Pad Thai is the canonical Bangkok stir-fried rice-noodle dish: tamarind-sweetened, fish-sauce-savoury, tossed with shrimp, egg, beansprouts and crushed peanuts in a smoking-hot wok, garnished with lime and chilli.
Where to eat it: 2 restaurants across 1 city.
Pad Thai was rebranded as Thailand's national dish in 1939 by Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram, partly to reduce rice consumption during shortage and to differentiate Thai food from Chinese-Thai noodles. State-distributed recipes pushed pad Thai stalls across Bangkok by the 1940s. Thipsamai opened in 1966 as the canonical wrapped-in-egg version, earning a Bib Gourmand listing when Michelin arrived in Thailand in 2018, and remains the queue-out-the-door reference on Maha Chai Road.
Common allergens: Shellfish (shrimp), Egg, Peanut, Fish sauce
Tip from the editors. The fire is the secret. A wok over a high flame in 90 seconds beats a sluggish home stove and 5 minutes.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Thipsamai in Bangkok's Old Town has cooked the city's most famous pad Thai since 1966 with last orders at midnight, Bib Gourmand since 2018, the late-night canonical bowl.
Try: Pad Thai wrapped in egg
Tip: Cash only. Closed Tuesdays. Open Wed-Mon 09:00 to midnight; the wrapped-in-egg pad Thai with shrimp oil is the late-night order.
Raan Jay Fai in Bangkok's Old Town is the Michelin-starred street stall where Supinya Junsuta in ski goggles cooks the city's most famous 800-baht crab omelet, since 2018.
Try: Crab omelet, drunken noodles, tom yum
Tip: Walk-in only with same-day queue numbers from 09:00. Closed Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays. Cash only, dishes 800 to 1,200 baht.
More cities are in research. Want pad thai covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.