Here's where Asia's best female chef goes for pad Thai in Bangkok

Chef Pam Soontornyanakij is Asia's best female chef, and she loves pad Thai. Here are her picks for the best in Bangkok, from trendy wagyu pad Thai at May Rai to old school Thipsamai.

For many visitors to Bangkok, pad Thai – stir-fried rice noodles tossed in a wok with prawn, eggs, peanuts and bean sprouts – acts as the unofficial ambassador to Thailand's vibrant cuisine. But pad Thai wasn't even part of Thai life until the 1930s.

The history of stir-fried noodles in Thailand goes back to the Chinese immigrants who introduced rice noodles to the region in the 18th Century. After the end of World War One, military officer Plaek Phibunsongkhram – known as Phibun – led a coup and came to power, ending Thailand's absolute monarchy. While cementing his authority, Phibun aimed to create a strong national identity and modernise the war-ravaged nation to avoid European invasions. So he engineered an economical, filling and nutritious diet, turning to inexpensive Chinese rice noodles and promoted a nationwide "noodle is your lunch" campaign, encouraging chefs to make rice noodles more Thai.

"Many ingredients in pad Thai like rice noodles belonged to Chinese immigrants. It's very Thai-Chinese," says Pam Pichaya Soontornyanakij, a Bangkok-born chef known for her progressive Thai-Chinese cuisine restaurant Potong. "But it was created to feed the Thai nationality, so people feel more Thai. And it worked."

Since 2002, a "Global Thai" campaign to boost Thailand's tourism-heavy economy and the country's image worldwide led to the opening of many Thai restaurants around the globe, leading people overseas to associate pad Thai with Thailand.

While the dish may not have hundreds of years of history, Soontornyanakij says that pad Thai is very cultural. "I'm proud of pad Thai," says Soontornyanakij, who serves a modernised version of the dish at her restaurant, made with shrimp and topped with a Thai flag made of naturally-coloured red, white and blue rice noodles. "It portrays the struggles and the survival of the Thai people. And it's become a staple today. It represents our landscape, our history."

Here are Soontornyanakij's top picks for pad Thai in Bangkok.

While you can find pad Thai in every nook and cranny across Bangkok, no pad Thai spot is as legendary as Thipsamai.

"Everyone usually has the same flavour profile in their pad Thai – sour, salty and sweet – but the magic of pad Thai is the balance of both flavour and texture," says Soontornyanakij. Everyone makes pad Thai in their own way, she explains. "And there's nothing wrong with that, but I love Thipsamai because the noodles are slippery, and not sticky. That means that they add quite a lot of fat."

Thipsamai's original version of pad Thai is cooked with softer and tender sen chan noodles from Thailand's Chanthaburi province and prawn oil made to a family recipe – it's the secret to their popularity. The portion of noodles comes enveloped in a thin vellum of egg.

There are now several outlets across the city, but Soontornyanakij says that their old town location inside a warmly lit wooden building remains the most iconic. Thipsamai's desire to serve Bangkok residents began nearly a decade ago when a young woman called Samai began selling pad Thai on a boat across one of the city's canals during World War Two. The couple's son Sikarachat Baisamut now continues their legacy.

Website: https://thipsamai.com/

Address: 313, 315 Maha Chai Rd, Samran Rat, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200

Phone: +66 2 226 6666

Instagram: @thipsamaipadThai

It's no mean feat to be a groovy hangout in a buzzing megapolis that doubles as a culinary hub. But that's exactly what May Rai is, says Soontornyanakij. Housed in an intimate, neon-lit shophouse in Bangkok's old town overlooking the gleaming Wat Arun temple along the Chao Phraya River, this part-wine bar, part-pad Thai spot is "quite the contrast", she says. "You are going to eat pad Thai in a funky wine bar."

Michelin-starred Thai chef Thitid Tassanakajohn – who's known as chef Ton – runs the restaurant with his brother and serves natural wines from across the world and homemade spirits infused with herbs. Then there's the food menu serving Thai dishes and the bar's fusion pad Thai inspired by their grandmother's dishes – including a pad Thai made of local wagyu.

"I went there when it opened, and it's warm, cosy and casual. Chef Ton really didn't promote it a lot so you can say it's still kind of hidden," Soontornyanakij says. Pad Thai is usually served with lime, chilli and other condiments on the side to add on as you prefer, "but he [chef Ton] has it already seasoned for you".

Address: 22 Tha Suphan Alley, Phra Borom Maha Ratchawang, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200

Phone: +66 97 293 5549

Instagram: @mayraibkk

Although it's not usually eaten on the go, pad Thai is a popular street food sold by small stalls across Bangkok. And for generations, Pad Thai Ratchawong stall, located near the city's Yaowarat area, has been known for serving up the best traditional pad Thai. Bangkok locals are loyal to this spot, Soontornyanakij says.

"You usually get very good pad Thai in Yaowarat. That's mostly because it's home to many Thai-Chinese families," Soontornyanakij says.

Indeed, the lively Yaowarat Road that hustles and bustles is the hub of Chinese arts and crafts in Bangkok. It's also part of the world's largest Chinatown. Since Pad Thai is prepared in a wok, Soontornyanakij says it was all done by Chinese immigrants first and passed down to the next generations. "So even in the most random places, pad Thai here is top-notch."

At Ratchawong, you can grab one of their rickety plastic stools or take pad Thai home in a small banana leaf basket called a krathong. The noodles here are subtly crumbly with a generous amount of fresh prawn. "This place is very iconic for people in Chinatown, and locals trust it for their sweet and spicy pad Thai with the aroma of the wok," Soontornyanakij says.

Address: 136 Ratchawong Rd, Chakkrawat, Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100

Phone: +6681 253 5961

In 2023, Bangkok received more than 28 million visitors, but even in this tourist-popular city, there are many spots known only to locals, like Lueng Pha Pad Thai. Although it's right beside Thipsamai on Maha Chai Road, Soontornyanakij says it's not really popular with tourists. "You'll mostly only find Thais here."

A fan-cooled hole-in-the-wall with washed out lime green walls and a few tables outside on the footpath, Lueng Pha is the kind of unexpected gem you come across while aimlessly meandering the city on foot. Run by a family for more than 40 years, this pad Thai-only spot dishes out affordable rice noodles cooked with prawn fat, served wrapped in an omelette or tossed with egg. Your noodles also get cooked in the front of the store over a charcoal burner.

"It's so good that you'll find Thai food bloggers on Facebook making videos. They'll compare what's best – the famous Thipsamai or Lueng Pha," Soontornyanakij says. It's also the spot to grab pad Thai in the neighbourhood if you don't want to stand in long queues.

Address: Maha Chai Rd, Samran Rat, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200

Phone: +66 85 213 1621

There are several outlets across the city now, but the neon-lit Pad Thai Fai Ta Lu on Dinso Road is where to go for pad Thai full of smoky flavour.

"It's how they wok it," Soontornyanakij says. Pad Thai Fai Ta Lu loosely means "pad Thai with high flames" – and, true to its name, this kitchen's blazing flames engulf the wok full of noodles, prawns and pork, making it feel like an elevated art form. "It's standalone top-quality street food," Soontornyanakij says, "done by chefs with very good wok skills."

This retro-style restaurant with lively nighttime music is the brainchild of Bangkok-born chef Andy Yang, who got his first Michelin star for New York City's Thai bistro Rhong-Tiam in 2010. In Bangkok, Yang's wok-made pad Thai are full of great quality pork and prawn, like the Pad Thai Kode Moo Yang, with charred umami-flavoured pork loin marinated in coriander and soy, or Pad Thai Goong Yak, served with a single, giant fresh river prawn. "The ingredients are fancy, and [chef Andy Yang] stir-fries prawns in their shell, which makes it super flavourful," Soontornyanakij says.

Pad Thai Fai Ta Lu also garnered a Michelin Bib Gourmand for five consecutive years in the Michelin Guide. "And when you dig in, you can smell it all. The fire, the wok, the smoky flavour," Soontornyanakij adds.

Website: facebook.com/padThaifaitalu

Address: 115/5 Dinso Rd, Wat Bowon Niwet, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200

Phone: +66 89 811 1888

Instagram:@padThaifaitalu

BBC Travel's The SpeciaList is a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers.

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