The best Thai restaurants in Kowloon City

Despite operating from a small venue, this Thai-owned restaurant has a comprehensive menu full of crowd-pleasing dishes. We recommend trying the boat noodles, which come with thin rice noodles topped with pork balls, sliced pork, pork crackling, and fresh herbs, but there are also other outstanding dishes that shouldn’t be missed, including Thai-style grilled chicken, Thai pork knuckles, roasted beef with lime, and chicken in green curry. Paired with the friendly service from the staff, the dining experience at Phoowong will make you feel like you’ve been transported to Thailand.

If you’ve got a hankering for skewers, you can’t go wrong with Kam Thai. This takeaway shop grills all of their skewers to order, and it’s very likely you’ll see a long queue formed outside their storefront when they get busy. Aside from classic cuts of pork, chicken, and beef, Kam Thai also serves speciality skewers like Thai-style sausages, well-loved for their crispy skin and soft glutinous rice and pork filling. Don’t leave without dipping your piping hot skewers into Kam Thai’s homemade satay sauce or sour and spicy sauce, both of which are aromatic and irresistibly good.

Calling Kowloon City its home for the past 20 years, Cheong Fat originally operated as a Thai grocery store and eventually became a popular local noodle joint. The menu here offers plenty of dishes, ranging from appetisers, salads, skewers to curries and all sorts of rice and noodles plates. Carb-loving customers will be spoilt as Cheong Fat offers options like rice noodles, glass noodles, egg noodles, and so much more. You can’t leave without trying their signature boat noodles, as each bowl comes with mouthwatering toppings like pork, liver, and meatballs, and a rich flavourful broth made with pig’s blood and assorted spices.

Despite the humble interior, Thai Chang House offers a warm and friendly dining experience with great Thai bites at affordable prices. Not only does Thai Chang House serve up classics like green papaya salad, tom yung goong, and pad Thai, but their menu also features dishes such as deep-fried preserved egg and freshly barbecued skewers, which are great selections to go along with a few cold beers.

Named after one of Bangkok’s many rivers, Chao Phraya serves up all kinds of seafood delights in a funky street food style. What's especially good is the soft-shell crab and pumpkin curry – served overflowing from a hollowed-out pumpkin – which the restaurant is well known for. You can’t miss Chao Phraya – just look out for the neon sign in their shop window!

You wouldn’t think it from its shabby appearance, but Peelong is one of the very best Thai restaurants in Hong Kong. While they’ve got a selection of green and red curries to choose from, the crowd favourite here is a creamy curry served in a giant bread bowl. If you’re feeling more adventurous, go for the raw prawns topped with garlic and chillies, served with a lip-numbingly hot sauce on the side.

Thai Fat has been around in Kowloon City for more than 20 years, all thanks to its Thai matriarch who has a knack for whipping up Northern Thai dishes. She uses a variety of herbs to create sauces that are light, fresh, aromatic, and spicy – which are guaranteed to wake your taste buds up. Some of our favourites here include stir-fried curry crab, stove-top steamed fish, char-grilled beef with lime, charcoal-grilled skewers, and tom yung goong. Each of the dishes here are loaded with ingredients and most importantly – don’t break the bank.

Cambo is popular with the resident Thai population of Kowloon City for its authentic flavours and fresh ingredients. The decor and service are pretty rustic, so don’t expect too much on those fronts, but this is a great spot for a genuine Thai meal at a reasonable price. Two signature dishes not to be missed are the fried shrimp balls and the raw shrimp sashimi.