the standouts in a saturated market? Here's 10 of our favourite places to eat Thai food in Sydney, whether you're craving Isaan dishes or Bangkok's sweet and tangy noodles.
Chat Thai
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Where: Various locations.
Institution is a word that gets tossed around a lot, but Chat Thai has earned it. Established by Amy Chanta, the first Chat Thai restaurant opened in Darlinghurst 35 years ago, kickstarting the city's obsession with Thai food, and her ethos and recipes have been feeding Sydney ever since. Sadly, Chanta passed away in 2021 from cancer, with the culinary empire she built divided between her two children. But you can still get your fill of her signature Amy's Noodles, mackerel fried rice, Mhu Grob Padt Prik Khing, and Gaeng Daeng Bped. And we suggest you do so often.
Porkfat
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Where: Haymarket
This is the food I would eat everyday if my wallet was game. It's also, in my opinion, the best Thai restaurant in Sydney. Headed up by chef Narin Jack Kulasai, Porkfat is where Kulasai marries the flavours of his hometown Saraburi with his years of training alongside Long Chim's David Thompson and Bennelong's Peter Gilmore. Dishes are cooked with pork fat, a popular Thai technique before commercial oils emerged, and the food, presented on hand-painted ceramics from Thai artist Tan Thichitang, is all the better for it. Whole barramundi is deep-fried and served curled up on itself, with aromatic makrut leaves, garlic and Thai basil, the flesh a joy to scrape with fork and spoon. Other highlights include Porkfat's signature larb, which is smoky, fragrant and, thanks to roasted rice powder, texturally fun; along with tender slices of pork jowl and nam jim. This, paired with the warm service, makes Porkfat a true pleasure (just not for vegetarians). Did we mention it has a hat?
Joe's Table
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Where: Darlinghurst
First off, I owe a lot to Joe Kitsana. His restaurant was a beacon during Sydney's lockdown. The man's a bit of a wonder himself. Formerly of Longrain, where he worked from 1999 until 2006, for much of his namesake restaurant's operation, Kitsana has multitasked as chef, waiter, kitchen porter and host. Since moving to his new digs on the corner of Bourke and William St, Kitsana has relented and hired an assistant. But that's it. The rest is pure elbow grease and passion. The result? Thai and South East Asian comfort food in the form of steamed snapper fillets with coconut milk and makrut lime leaves, fluffy jasmine rice, Thai fish cakes and dark, caramelised beef rib. There's a reason Joe's Table made our list of cool restaurants in Sydney...
Boon Café
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Where: Haymarket
It's difficult to find a coffee in Sydney after 4pm. One exception to this is Boon Café, the vibrant restaurant within Thai Town's beloved Jarern Chai Grocer. Double-park yourself with teh tarik and butterfly pea soda. Part of the Chat Thai family, the menu is long and marries Western breakfast (think: pandan croissants, waffles, chiffon cake) with Chat Thai classics like crab fried rice and larp gai. Next door, the grocery store is worth a look-in, stocked with organic fruit and vegetables grown by Palisa Anderson in Byron Bay at Boon Luck Farm. Where else can you stock up on bitter melon, rose apple, agar, and larb spice then sit for a plate of the city's best pad kra pao?
Caysorn
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Where: Haymarket.
This portion of Chinatown is reserved for icons only. On the ground floor of the Prince Centre, you have eternal competitors Chinese Noodle House and Restaurant, two floors up you'll find Caysorn, purveyor of notoriously spicy southern Thai flavours. When it comes to spice Caysorn is delightfully heavy-handed, even though the owners swear they've dialled it down in recent years. Sure, you can order your pad Thai and see ew, by why, when there's plenty of regional specialties listed? Tai pla comes to mind, a fierce curry made with fermented fish guts, or khanom jeen namya, coiled rice noodles with a curry the colour of turmeric. Cool off by the self-serve salad bar, where you can cut the heat with bean sprout, cabbage, crunchy cucumber and Thai basil.
Spice I Am
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Where: Surry Hills
Where some Sydneysiders swear by Chat Thai or Caysorn, others rally behind chef Sujet Saenkham's Spice I Am. Central Thai cuisine is the focus here, so if you've been holding out for the sweet tamarind tang of pad Thai, life-affirming tom yum goong or the warm hue of Panang curry, this is the place to satisfy your cravings. Find stir-fried noodles and savoury fried rice kissed with wok hei, and every meal should be accompanied with sweet-savoury glossy morning glory. The menu is long, so visit again and again and again.
Long Chim
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Where: Corner of Pitt St and Angel Pl, CBD.
David Thompson had dedicated his career to sharing the magic of Thai cuisine, and all it took was a formative trip to Thailand in 1986. Having opened a slew of restaurants celebrating Thai food, including Bangkok's Michelin-starred Nahm, Thompson is considered an authority on the cuisine, and at Long Chim he serves up his knowledge with zeal. What separates Long Chim from the rest is its obsession with quality. An old colleague told me he used to watch chefs press fresh coconuts to make cream daily, a labour-intensive process, while the palm sugar used at Long Chim is collected from the same plot that supplies Nahm.
Viand
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Where: Woolloomooloo
Annita Potter offers an elegant and uncompromising perspective on Thai food at her refined diner, where the kitchen takes pride of place. Potter, who followed Thompson around the globe from Nahm to Long Chim, is not interested in serving up the familiar central Thai fare. Her attention is instead set on pushing the envelope and introducing guests to dished rarely seen on menus in Sydney. Vegans and vegetarians are catered to as well, with an eight-course tasting menu on offer.
Yok Yor
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Where: Haymarket
Brothers Joe and Mek Phungsamphan don't discriminate with their menu, you'll find dishes from all across Thailand listed. Bangkok's kuay teow reua (boat noodles) sit alongside the spicy-sour turmeric and mackerel curry from the country's south. But if it's Isaan cuisine you're after, then Yok Yor serve up some of Sydney's best. Think addictive plates of spicy, pungent som tam with briny black field crabs or Chiang Mai's famous khao soi, a hearty coconut and curry soup garnished with fried egg noodles, chilli paste and chicken drumsticks.
Thai Pothong
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Where: Newtown
King Street wouldn't be the same without Thai Pothong. It's the go-to spot for birthdays, functions, family celebrations and any event where you need to fit a crowd of 10 plus. That's not all it has room for either. After you've tucked into all the usual suspects of classic Thai cooking, take a moment to browse the infamous gift shop where life-size robot statues are for sale alongside bamboo coasters and sandstone Buddha heads.
Feature image: @longchimsydney @porkfatsydney @porkfatsydney @chatthai_official
