Sukhothai Restaurants

There was a whole row of little cafes, restaurants along the main road that lead to the entrance to the old city. We tried two of them for drinks and snacks and found them very pleasant. We were under the impression there was nowhere to eat in Old Sukhothai this certainly was not the case during the day. Not sure how late they stayed open. Plenty of choice here.

We tried this restaurant because we had seen other reviews of it and because it was right next to the songthaew stop where you get off when returning from the Old City. The restaurant is owned by a Belgian man and his Thai wife. The Thai woman who served us (not sure if it was the wife) was very pleasant. The restaurant does lots of Belgian beers as well as Thai beers. We stuck to the excellent draught beer Chang, but if you fancy a change this may be the place for you. The tastiest dish we had was Sukhothai noodles with chicken. We also had a green curry which was goodbut very mild and a bit sweet. All in all good food, good service, very reasonable price and convenient location. Who could ask for more.

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The ice coffee taste really good though a tad bit sweet. They serve good mango and tangerine juice.

The menu is as thick as the sukhothai telephone directory. So whatever you desire; local thai or western fare, they can whip it up for you..fast!

Favorite Dish: The food in general taste good....if you dont know how real thai food is supposed to taste like. To me everything thai about the food was watered down, from the nampla, to the birds eye chillies and even the prawn paste does not have that nasty smelly rotting aroma that makes thai food taste so good. A clear case of bending backwards to cater to the western taste buds.

The only saving grace (for me) as far as the food is concerned, is the fried banana split.

Everything else was edible, fit for eating to survive rather than eating to enjoy the pleasure of flavour.

The iced coffee was very good - but be warned if you dont like your coffee sweet. Great for cooling down after a long day of Wat chasing.

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Actually this place was called out by The Lonely Planet as their pick for a budget accomodation. But i noted their recommendation for the restaurant.

unfortunately, I only have one tummy. So i gave Ban thai a miss and opted for Poo restaurant for lunch. I did have a cool mango juice while checking out the place. Thumbs up for the mango juice; then again i have always had a soft spot for fresh mango juice.

Favorite Dish: Fresh mango juice

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The Poo Restaurant was picked by the The Lonely PLanet as the recommended eating place. It is located in New Sukhothai right out on the main street. It blends in the surrounding shops so if you are driving or moped-ing and looking out for this place, do slow down.

The place is very simply decorated but clean. That to me is my criteria when eating out during my travels. They had a Tin Tin poster on the wall, a dead give away that the owner might somehow be, let see.., belgian? If anything at all, its a cool place and a reprieve from the hot sun.

During my visit, the restaurant was not busy. Modern thai music was blarring on the player.

Favorite Dish: The Lonely Planet recommended the Dame Blanche, which is ice cream covered with belgian chocolate. However, it did not do anything for me. I could have skipped it and won't miss a thing.

The Thai food is supposed to be tasty; I feel that it is edible - I would eat it if i were hungry but if i had the choice and time, i would go hunt for other eateries.

I also ordered the french (belgian) fries as the belgians are known for their fries. That did not do anything for me either. There was nothing special about their fries.

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My complain about cafes in Sukhothai is that they bend backwards to please the western palate at the detriment of taste.

Having travelled around Thailand quite a bit and with great thai restaurants in KL (notably the seacuisine group) cafes in Sukhothai comes across to me as having sacrificed what they are i.e. thai- in order to sell.

So, I was quite pleased that the cafe at the Tharaburi Resort had stuck to their guns and served authentic thai food. A cafe called out by The Lonely Planet served a watered down Nampla with bird's eye chilli- now why would anyone do that?

I did notice that TomYumGoong did NOT make it to the cafe's menu though.

But their green curry was tasty and so was a number of other dishes such as cashew and chicken stir fry, the cat fish dish (this is a local favourite) and all other stir fry normally found in thai restaurants.

Favorite Dish: Thai Green Curry.

Sometimes, due to the coconut milk, green curry tends to be a little bit too creamy which makes one sick of it after two spoons. This one was not too creamy.

This place is located along the main road in Old Sukhothai, just before you go around the corner where the main entrance into the Sukhothai Historical Park is. There's a few other similar places nearby. There's an amazing choice in the menu which has photos of the food. There was a couple sitting near me who had some very good looking burgers.

When you’re in the Old City there’s no point in going back to the New Skuhothai to eat lunch. Near the Central Zone there are many fine restaurants to choose from. Some definitely cater to westerners, in terms of food selection, English menus and English speaking staff. However, the food is mediocre and the prices are really high.

If you want to find good food all you have to do is look for the place that is filled with Thai people. They might not have an English menu but most place have the kitchen right in front of the restaurant so you can just point to what ever you want to eat. Some local places do have English menus even though most foreigners seem to avoid going. The food is usually out of this world and really cheap. Count on spending about $2-$3 for several courses and soda.

Favorite Dish: Can't go wrong with any thing on the menu. Everything is fresh as well.