For a city whose Thai community numbers less than a thousand, Budapest has a surprisingly good representation of Thai restaurants. Spicy green-papaya salad with sticky rice from the Isan region of northeastern Thailand is just as readily available as stir-fried noodles, coconut curries, over-rice dishes, and the signature Thai dessert, mango sticky rice. Here, the best Thai restaurants in Budapest.
In 2018, three Thai ladies, two of whom had been working in Thai kitchens in Budapest, decided to strike out on their own. Their restaurant, Rim Thanonh, is a pocket-sized space on the edge of the city's party district, near the Grand Boulevard. With a bare-bones, undecorated interior, Rim Thanonh isn’t the type of place where you'd go for birthday celebrations or business dinners, but if tasty and reasonably priced home-style Thai food is what you’re after, I can’t think of a better place in Budapest.
If you like spicy food, order the freshly sliced green-papaya salad (som tam), or the nam tok, grilled pork with mint leaves, roasted rice, and red onions. The pad see ew is the best version I’ve had of these caramelized rice noodles stir fried with an egg and broccoli. There are four types of curries, and several over-rice dishes, of which the pad krapow, with minced pork and a fried egg topping, was wonderful. You can round out your meal with the signature Thai dessert: mango sticky rice.
Do you have a favorite Thai dish you don't see on the menu? Don't hesitate to ask if they'd prepare it for you (ingredients permitting, the likely answer is a "yes"). If it's full here, try their other location, 40 Akácfa utca, just minutes away.