Baannual

It may look a little rough around the edges, but this Thai restaurant situated beneath an antique wooden house comes brimming with exciting flavors. Baannual paints a quaint picture of life in Bangkok's Old Town, offering only two tables set amid decorative flower arrangements, rattan birdcages, and a soundtrack that mixes old Thai songs of the '70s and '80s with the crowing of nearby roosters. The simple menu spotlights the likes of moo pad kapi, stir-fried pork neck with shrimp paste from Chumporn, and yum dokkajorn, a Thai-style cowslip creeper salad with minced pork and shrimp that's made with boiled coconut cream.  
 
Samsen Soi 2. See full details here.
 

Cuisine de Garden

The space in Ekkamai previously belonging to Toot Yung and Pandora Art galleries is now home to a new offshoot of Chiang Mai’s nature-inspired restaurant Cuisine de Garden. The design courtesy of architect Sorakit “Mon” Kitcharoenroj (Integrated Field) sees a dining room of dark wood flooring and raw concrete punctuated by actual tree trunks, setting the scene for chef-owner Leelawat “Nan” Mankongtiphan’s food, which is available only in a six-course set dinner. Dishes play with various forms and textures of ingredients, like Rain Forest, which combines beef tartare with beef tuille, seasoned cured egg yolk and parsley powder, and Farm, which sees goat milk presented as panna cotta with crispy milk chips, milk snow and macadamia flower honey. 
 
Ekkamai Soi 2. See full details here.
 

Hopeland

Replacing the Hong Kong-born Little Bao at 72 Courtyard is a new place also doing bao, this time with a Korean slant, alongside tiki-themed cocktails and tables which double as retro videogame consoles. Hopeland's menu takes an Asian-fusion comfort food route with the likes of a tender beef brisket and kimchi bao, bulgogi kimchi fries, mandu (pork dumplings served with spicy mayo on the side) and bibimbap with your choice of spicy pork belly, tofu and mushroom, beef short ribs or chicken. While pounding away at arcade classics like Pacman, Space Invaders and Tetris, you can try drinks like Dolphin Next Door a mix of Pampero Blanco rum and Wild Turkey 81 bourbon with a touch of macademia syrup, coconut milk and lime.

Sukhumvit Soi 55 (Thonglor). See full details here.

Kaprow Khun Phor

Looking like a no-frills cafeteria, Silom's Kaprow Khun Por serves more varieties of pad kaprao than you could dream of. In fact, the menu does nothing but spicy basil stir-fries (15 types in all), though they shake things up with premium ingredients, whether it's the minced kurobuta pork in the kao kaprao moo sub or Company B’s dry-aged Australian beef in the kao kaprao nuea, They claim to steer clear of frozen seafood, which means kaprao with fresh shellfish, banana shrimps and Suratthani oysters. As for the recipe, they say they use only young holy basil leaves and a mix of Thai bird's eye and prik jinda daeng chilies for an authenticaly fiery kaprao. Of course, you can top off your dish with an egg done to your liking.

Silom Soi 20. See full details here.

Krua Banleng

Krua Banleng, the Phaya Thai restaurant belonging to the family of classical music legend Luang Pradit Phairoh, has brought its Thai comfort food to Sathorn. Here, Asdavuth “Aey” Sagarik, Luang's great grandson, gives nods to his family history with traditional Thai musical instruments littered about the cozy two-story house. The recipes make the most of well-sourced ingredients, such as dried chilies from Bang Chang sub-district in Samut Songkram, and house-made curry pastes. Try them in familiar fare like pad Thai goong sod (stir-fried rice noodles with shrimp), gaeng puu sen mee (yellow curry with crab meat) and moo ped sood khun yar (stir-fried pork with turnip pickles and young green peppercorns). 
 
163/2 Sathorn Soi 7. See full details here.
 

One Ounce at Chang Chui

The new One Ounce restaurant is quite possibly the best reason to make the trek out to Thonburi’s Chang Chui art complex. Here, chef Parkorn "Tan" Kosiyabong, who earned his molecular gastronomy chops in the kitchens of Azurmendi in Spain and then Phuket, teams up with chef Lalisara “Oil” Bootwong to serve globe-spanning flavors made from 100-percent local ingredients. Dishes are made to be paired with creative mocktails, like the Dirty Bird, fried deboned chicken with ground peanuts, sweet soy sauce with a pinch of sliced lemon, which is enhanced by the E-sarn Classic, a lime juice-based drink that features Thai spices such as lemongrass. The Chinglish Baby in Seoul City sees hand-rolled gnocchi accompanied by a Sichuan-style Korean gochujung (chili paste), seafood and leek crumbs. Have it with the Lady Yaowarat, a refreshingly sweet mix of pomegranate juice, gold leaf and jujube jelly. 

Chang Chui. See full details here.

Sushi Ichizu

Occupying an imposing Japanese house on Petchaburi Road, Sushi Ichizu highlights fresh produce from Tsukiji Market and the delicate knifework of Toda Riku, former sous chef at Tokyo's one-Michelin-starred Sushi Sugita. Though only 26, the Japan-native already boasts 12 years in the Edo-style sushi game, learning all about salt-and-vinegar curing, searing and smoking, and marinating to draw out the finest flavors of each fish. Here, there are only 16 seats on offer a day and chef Riku's 16-course omakase dinner will set you back B8,000, with highlights including an appetizer of steamed abalone with abalone liver sauce, and perfectly crafted bites featuring four-day marinated kohada (gizzard shad), kombu-cured katsugo (small tai fish) and Higashi Sawa’s seriously in-demand uni from Hokkaido. Reservations are available two months ahead of time.

Sukhumvit Soi 39. See full details here.

Yoong Khao Hom

Koh Samui’s two-decade-old Southern dining institution, Khao Hom, has arrived in Bangkok, promising the same tried and trusted family recipes as well as produce like kapi (shrimp paste) and curry paste flown in straight from the island. Try them in a sharing dish such as the moo pad kapi, stir-fried kurobuta pork with shrimp paste and a heady mix of sliced shallots, lime and bird’s eye chilies. Other standbys like goong pad kapi sataw (stir-fried prawns with bitter bean), khua kling (minced pork fried in spicy paste with turmeric) and nam prik goong sod (chili paste with kapi and fresh assorted vegetables) reveal slightly sweeter tastes than you might expect in Southern Thai food. 
 
I'm Park. See full details here.