Bangkok’s focus on fine dining has intensified with new restaurants responding to the demand of international high-flyers who want more than just superb food but a sophisticated gourmet experience. Fine dining for them is an affordable luxury, a social pleasure and a lifestyle necessity.

Huge investment has been put into opening top-notch restaurants that offer only superb cuisine prepared by award- winning chefs. Among them are The Dome complex and Breeze Asian seafood restaurant at lebua at State Tower, the luxury boutique hotel on Silom Road; China House at The Oriental Hotel with its dramatic new decor; the newly-designed rooftop Rib Room & Bar (RR&B) at the Landmark Bangkok Hotel; the splendid Prime steak house restaurant at Millennium Hilton Bangkok; D’Sens French restaurant at the Dusit Thani; Pier 59 seafood restaurant at Banyan Tree; and Madison at the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok. Stand-alone restaurants include Le Beaulieu French/Mediterranean restaurant in Sukhumvit Soi 19, and Harvey with Californian-style cuisine in Thong Lo Soi 9.

Top 10 Favorite Localities

1. Narathiwat-Ratchanakharin

One of the most lively after-dark strips in Bangkok, Narathiwat-Ratchanakharin Road attracts bar-hoppers, after work drinkers and restaurant hunters. The strip, which runs from Surawong to Silom to Sathon and ends at Rama 3 Road, is a fairly new addition to the urban dining scene, and to most Bangkokians it is a great alternative to the traffic-clogged Sathon/Silom area nearby.

Many appealing dining venues line up the Narathiwat-Ratchanakharin — both on main street and in small sois, packed every night with business execs, expats and local office workers from around the area.

2. Sukhumvit

This is a cosmopolitan thoroughfare with restaurants to match. Italian, American, French, German, Japanese, Indian and Thai restaurants many of good quality line the road. Sukhumvit 55 (Thong Lo) and its environs is culinary fantasy world; Sukhumvit sois 23, 24, 31, 49 and 63 are all good restaurant streets.

3. Yaowarat (Chinatown)

Yaowarat, Bangkok’s Chinatown contains some of the best, and also the most expensive Chinese restaurants in the city, along with many of the good and cheapest food stalls, especially at night. Large restaurants line the bustling Yaowarat Road, but venture into side streets to find less impressive yet equally enjoyable establishments. At night the neon glow from hundreds of stalls electrifies the atmosphere of the streets. The streetside seafood stalls draw such crowds that late-comers have to wait for seats.

4. Silom

Several food streets are linked to this road in Bangkok’s busiest area. As if awakened by the street lights, seafood stalls sprout along the section near Saladaeng after sunset until late at night. Nearby Convent Road offers French, Italian, Swiss, Californian and an Irish pub. Opposite, a crush of Japanese restaurants makes Soi Thaniya into a lively walkway for Japanese visitors and sushi lovers of all nationalities. And everywhere, Thai food is available in palace style and street style, side by side.

5. Riverside

Dining on a bank of the Chao Phraya River is always a memorable experience. There are many riverside eateries along the river bank, from Rama 9 Bridge to Sathon Bridge and King Rama I Memorial Bridge to Phra Nang Klao Bridge in Nonthaburi. Among the recent additions are Kin Lom Chom Saphan in Bang Lamphu, Baan Klang Nam on Rama 3 Road, Good View on Tok Road, To-Sit Pier on Charan Sanitwong 92, River Bar on Thon Buri bank and D-River in Bang Khlo.

For more luxurious dining in an elegant setting, Bangkok’s famous riverside hotels are some of the fi nest in the world. From The Oriental, Royal Orchid Sheraton and Shangri-La on the Bangkok side to the Peninsula and Hilton Millennium on the opposite bank, they provide a magical dining out experience.

6. Lang Suan

This is a boulevard of smart new restaurants in an upmarket residential and commercial area. Cool places occupy both the main road and the small sois that branch off. Like Sukhumvit Road, Lang Suan offers a diverse mix of Thai, Asian, and European cuisines such as the classy Calderazzo, No. 43 and Ma Be Ba Italian restaurants and the chic French Cafe Lenotre.

7. Bang Lamphu-Khao San

Bang Lamphu and Khao San Road were always the favourite haunt of young travellers on a tight budget, but they now have much more general appeal with a colourful range of bars and restaurants. Khao San Road is still young, still very lively but with many more choices and rewards awaiting the bold explorer.

8. Pahurat

Known as Bangkok’s Little India, the alleyways of the Pahurat area are home to many authentic Indian and Pakistani restaurants. The atmosphere is less chaotic than neighbouring Yaowarat, yet the vivacity can still be felt in this small, thriving community.

9. Siam Square

This shopping area is crammed with medium to high priced eateries as well as American fast-food outlets. Traditional Thai restaurants rub shoulders with fast food franchises and Japanese suki parlours. Soi 1 has conventional Chinese restaurants, with the Bangkok Hard Rock Cafe just along the street. Stalls sell meatballs, grilled squid, and fried bananas along the walkways that connect the main streets.

10. Prasert Manukit-Pradit Manutham

This new eight-lane strip under the Ekamai-Ram Indra Expressway is a popular hub of dining venues. Along the 10-kilometer stretch and around the corner of every intersection there are garden restaurants offering Thai foods and seafood with the most authentic tastes.