Top 10 Som Tam in Bangkok: Where to Eat the Best Papaya Salad
Ten Bangkok places known for their papaya salad, from fiery Isaan versions with fermented fish to sweeter som tam Thai, with what to order at each.
A great plate of som tam is all about balance. Green papaya is shredded and bruised in a clay mortar with garlic, fresh chillies, lime, fish sauce and palm sugar, and the cook keeps tasting until sour, salty, sweet and hot all pull in the same direction. In Bangkok you will meet two broad families: the sweeter, peanut-studded som tam Thai that most visitors know, and the funkier Isaan versions dressed with pla ra, the fermented fish sauce of the northeast.
This list covers ten places in Bangkok known specifically for their papaya salad, from a lunchtime street operation in Silom to Michelin-recognised Isaan restaurants and a late-night shop off Phetchaburi Road. Most serve the full Isaan spread too, so you can build a proper meal of salad, grilled meat and sticky rice. If you want to make it at home first, our som tam Thai recipe walks you through the pounding.
Three of the ten sit in Silom and Sathorn, within a short walk or ride of each other, so that is the easiest area to plan a som tam lunch around.
What to look for
- Pounded to order. The best shops bruise each plate in a mortar as you order it. Pre-made salad goes soggy fast.
- Crisp papaya. The strands should still crunch, not sit limp in a pool of dressing.
- A choice of styles. A good som tam shop offers at least som tam Thai (with peanuts and dried shrimp) and som tam pla ra or som tam poo pla ra (with fermented fish and salted crab). Many offer a dozen or more.
- Proper partners. Som tam is rarely eaten alone. Look for grilled chicken (gai yang), grilled pork neck, sticky rice and a sour Isaan soup on the same menu.
1. Somtum Der (Sala Daeng)
Somtum Der started on Sala Daeng Road in 2012 and grew into an international papaya salad name, with branches that have reached as far as New York. The Sala Daeng original, renovated in 2022, remains a straightforward Isaan restaurant that keeps its flavours intense rather than toning them down for Bangkok palates. The menu runs to around ten versions of som tam, alongside larb, tom saep soup, Isaan sausages and its fried chicken.
The Khon Kaen-style papaya salad is the one to start with, and there is also a Sakon Nakhon-style som tam sua with kratin beans, a regional version you will not find at every street cart. Be warned that Isaan "medium" is Bangkok "hot", so ask for fewer chillies if you need to. It has appeared in the Michelin Guide.
Where: Sala Daeng Road, Silom, a short walk from MRT Si Lom and BTS Sala Daeng. Order: a Khon Kaen-style som tam, a som tam Thai for contrast, fried chicken and sticky rice.
2. Som Tam Jay So
Som Tam Jay So serves som tam close to how it is eaten in the northeast. It looks more like a garage than a restaurant, with seating spilling onto a patio, the street and a parking area on a quiet soi in the middle of the business district. The salads are Isaan-style: fiery, pungent with pla ra and made without compromise.
The menu is a Thai-language checklist, but staff will help. Look for tam pa, the "jungle" salad with dried red chillies, crab and apple snails, or som tam sua, which has rice noodles pounded straight into the mortar. It is a lunchtime operation that gets packed with office workers on weekdays, so arrive before noon.
Where: Soi Phiphat 2, off Convent Road in Silom, walkable from BTS Sala Daeng or BTS Chong Nonsi. Order: tam pa or som tam sua, grilled chicken wings, beef larb and grilled pork neck.
3. Baan Somtum (Sathorn)
Baan Somtum ("house of som tam") lives up to its name, with a menu of around 30 versions of the salad. It has been awarded a Bib Gourmand in several editions of the Michelin Guide, and its spacious, casual dining room suits big groups.
Look out for tam Luang Prabang, made with thin sheets of papaya and pork crackling, and pair it with grilled chicken and a duck larb. The menu also covers spicy salads and seafood for anyone who wants a break from papaya.
Where: Si Wiang Road, Bang Rak, a short walk from BTS Surasak. Order: tam Luang Prabang, a som tam Thai for contrast, grilled chicken and sticky rice.
4. Somtum Khun Kan
Somtum Khun Kan began as a small shop in Mueang Thong Thani, and its founder made her name by winning a som tam competition. The restaurant now in Bang Chak serves its papaya salads alongside a long list of mostly Isaan dishes, and it has been awarded a Bib Gourmand in past editions of the Michelin Guide.
It is out of the centre, off Sukhumvit 101/1, so it suits those staying on the eastern side of the city. Beyond the salad, the Michelin inspectors have pointed to the grilled pork shoulder with honey and herbs, and to mango sticky rice for dessert.
Where: Soi Wachiratham Sathit 23, off Sukhumvit 101/1, Bang Chak, Phra Khanong. Order: the house som tam, grilled pork shoulder and mango sticky rice.
5. Phed Phed
Phed means spicy, and Phed Phed takes the name seriously: its standard som tam has come with eight chillies, though you can ask for more or fewer. The brand began in Ari with a small cafe-style shop focused almost entirely on papaya salad, with around 20 versions, from Lao-style crab salad to combinations with fruit.
There are now several branches. Phed Phed Bistro at The Circle Ratchapruek holds a Bib Gourmand, with the Michelin Guide calling its som tam and grilled meats boldly seasoned, and Phed Phed Cafe on the fourth floor of Central Ladphrao is handy if you are near Chatuchak. The green bean tam with crispy pork belly is a good choice if you want a break from papaya, and the grilled sticky rice waffle is made for mopping up the dressing.
Where: The Circle Ratchapruek (Taling Chan) or Central Ladphrao, near BTS Ha Yaek Lat Phrao and MRT Phahon Yothin. Order: a crab som tam, the green bean tam with crispy pork, grilled pork neck.
6. Somtam Nua
Somtam Nua started on Siam Square Soi 5 and built its name on queues of students, shoppers and visitors. It leans towards the Bangkok style, with salads a little sweeter and milder than at the Isaan specialists, which makes it a friendly entry point. The tum sading, a sweet variation, is a house favourite, and the fried chicken has a strong following of its own.
There is also a more polished branch at Central Embassy on Phloen Chit. At either, go early or late to avoid the longest waits.
Where: Siam Square Soi 5 (BTS Siam), or Central Embassy (BTS Phloen Chit). Order: tum sading, fried chicken, grilled pork neck and sticky rice.
7. Lay Lao
Lay Lao, on a soi off Phahon Yothin Road in the Ari area, has been serving Thai and Isaan classics for over a decade, and it is listed in the Michelin Guide. Its menu draws on flavours from the Hua Hin area, which shows in a seafood-leaning approach to som tam.
The papaya salad to look for is the version with black crab, dried clam and squid, salty and satisfying, eaten with grilled chicken and sticky rice. Beyond the salads, the Michelin inspectors point to the signature deep-fried pork belly glazed in the house Lay Lao sauce.
Where: Soi Phahon Yothin 7, Phahon Yothin Road, Phaya Thai (Ari). Order: som tam with black crab, dried clam and squid, grilled chicken, sticky rice and the deep-fried pork belly.
8. Polo Fried Chicken (Gai Tod Jay Kee)
Polo Fried Chicken is best known for its whole fried chicken, unbattered and buried under crispy garlic, but the som tam is the other half of the order here, and the Michelin Guide has praised the generous seafood version for its balance of sweet and sour. The family-run shop has been awarded a Bib Gourmand in past editions of the guide.
The classic order for two is half a chicken, one som tam and sticky rice.
Where: Soi Polo (Soi Sanam Khli), off Witthayu Road near Lumphini Park. Order: half a fried chicken, seafood som tam or som tam with salted egg, sticky rice.
9. Zao Ekkamai
Zao is a modern Isaan restaurant on Soi Pridi Banomyong 25 in Watthana, and it takes the rougher, more rustic side of som tam seriously. It suits anyone who already knows the classic salads and wants to try something further from the standard menu.
Order the tam pa, roughly pounded and given extra texture and a pleasant bitterness from ingredients such as hairy eggplant. The restaurant is also known for watermelon dressed with pla ra and ground roasted rice, and for pla som, fermented fish grilled in banana leaf.
Where: Soi Pridi Banomyong 25, Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana. Order: tam pa, the watermelon with pla ra, and pla som.
10. Jae Goy
Most of this list is for lunch, but Jae Goy is for late nights. This busy hole-in-the-wall on Phetchaburi Road is an evening and late-night operation, serving a big menu of Isaan dishes and Thai street food to a crowd that grows as the evening goes on.
The dish to order is som tam sua poo pla ra, a papaya salad with rice noodles, salted crab and a strong hit of fermented fish. Pair it with grilled pork jowl and, if there are a few of you, the Isaan hotpot.
Where: Soi Phetchaburi 7, Ratchathewi. Order: som tam sua poo pla ra, grilled pork jowl, Isaan hotpot.
Tips for eating som tam in Bangkok
- Say how hot you want it. Phet nit noi means a little spicy, and you can ask for a specific number of chillies (prik song met is two chillies).
- If you are unsure about fermented fish, start with som tam Thai, then try a pla ra version once you know the base flavour.
- Order sticky rice and something grilled. The rice tames the heat and soaks up the dressing.
- Go early for lunch at the Silom places. Office workers fill them from around noon on weekdays.
- Want to understand the wider cuisine behind the salad? Our guide to Isaan food covers larb, nam tok and the rest of the northeastern table.
Leonidas Georgiadis
Leonidas Georgiadis is the founder and writer of Aroy Mak Mak. He is from Greece, has been travelling in Thailand for almost twenty years and is married to a Thai wife, so Thai food is everyday family cooking in his home.
