Tho Mai度假村

With a limited menu, the kitchen excels in seafood, Thai food and home-made curries with bold, rich flavours. The crab, shrimp, clams and fish are served ultra-fresh at reasonable prices, with rare catches often appearing on the menu. The restaurant doesn't open if the line-catch on that day is not successful. Booking a week in advance is necessary.

Simplicity and quality go hand in hand at this hidden gem with an intimate atmosphere. Experience food in its most authentic form thanks to skilfully prepared fresh ingredients. The bold yet nuanced stir-fried black squid ink delivers an intense, textured exploration of the sea's flavours.

The owner uses premium beef to prepare the broth and toppings. The clear and amber soup, which is cooked with beef for hours, is their secret sauce. For newcomers, it is highly recommended to start with the mixed beef soup, which comes with a variety of beef toppings, including meatballs, different cuts of beef, and beef organs, allowing diners to enjoy all the textures and flavours of beef.

For over 60 years, this dessert stall has served classic sweetened sticky rice in the traditional way – cooked in bamboo with fresh coconut milk. Choose from original white or aromatic black sticky rice, garnished with taro, black beans, or ginkgo nuts; available in three portion sizes.

Diners come to this simple, rustic place for its range of less common proteins, including venison and wild boar, as well as frog, eel, snakehead fish and fresh blue crab. Ingredients are fresh, and staff are happy to guide you through the daily specials. Flavours land bold and intense, with clear character. Don't miss the garlic-fried frog with fried green pepper and chilli, or the jungle curry with snakehead fish or eel, depending on the day's consignment.

Thanks to direct links with fishers, this local favourite in a small alley uses the day's catch in a changing menu revolving around seafood, with squid, shrimp and whole fish cooked in a straightforward Thai style. The bold, confident seasoning is aimed at local palates, rather than toned down for visitors. Sharp, fragrant and comforting, the sour soup with snakehead fish and bilimbi is not to be missed. Weekends can be busy, so booking ahead makes sense.

The go-to spot in Pattaya for pork offal soup with boiled sweet leaf bush, this eatery draws inspiration from Thai cuisine nationwide to offer a plethora of quick street food dishes. From the many noodle and rice options, the stir-fried glass noodles with seafood stand out.