What is it?: Before Supaksorn ‘Ice’ Jongsiri became a culinary superstar, he was a young chef continuing his Southern grandmother’s restaurant business, moving it from the backwaters of Nonthaburi to Thong Lo (now with six other locations as well).
Why we love it: We’re not able to get a table at Sorn, and you aren’t either. We accept this about life, just like we accept that our soi will flood this year. But thankfully Chef Ice’s entry-level restaurant is no slouch. Indeed, this is where he refined the skills and recipes that would later earn him three Michelin stars. Traditional dishes, largely from his ancestral province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. Two of the most outstanding dishes are named for his grandparents. His grandmother gets the khanom jeen khun ya, in which light fluffy noodles get the dunk-tank treatment in a classic nam ya curry, and his grandfather gets the khao yam khun pu, a classic Southern-style rice salad served with a funky budu dressing.
Time Out tip: A number of the best dishes are only periodically available – feel free to call ahead to check if standouts like the beef shank massaman and graduk khluk khlik phrik sator (pork ribs with sator beans) are available.