Discover the hidden gems of Bangkok’s culinary landscape with our guide to the top 8 cheap restaurants where flavorful dishes meet budget-friendly prices.
Table of Contents
Top 8 Cheap Restaurants In Bangkok
1. Thipsamai (ทิพย์สมัย)
Thipsamai appears in all rankings of the best local restaurants in Bangkok. This is considered the place that serves the best Pad Thai in Bangkok, even the best in the world. The ingredients that make up the dish are very fresh, and the portion is also very large. Even though it is stir-fried over high heat, the dish is not dry or has too much oil.
The dish is wrapped in a thin layer of egg. When diners break this thin layer of egg, Pad Thai will appear in thin smoke along with the aroma of the dish. Depending on your taste, you will choose dishes with prices ranging from 90 baht (THB) to 500 baht (THB). In addition to the famous Pad Thai, try 100% pure orange juice pressed from ripe oranges picked from the garden. Feel free to queue and choose any seat you like, inside the restaurant or outside on the stainless steel benches.
See full Thipsamai menu.
Recommended dishes: Pad Thai (ผัดไทกุ้ง) and orange juice
Opening hours: 9.00 am – 12.00 am (9:00 – 0:00)
Address (Pratoopee branch): 313-315 Maha Chai Rd, Khwaeng Samran Rat, Khet Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200, Thailand. (Open Map)
2. Wattana Panich (วัฒนาพานิช)
This old restaurant located on Ekkamai Street is easy to recognize thanks to the large stew pot placed right in front of the restaurant’s door. The stew pot is always kept hot all day, helping the beef pieces to be stewed soft, absorbing spices but still retaining juiciness, along with adding Chinese herbs such as cinnamon and star anise to the stew pot and goji berries (a fruit of the nightshade family) add flavor to the dish.
Wattana Panich is considered one of the best local eateries in Bangkok, and it has a storefront that looks authentically Thai. Beef stew is served with noodles, priced at 100 baht (THB) for a regular bowl and 150 baht (THB) for a large bowl. In addition, diners can also choose stewed goat meat for 200 baht (THB).
See full Wattana Panich menu.
Recommended dishes: Beef Noodles
Opening hours: 9.00 am – 7.30 pm (9:00 – 19:30)
Address: 336-338 Ekkamai Soi 18, Sukhumvit Road Klongtoey Nuea, Bangkok 10110, Thailand. (Open Map)
3. Lek Seafood (เล็ก ซีฟู้ด)
Among the restaurants stretching close together, Lek Seafood occupies a small corner below Bangkok’s Chong Nonsi BTS Skytrain Station. This is a small restaurant with an open space; tables and chairs are arranged outside on the street in the style of local eateries in Bangkok, with the hustle and bustle of Narathiwat Street as the backdrop. Coming to Lek Seafood, you will enjoy dishes made from unique seafood, such as steamed tuna with lemon and chili, spicy and sour seafood soup, and a variety of shrimp and shellfish…
Maintains the same layout as other local eateries in Bangkok, with plastic chairs, stainless steel tables, and beer served over ice. Thanks to its location near Silom Street, the menu here is written in English, and the servers here can also communicate in English, so diners will be able to order easily.
See full Lek Seafood menu.
Recommended dishes: Spicy Cockles Salad, Steamed Meat in Lime Sauce
Opening hours: 05.00 pm – 00.00 am (05:00 – 00:00)
Address: 89 Soi Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 3, Silom, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand (Open Map)
4. Sabaijai (Original) (ร้านอาหาร สบายใจ – ดั้งเดิม)
Sabaijai is a restaurant that specializes in Issan cuisine, which is a style of food from northeastern Thailand. It’s a fantastic place to have dinner and savor some delicious local Thai dishes in a spacious setting.
One of the highlights of this restaurant is its Grilled Chicken, which is so famous that they even named the restaurant after it (Gai Yang). You absolutely have to try it when you visit! The grilled chicken is incredibly juicy, tender, and packed with flavor. Alongside the grilled chicken, they also offer a variety of other dishes like Grilled Liver, Pork Larb Salad (a mix of pork, vegetables, chili, and crispy rice powder), and Fresh Papaya Salad.
Sabai Jai Gai Yang is located on Ekkamai Street, and they even have a karaoke room where you and your friends can unwind after your meal. Not only can you dine in the open-air space outside, but you can also choose to sit inside the restaurant and enjoy live music performances on weekends.
See full Sabaijai (Original) menu.
Recommended dishes: Grilled Chicken, Pork Salad.
Opening hours: 10.30 am – 10.00 pm (10:30 – 22:00)
Address: 87 Ekkamai 3 Alley, Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand (Open Map)
5. Jok Prince (โจ๊กปรินซ์ บางรัก)
Jok is a type of porridge cooked in Thai style, and this is definitely the cheapest dish diners can find in this spicy country. Usually, this dish is served in food courts as well as roadside eateries for 30 baht (THB). But the place where you can enjoy delicious porridge is Jok Prince, a small restaurant located in Bang Rak, close to Sapan Taksin BTS Skytrain Station. This restaurant is a bit difficult to find for tourists because there are no English directions in this area.
This restaurant has a few different dishes for you to choose from; here, there are only spicy or non-spicy Minced Meat Porridge served with Century Eggs (a type of Chinese egg preservation) and decorated with onion slices. A portion of such hot porridge costs 45 baht (THB), a reasonable price for a simple dish that is delicious and easy to digest.
See full Jok Prince menu.
Recommended dishes: Pork Congee With An Egg (โจ๊กใส่ไข่ลวก), Pork Congee With A Century Egg (โจ๊กใส่ไข่เยี่ยวม้า).
Opening hours: 6.00 am – 1.00 pm (06:00 – 13:00), 3.00 pm – 0.00 am (15:00 – 00:00)
Address: 1391 Charoen Krung Road, Silom, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand (Open Map)
6. Go-Ang Pratunam Chicken Rice (โกอ่างข้าวมันไก่ประตูน้ำ)
One of Bangkok’s local eateries attracts a lot of fans from all over the city. Those who love Thai street food come here to enjoy tender Steamed Chicken served with Fried Rice, Cucumber, and Chicken Broth. This is not a new or special dish, but it is fresh and delicious, and there are always a lot of locals who enjoy it – a testament to the quality of the dish.
The spicy sauce is used to add flavor to the dish. However, the main flavor of the dish is still the fatty chicken pieces served with fried rice and a little garlic – a dish you can enjoy anytime, just like sandwiches in the West. Go-Ang Pratunam is open day and night and only closes for a few hours in the early morning.
See full Go-Ang Pratunam menu.
Recommended dishes: Hainanese Chicken Rice.
Opening hours: 6.00 am – 12.00 am (6:00 – 0:00)
Address: 960-962 Soi Phetchaburi 30, New Phetchaburi Road, Makkasan Subdistrict, Ratchathewi District, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. (Open Map)
7. Pranakorn Boat Noodle (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือพระนคร)
This is a Bangkok experience you cannot miss! As soon as they step into this restaurant, diners will be overwhelmed by the scene of many Thai students slurping down bowls of noodles.
For only 16 baht (THB), you can choose your favorite type of Noodles, served with Pork or Beef, Meatballs or Fried Wontons. However, you may need more than one bowl to fill you up, so do as the locals do and order two bowls. The bowls you finish placing at the end of the table can become the basis for an eating contest (some restaurants realize this and have launched a program to give away a free bottle of Pepsi to whoever eats 10 bowls). But there are no restaurants here. Instead, there is a small alley along the canal.
To get to the Boat Noodle restaurant, you need to get out of the Victory Monument BTS Station and go along the road until you see the night market. Go through the market and cross the bridge across the canal to get there.
See full Pranakorn Boat Noodle menu.
Recommended dishes: Soup Noodles (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ).
Opening hours: 8.00 am – 9.00 pm (8:00 – 21:00)
Address: Ratchawithi Rd, Thanon Phaya Thai, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. (Open Map)
8. Rod Dee Det (รสดีเด็ด by นพ)
Rod Dee Det means “So delicious!” is a quite prominent restaurant located in the heart of Siam Square, the fashion center of Bangkok. The restaurant attracts diners with delicious dishes served on metal trays and a pot of rich, flavorful broth. Dishes here start from only 60 baht (THB), and with its simple decor and white tiles, it’s easy to see that this place is more food-focused. The dishes here have quite small portions, so we recommend that you order two or more dishes. At lunchtime, it won’t be easy to find a seat because it is quite crowded and also because of the increasing appearance of Japanese and American stores replacing local stores in Siam Square.
See full Rod Dee Det menu.
Recommended dishes: Beef Soup.
Opening hours: 10.00 am – 10.00 pm (10:00 – 22:00)
Address: 1125 1127 Rama IV Rd, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand (Open Map)