The best restaurants and cafes in Ekkamai

Hear Hai attracts local seafood lovers looking to savor reasonably priced fried rice packed with charred flavors and heaps of crab meat. Other popular dishes include stir-fried giant prawns with salt and garlic, and yellow curry with crab and betel leaves. Make a reservation before you visit and expect to wait for your food. You’ll know the food is in demand, judging from the number of food delivery guys waiting out front

It’s been over two years since Jay Sangsingkaew, a former chef at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Bangkok, moved on from the much-respected, yet short-lived, restaurant to launch her own venture. No longer a young hopeful aspiring to break through Bangkok’s culinary scene, Chef Jay pays homage to French cuisine at Restaurant Stage (pronounced “staj”), a name that alludes to the culinary term for unpaid internships.  When she opened Stage in 2020, the Europe-trained chef was committed to using only imported ingredients to create a series of multi-course menus that are assigned a number that suggests the restaurant’s constant progression. Recently, Chef Jay unveiled Stage Experience 7.0 (B4,500++), a 10-course set that, instead of solely focusing on international produce, emphasizes the use of local ingredients sourced from producers across Thailand, such as king prawns from Surat Thani and sweet potatoes from Phetchabun. The meal starts off with a four-bite amuse bouche that includes taramasalata rosette, egg mimosa, duck confit puff, and wild boar. Following closely is a delicate white asparagus dish with razor clams. In the third course, Ox & Bone, Chef Jay uses different parts of the animal to create a series of small dishes, namely oxtail terrine, bone marrow croquette, and tarragon emulsion. The potatoes from Phetchabun figure in the next dish, cooked using a special method that gives the root crop a different texture. Three seafood dishes follow, featuring king prawn,...

An institution for over five decades, Wattanapanich is famous for its traditional Chinese-style stewed beef and goat. Now run by the third generation, this humble eatery still delivers on consistency, whether you want a dish with melt-in-your-mouth, grade-B cuts (shank, brisket) or chewy offal (innards, tripe and ligaments). The secret, apparently, is how these parts are slowly braised in an enormous pot with Chinese medicinal herbs and spices.

Maynard Seekala’s humble eatery in Ekkamai is undoubtedly 2022’s most promising pizza spot. Hype is centered around its 48-hour sourdough bun, which is topped with sauces and seasonal ingredients from all over Thailand. Best of all is the restaurant’s unpretentious no-frills vibes. 

This new noodle parlor specializes in soupy street-style egg noodles with barbequed pork and pork wontons. The eatery is highly popular during lunch among hungry office workers so you may want to consider popping in early to avoid waiting in line.

An artful bakery where each croissant is served fresh from the oven. Try playful creations like the six-eye spectre cookie (B130) or sun-kissed strawberry crust (B359). For a local spin, there’s a Thai tea custard croissant (B129) or pandan custard (B159), offering a familiar flavour profile in flaky form.

Japanese restaurant Yananiga, set in a hilly, tree-dense countryside near the city of Gifu, is known among well-traveled gastronomes for serving locally sourced game meats, such as wild boar, venison and bear, that are charcoal-grilled to perfection. UK publication The Guardian posited that it may be “the best restaurant in the planet” while the users of Tabelog, Japan’s most popular restaurant rating site, have given the restaurant the highest scores. Japanese tastemakers, including Hello Kitty designer Yuko Yamaguchi, have claimed the establishment as one of their favorite places to dine.  Considering all these, it’s no surprise to learn that securing a seat at the restaurant is not easy. Yanagiya is one of island country’s many ishigen-san okotowari restaurants, meaning you have to be introduced by former diners or get “people in the know” to secure a reservation for you.  “The difficulty of eating at Yanagiya, from its location and its strict reservation rule, has inspired Masashi Yamada [Yanagiya’s manager] to open other outlets, to make the Yanagiya experience more democratic and accessible,” says Ben Na Nakorn, restaurateur and co-owner of Shun. Opening on the third floor of Donki Mall Thonglor, Shun brings a slice of Yanagiya to Thai diners, offering locally sourced and imported fresh produce that are prepared with a meticulous attention to detail.  While the original outpost in the rural Japanese town emanates a traditional and simplistic charm—diners gather...

Its location in the Bangkok Mediplex Building on Sukhumvit Soi 42 might be uninspired, but the meat-free Thai menu does more than enough to pull in the local veggie crowd. Start with something raw (fresh spring rolls or mixed veggies salad with peanut sauce) before trying one of the hearty mains such as red “duck” curry with tofu or kanom jeen gaeng het (soft rice noodles covered in mushroom curry) To finish, the Banana Cereal Cream (grilled banana with sweet gravy and coconut milk) is a guaranteed sugar high. As you’d expect, there are plenty of smoothies and fruit juices to drink. 

Dimly lit to attain the most romantic ambience possible, In The Mood for Love is inspired by the Wong Kar Wai movie of the same name. The menu consists of fusion rolls such as the C4 Signature Roll, an east-meets-west treat that combines unagi (eel) and mozzarella. Those craving a more fulfilling sushi experience can head over to the bar and ask for the special omakase set, which features the fresh imports of the day.

The menu covers a variety of imported beef including jo karubi and tokujo karubi. Other listers to try are the tuna wasabi, and fried chicken with lemongrass and pad Thai with karaba crab (using deep-fried dumpling sheets instead of typical pad Thai noodles). For cocktails, plump for the whiskey-based Samurai or San Shian (vodka, peach syrup and sweet vermouth) as a warm-up before jumping down to enjoy some EDM at DND below.