Like it hot? No problem, spice girl, here are the top tables in the Thai capital to treat your heat-happy tastebuds.
Nahm
The dining room decor may be normcore, but you won’t give a jot when sampling Pim Techamuanvivit’s modern take on the Thai classics. Snag an alfresco table by the cool pool and heat it up with a considered menu spotlighting rare, regional ingredients like the Isaan sour curry of snakehead fish and Indian taro stalks,
Nahm, Metropolitan by Como, 27 South Sathorn Rd, Sathorn, Bangkok. +66 2 625 3388, comohotels.com
Issaya Siamese Club
The name of Ian Kittichai’s blue-hued garden villa-resto might refer to the clement rainy season, but the signature spice-rubbed pork ribs (glazed with a punch-packing house-made chilli paste) certainly aren’t mild. Sate the burn post-sup with a moddy Mai Thai in the antique-adorned upstairs bar.
Issaya Siamese Club, 4 Soi Sri Aksorn, Chua Ploeng Rd, Sathorn, Bangkok. +66 2 6729 0401, issaya.com
Krua Apsorn
This no-fuss, rustic, order-by-pictures shophouse is supposedly the Thai Royal family’s go-to for picante pickings. We can only assume His Excellency opts for the stir-fried green mussels with basil leaves when he wants to really test his tastebuds. Hot, hot, hot!
Krua Apsorn, Samsen Rd, near Soi 9, Bangkok. +66 2 241 8528, kruaapsorn.com
Chatuchak Market
Those that really want to go high on the Scoville scale should make for the food sellers section of this weekends-only, 30-hectare labyrinth. Just walking through the endless lanes will likely get you perspiring (no air-con here, m’dear) but if you really want to break a sweat try the Isaan noodles at Jeed-Jard in section 8, or the rice noodle rolls at section 4’s Din Pao – easy on that dipping sauce!
Chatuchak Market, Chatuchak, Bangkok
Ruen Urai
Some of the dishes at this serene, centuries-old teak house (once the home of a herbalist doctor) might be farang-friendly but, tell your server that you want the spicy lemongrass chicken ‘like the locals have it’ and your meal might end with you needing some medical attention. Consider yourself warned.
Ruen Urai, The Rose Hotel, 118 Surawongse Rd, Bangrak, Bangkok. +66 2 266 8268 72, rosehotelbkk.com
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