50 Best Restaurants in The Gulf Coast Beaches, Thailand

It's not all about the atmosphere at this lively venue: the kitchen is no slouch in the creativity department. Simplicity is key to your enjoyment, with choice cuts of meat and prime local produce getting top billing. Highlights include rotisserie chicken and wood-fired pizza. The nightly live music and array of beers on tap also help to provide uplift.

For a different side of Pattaya, head north of the city to this beautiful, romantic seafood restaurant that sits right on the waterfront. The almost exclusively Thai clientele enjoys hand-picked lobster, tiger prawns, crab, oysters, and fish amid shimmering pools, palm trees, and sweeping bay views.

The alluring scent of fresh baked goods immediately delights all who enter this funky place. The owner, who picked up his baking skills while living and working in Germany, opened Nira's in the mid-1980s, before the island even had electricity.

This restaurant's unapologetically Western menu attracts Americans and Europeans. Soft-shell crab on arugula and white snapper baked in a banana leaf provide a refreshing change of pace from Thai-centric fare.

The chefs at this Thai-French restaurant acknowledge its Asian influences while relying mainly on French technique. Prawns might come, for instance, Thai-style in a curry with fresh coriander in coconut milk or with echoes of France in a vermouth sauce.

Stick to the fun and interesting cocktails at the Library's popular restaurant—it claims to make 101 different kinds—and after a few sips you'll feel as hip as the surroundings. The menu is mostly Thai, featuring contemporary takes on traditional favorites like prawns with garlic and pepper, and sea bass with chili and basil.

Note and El, a Thai couple, run this lovely breakfast spot on the way from Thong Sala to Srithanu. The two of them specialize in home-made dim sum and Chinese herbs soup, but also serve steamed dumplings or rice soups with egg, fish, or pork. The teak interior of this open-sided Thai restaurant creates a homey atmosphere that locals appreciate, and traditional Thai coffee and tea invite you to linger. Prices are very reasonable, and the owners are always happy to chat. 

The steady stream of locals is one clue that the seafood here ranks among the town's best. Try the charcoal-grilled whole fish, large prawns, crab, and squid—all fresh and accompanied by a delicious chili sauce.

Lovers of Italian food are particularly well-served on the island, with several stellar options. One of the most memorable is where chef-proprietor Alessandro Paterno presides (usually with cigarette fixed to mouth) over a daily-changing selection of fish and seafood creations.

Sati Pot lays a strong claim to be Thailand’s finest Persian restaurant. The food justifies the hype: Lamb shank is slow-cooked in saffron and yogurt sauce and served with aromatic rice mixed with crushed pistachio and almonds, caramelized onion, paprika, and raisins. Another highlight is bandari shrimp, a dish with origins in the coastal regions of southern Iran. Plump crustaceans are sauteed with ginger and garlic and nudged towards the stratosphere by a tangy green herb sauce.

The Hua Hin area, including Takiab, is famed for its fresh seafood, and there are literally dozens of great places to sample its marine bounty cooked Thai-style in an array of stir-fries, soups, and spicy salads. Among these venues, Sopa gets consistently good reviews, and the very reasonable prices add to its cache among the discerning local audience.

The homemade chocolate rolls and croissants at this bakery are fresh and tasty, and the decor featuring vintage Kellogg's boxes, toy soldier figurines, and cherry-red Sugar Bloom lettering evoke a quirky sense of Americana. The coffee, made with local, medium dark-roast beans, are great as well.

On the northern side of the Khao Takiab headland, this restaurant has outdoor seating with views of the nearby standing Buddha. Entrées are mainly seafood, such as prawn soup with a deep-fried green omelet, although other Thai dishes and vegetarian options are also available.

The view is definitely what you come here for—high up on a mountain, the restaurant juts out above the beach and the turquoise ocean—but the food is also memorable. Check the seafood tank as you walk in; you might spy something you can't resist.

Organic vegetables take center stage at this teak and art-dominated place led by an acclaimed chef from Berlin. Begin your day with a freshly packed jar of chia pudding, a superfood bowl, or a chili-spiked Thai Greens smoothie, and come back later for an encyclopedic array of clean eats.

Top-notch Thai cuisine and a relaxing tropical setting await guests at this beachfront restaurant, which offers laid-back charm, superlative service, and high-quality cooking.

Perched on the water, this family-owned joint is filled with locals who come for the seafood. Finding the place is half the fun; the sign out front has no writing in English, so if you're coming by cab, ask someone at your hotel to write out the name in Thai.

This place doesn't look like much—it's little more than a shack with plastic chairs and simple wooden tables—but many locals say this the best place for seafood on the island. Lek Noi is a little more than a kilometer (½ mile) out of town on the way to Chudhadhuj Palace.

The owners are a Thai-American couple, so it's not surprising that their eatery serves a mix of their native dishes. The best ones, among them spaghetti with a spicy seafood sauce, inventively combine the two influences. Ocean breezes cool the open-air dining area.