Xen Hotel Nakhon Pathom - SHA PLUS

A passion for wild ingredients like wild boar, frogs, seafood, and even greens, along with a zeal for local flavours—intense, tangy, and spicy—shapes everything on the menu here. The stir-fried wild boar with chilies and the tom yam soup with snakehead fish are both recommended, as is the seafood cooked according to local recipes. The atmosphere is relaxed and homely, with air-conditioned dining rooms and outdoor seating available.

Serving family-style Thai cuisine on a large pond in Nakhon Pathom since 2001, the spacious restaurant offers waterside seating in five distinct seating areas with live music during dinner. Everything on the menu is fresh, with the fish and seafood kept alive until cooked. Two highlights are stir-fried prawns with shrimp oil and fried seabass with fish sauce and spicy green mango salad. The restaurant is family-friendly, with a kids’ zone in the garden for young diners to enjoy.

Four times in a decade, this Thai restaurant changed locations before finally opening on the chef-owner’s land in Nakhon Pathom. Each time, regulars followed along for its flavoursome local dishes, including some, like stir-fried sesbania with shrimp paste, that cannot be found elsewhere. The current digs are in an open-air pavilion on a country lane with tranquil lotus pond views. Try the stir-fried pork loin with jaew sauce and the spicy mackerel soup with madan fruit.

Nai Ho serves just one item: chicken rice with clear soup and a punchy dipping sauce. The fermented soy has been fine-tuned for extra depth, lifting the simple dish with bold flavour. Arrive early as they tend to sell out; the chicken liver, a prized extra, disappears even faster.