The best Thai restaurants in Melbourne right now

The real taste of Thailand transplanted to a CBD carpark, Soi 38 had us at the boat noodles. Lurking in a pungent soup broth with a host of add-ons (braised pork or beef, a pork ball and crackling, bean sprouts and coriander), the springy noodles are big on flavour and even bigger on comfort. Boat noodles aren’t on the menu by night, but the Thai barbecue and hotpot provide ample consolation, albeit one cloaked in the agony of indecision. Will it be the pork skewers known as moo ping, the swatches of golden calamari with a pungent lime-forward dipping sauce, or the bright papaya salad thrumming with the edible funk of salted crab and a heavy slosh of fish sauce?

No matter what time you head to Nana Thai, as it’s affectionately known, you’re probably going to wait in line. But it’s worth it – stepping foot inside this Thai eatery is remarkably similar to the hustle and bustle of a streetside restaurant in Bangkok. Thai barbecue takes centre stage, with golden domes on each table ready to fire up with pork fat that oils the grill and a surrounding moat of broth. Moojoom, or Thai hot pot, is the other star of the show. A lemongrass-laden broth is dished up on a portable stove with an array of meat cuts such as pork intestine, pork neck, chicken, calamari, prawns and vegetables (Chinese cabbage, enoki mushrooms and more) as well as some glass noodles.

Dodee Paidang is a Sydney import from Somporn Phosri. The first Melbourne outpost was hidden in the basement of Hotel Causeway 353, off Little Collins Street, but building on its success, two further branches can be found on Swanston Street and in Box Hill. The main event is the signature tom yum noodles in a sweet, porky, hot-and-sour broth with generous spoonfuls of fried garlic and a garnish of crispy wonton strips. Each tom yum comes with toppings ranging from seafood to soft pork bone and can be customised with a choice between seven types of noodles, such as glass, rice, instant and supersized - for those with a solid appetite.

A menu chock full of regional variations of Thai food signposted with where each dish comes from greets you as soon as you walk into Thai Tide. Expect central Thai province Samut Sakhon’s speciality of red curry squid cake with snake beans, Northern Thailand’s fried and fermented sour pork, and Chiang Rai’s crunchy pork lard tossed with chillies. If the food wasn’t the best part, then the minimal intervention wine list certainly is – a healthy selection of pet nats and orange wine expands choices beyond your traditional whites, reds and sparkling.

It was love at first encounter with Bar Spontana, its selling points reading like my own personal wish list with every box getting a big tick. Authentic and creative Thai food? Yes. Plenty of experimentation, pickling and fermentation? Triple yes. Wine bar status? If a smart list of great grape stuff is on offer, I’m in like a flash, no need to ask twice.

But there were also plenty of unexpected wonders at Bar Spontana (like one of the greatest cocktails I’ve ever tasted – more on that later) that swept my partner and I off our feet on our very first visit. This shouldn’t have been a surprise given the origins of its name – ‘spontana’ means ‘spontaneous’ in Esperanto, a universal language created in the 19th century to help diverse Europeans understand one another. 

Another pleasant surprise was the warm ‘lived-in’ quality of the venue, despite it only being about a month old. Bisected into a curiously loungy front space with open windows and a long, narrow dining room aglow with the type of lighting reminiscent of a Thai city at sundown, here’s a cosy sanctuary you could spend all night comfortably drinking in – and if it weren’t for the late hour (we’d just had a few knock-off drinks at nearby Waxflower), we certainly would have. 

Bar Spontana is tucked away down a Brunswick backstreet so you’ll need to fire up your Google Maps if you’re after a drink, but once you settle in and breathe in all those glorious, gingery-garlic Thai aromas, you’ll probably be tempted to stay for dinner as well. It’s a project from bartender duo Josh Hodges and Caleb Baker of Mr West renown, so of course, a crazy-good cocktail or two is also an essential part of the experience. 

But first, we start with other drinks. A Trans-Caribbean Night Rambler from the spirits menu is a nectary rum that comes with an optional ginger beer, and together they go down a gently spicy and floral treat. A Good Juice pink sangiovese is racy and bright, setting the tone for all the punchy snacks to follow.

A paper-lined plate of fried enoki mushrooms is an exceptionally addictive starter, a little bit like pork floss, and slightly tacky-textured and oily in the most sumptuous way. We’ve opted for the Feed Me menu, which is excellent value at just $55 a head. Our waiter faithfully brings us plate after plate: a trio of skewers (ox tongue, octopus and pork jowl) with condiments, house-fermented Esan sausage with glass noodles and cabbage, and a generous portion of charcoal chicken smothered in luscious lemongrass paste that we hoover up with an extra side of sticky rice. The latter we also roll up into little balls with our hands to dip into all the savoury, sour and sugarcane-sweet sauces that grace our plates. 

Of the rich meaty skewers, it’s the pork with tamarind, coriander root and garlic that takes out gold – the octopus, though fresh and creamy, is a little chewy – but there’s a smoky charcoal kiss in every bite, and each marries perfectly with its pairing condiment. The chef in charge of such delights is Pipat “Noomie” Yodmunee (Magic Mountain Saloon, Rice Paper Scissors) who’s no stranger to delivering crowd-pleasing Thai. But the stuff here is far more regionally inspired, influenced directly by Yodmunee’s own mother’s cooking and the delicacies of Esan cuisine. 

Another highlight is the Esan sausage,  which surprisingly – spontaneously, rather – was served on the night we visited with a charred green chile relish. Not usually part of the dish, our waiter recommended it based on a quick chat about our spice tolerance, and that’s just the sort of neighbourly service that wowed us at Bar Spontana. 

The natty-leaning wine list is a night-long temptation but the other wild-crafted drinks here are well deserving of a look in, too. My partner’s sake and tonic is served separately, to be mixed to his own taste, and my fresh tequila cocktail sings with the summeriness of ripe watermelon. 

A glass of La Sirene’s taproom-exclusive L’Apricot beer concludes the night, all snappy and complex and alive – but not before we’re successfully seduced into ordering dessert. We’ve chosen the toffee cake, which is served warm with chunky hot cashews and an inviting scoop of coconut ice cream. Not too sweet, it’s gratifying just like a homemade pudding. Sigh, one more drink then.

Now here comes that cocktail I mentioned earlier, the one I said could be the best I’ve ever had (a waitress suggested it with a knowing smile).It’s the Spro Tini: a wild concoction of gentian, cinnamon, lacto nectarine and coffee from the local roaster neighbours at Disciple. At first sip, it’s not hard to understand why this is one of the bartenders’ faves. The gentle spice and fruitiness at play with the bitterness and creaminess is a rocket launch into next-level cocktail territory. Yes, Hodges and Baker are at the helm of such creations, but they’ve also brought Nathan Beasley into the fold. Here’s a man who was twice crowned the best bartender in Australia. So if you need any more convincing to try the Spro Tini, or any other cocktail at Bar Spontana, let it be that. 

And the food is a red-hot hit. From the pickled watermelon skins that balance out the richness of our chicken, to the dried chilli,  cucumbers and cabbage salad playing soothing allies to our fiery, funky sausage, Yodmunee’s mastery of balance here is marvellous. Duck in the next time you’re in the area – you’re guaranteed no shortage of delicious and spontaneous surprises.

Time Out Melbourne never writes starred reviews from hosted experiences – Time Out covers restaurant and bar bills for reviews so that readers can trust our critique.

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BKK’s menu is divided into entrées, skewered meats, a selection of salads boasting four different kinds of laabs and two som tums, heavier meals ranging from noodles and curries to meat mains, four different preparations of rice, and desserts. If you’re feeling flush, a whole market fish is available for an unspecified market price and the 500g T-bone is barbecued for a princely sum of around $52. But it doesn't always have to be an all-out feast at BKK – you can just as easily drop in to sample a cross-section of contemporary takes on Thai street food.

Longrain kills it in the small-dish stakes, so ordering everything that counts as an appetiser is pretty much non-negotiable. Go the freshly-shucked oysters that arrive with a beaker of vibrant red nam jim; go the betel leaves, especially citrusy the one with the green mango and the toasted coconut. Above all, go the sticky, caramelised puck of pork on top of a juicy chunk of pineapple for the world’s finest iteration of sweet and sour. Longrain is classic Melbourne dining-out fun and it's offerings are just as good these days as they were when they first fragrantly sprung onto the scene. Round up a crew and have fun!

From the moment you step inside Issan Thai, you know you’re onto something good. The air hits you like a wave: warm and thick with sugar, fish sauce and lively chatter. At the heart of the menu are grilled meats ready to be bundled up with a leaf or tacky ball of rice, so if you like ssam, you’ll love this too. Here, it’s less about top-shelf cuts or exacting sear times, but rather moreish marinades thick with spices and fresh herbs. It’s also a largely porcine affair, from salty-sweet kor moo yang dipped in nam jim to best-in-show moo narm tok - bite-sized slices of pork belly that are tossed in enough lemon juice, coriander, shallots, chilli and ground toasted rice that make them taste almost light. Don’t miss the som tum – it’s a powerful addition to the salad canon; a mountain of shredded green papaya dressed with dried shrimp, crushed peanuts, lime, garlic, chilli and fish sauce.

So indispensable has Jinda Thai become that it’s hard to imagine a time when Jinda didn’t exist. When Jinda Thai opened its doors in 2013, it became a bustling, instant classic trumpeted more loudly still for its faithful menu, earnest hospitality and relative lack of competition – save for a couple of pricier fusion institutions. In the years since, ‘cheap Thai’ has emerged as one of Melbourne’s most-improved culinary sectors, and yet Jinda remains its leading light. As a result, it can be hard to get a seat. Highlights include tender, deep-fried fishcakes, crisp, skin-on barramundi with a refreshing green apple salad, velvety smooth beef massaman curry and the pleasing duck larb. 

We all know Singapore's and Malaysia's obsession with Hainanese rice (which we totally understand), but did you know it's a favourite comfort food in Thailand, too? Khao man gai (roughly translating to 'fatty rice') is the specialty of this cute little Hardware Lane joint named after the dish, and you'll see long queues lining up every lunchtime to get their fix. You can choose from nine versions of the popular street food, and there's a decent selection of beers and non-alcoholic drinks to wash it all down. 

Tom Toon joins Jinda Thai as one of a few restaurants that break up North Richmond’s Vietnamese monopoly. No-frills yet cosy, it’s widely acknowledged to have some of the best Thai food in Melbourne. Loyal diners swear by its som tum and soups, both of which come in several variations – pickled mudfish is a feature in many of the som tum iterations, while the Thai sukiyaki with bean thread noodles is something you’re less likely to find at other Melbourne Thai restaurants. Customisation is key with the restaurant’s speciality noodle dish kuitiaw, where you can choose between thin rice noodles, large strips of rice noodles, egg noodles and vermicelli. 

Not only is every dish at this CBD favourite priced well under $20, the food is damn good (and impressively authentic.) That's why you'll spot a line snaking down Bourke Street on the daily, and if you can nab a spot, the wait will be well worth it. Tuck into classic crowd-pleaser Thai eats like spicy pork bone soup noodles, popping salads and juicy grilled skewers, why not try something a bit different like a corn and salted egg or pork liver salad? With a strong creamy Thai iced tea on the side, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better value lunch this tasty in the city.

Nested in the Paramount Centre off Little Bourke Street, hole-in-the-wall Me Dee is known among hungry CBD office workers. Whether you make a beeline for the oyster omelette (famously peppered with numerous molluscs belying its reasonable price tag), the fragrant bowl of boat noodles with a good bite to them, or the nutty and mild panang curry, it’s hard to go wrong. And if you have space after, Me Dee has a neat selection of traditional Thai desserts, rich in the flavours of pandan and coconut. 

A lunchtime favourite of office workers in and around the CBD, Thai Town is a colourful and vibrant 200-seater space that is more often than not packed despite its large confines. Service is quick and efficient, but the food is no less tasty for it – you’re quickly ushered to your seat, where you can order through a QR code on your table, and your food is promptly delivered to you. Lunchtime specials boasting the likes of curries with rice, stir-fries and noodles are available between noon and 3pm, but the ante is upped for dinner. You can find jumbo plates of king prawn pad thai and pork mince with chilli and basil on rice, an entire barramundi given the deep-fried treatment, and hot pot with fish balls, blood jelly and calamari in a spicy pink broth. 

Reservoir’s Golden Peanut is the epitome of a perfect neighbourhood local. Staff recognise regulars by sight, groups are often packed in to celebrate one occasion or another, and the food is top-notch. The fried calamari enlivened with punchy nam jim and lime might just be the most impeccably fried tendrils of squid that we’ve ever tried, while the fresh pomelo, cashew and burnt chilli slaw is accentuated by smooth tamarind caramel. The menu isn’t as extensive as some other Thai restaurants, but they do the basics well – expect classic pad see ew, som tum and beef massaman. 

Paper serviettes, stand down. There’s a reason why Bangpop use trimmed-down tea towels as their napkin of choice. At Paul Mathis’ Thai street food venture, the flavours don’t pull any punches, and you’ll sport the runny nose to prove it.

Have fond memories of Southern Thai food from your last visit to Phuket but don't know where to look now that you're back in Melbourne? Give Pa Tong a try. The homely Flinders Lane restaurant may not look particularly special from the outside, but looks can be deceiving. This fragrant kitchen is dishing up authentic curried fish mousse cakes, Hokkien-style trader food (popular in South Thailand) and thick coconutty curries and soups that'll keep you going back for more.