From hot and sour southern Thai curries to bone-warming bowls of boat noodle soup, Melbourne’s range of Thai food has flourished in recent years. What you can find across the city now is a far cry from green chicken curry. From this list of old favourites and recent additions (many featured in the current Age Good Food Guide), take your pick of communal feasts of Thai barbecue, speedy venues for solo bowls of noodles, and surprising backstreet finds where drinks and food go hand-in-hand.

Aung Lo

THAI

The menu jumps from edamame to Isan soup to Korean bingsu, but the drawcard here is mookata, a combination of Thai hot pot and barbecue. Each table holds a brass pan, lit by charcoal and outfitted with a domed grill and outer ring. The latter is filled with bubbling chicken broth. A quick sear is all it takes to render richly marbled wagyu cuts buttery, while water spinach and wombok dutifully soak up the salty soup. Eat the meat with garlic rice, or dunk in punchy, tart and spicy sauce: the beauty is there’s no one way to enjoy this DIY dining experience.

Flanigan Lane, Melbourne, instagram.com/aunglo.melbourne

Bar Spontana

NORTHERN THAI

Hidden in a Brunswick backstreet, this warehouse feels like a secret, and a juicy one at that. Skewers of grilled leek come with burnt green chilli, and tender ox tongue with garlic. Fried chicken gets funky sweetness from chilli sauce, while northern-style raw beef is burn-your-face-off spicy. The kitchen will lessen the heat if necessary, but if you’re someone who loves loud flavours, this food will delight you, as will the award-winning drinks list, also loaded with funk and fun.

4 Saxon Street, Brunswick, barspontana.com

2/124 Carlisle Street, St Kilda, charlong.com.au

Eek Charm

TAKEAWAY

This Thai noodle window is wedged between an escape room and a hairdresser in a pedestrian-only laneway. The closet-sized kiosk serves four different styles of noodle in takeaway boxes for less than $12. Select your noodles – either egg, thin rice, or even thinner vermicelli – then choose your flavour: “original soy sauce”, fermented tofu, tom yam or chilli pork. Shredded chicken, chicken meatball, fried wonton and quail egg are included with all. As for the name of this charming hole-in-the-wall? It’s a transliteration of the Thai for “another bowl”.

Kiosk, 306 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, instagram.com/eekcharm

Nana Thai Style Hotpot and BBQ

NORTH-EASTERN THAI

Red plastic stools, hissing grills on bare metal tables, pumping pop music and diners packed in close are essential to the Nana experience. So is an order of moojum (Thai hot pot) or mookata (barbecue and hot pot). Broth tangy with lemongrass and makrut lime soon brims with pork, chicken, calamari and prawns, plus glass noodles, radish and enoki mushrooms. Dip treasure from the pot in raw egg or a punchy nam jim jaew. The snug two-storey spot is unassuming, apart from its long queue. It’s efficient though, with staff taking orders outside and meals arriving promptly.

169 Bourke Street, Melbourne, nanathaistylehotpotandbbq.com

SOUTHERN THAI

At this snug South Yarra spot, a two-person kitchen team delivers joy to 20 diners at a time with every skilful flip of the wok. Many elements are dialled up to extreme, from fudgy glutinous rice cakes with a brittle garlic garnish to pungent sator (stink bean) with jumbo prawns and minced pork. Service can be abrupt but sets a cracking pace, and those wishing to drink anything but Asahi or Singha are welcome to BYO wine. In the Venn diagram of value, comfort and excitement, Nora hits that magical sweet spot.

69 Davis Avenue, South Yarra (also at 111 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne), norathaimelb.com.au

Pa Tong

SOUTHERN THAI

Hanging lanterns, jaunty blue walls and framed photos do part of the job of spiriting diners to Patong, a beach resort in Phuket, but it’s the southern Thai specialities that are truly transporting. Key dishes include grilled chicken thigh bathed in a red curry sauce studded with toasted coriander seeds, mild Hokkien noodles tossed with seafood, and thick yellow curries redolent of turmeric, coconut and fenugreek, swimming with betel leaves and sweet picked crab meat. The busy walk-in restaurant is low-key, but absorbingly delicious.

271 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, instagram.com/patong_melbourne

Ranong Town

THAI

On a quiet suburban street, this unassuming shopfront was a milk bar for 40 years before becoming this modest, canteen-style dining room. Some customers travel hours, and it’s easy to understand why. Pad see ew is dark, saucy and textural; hefty blocks of pork belly get a hint of char; lychee and cherry tomatoes nicely counter fall-apart roast duck leg in red curry. Expect to order by QR code and sit on metal chairs, your meal soundtracked by the thwack of woks.

73 Dorset Road, Ferntree Gully, ranongtown.com.au

Soi 38

THAI

After a decade in a CBD car park, the cult Bangkok street-food favourite has new digs. Thankfully it hasn’t left behind the old magic – or its Thai tuk-tuk. Reached via a laneway and through a hard-to-find door (fittingly, opposite a car park), the new Soi has grey floors and exposed ceilings offset by coloured metal tables and stools, which fans will recognise. Other mementos include the noodle cart from which Soi’s first bowls of steaming boat noodles were served. For now, the team will serve its previous menu (noodles at lunch; larger menu at dinner), but stay tuned for more stir-fried dishes and a liquor licence. And if you want southern Thai, the crew recently opened R.Harn, also in the city.

235 Bourke Street, Melbourne (enter via Royal Lane), soi38.com

Thai Baan

ISAN

A tasty jewel in Melbourne’s Thai-Town crown, this Isan-focused joint serves some of the city’s most popular boat noodles. But that’s not all. Fans of jerky will find the dried beef deep-fried for an XXL crunch. Twice-cooked pork belly gets a sweet and sticky armour in the chilli basil stir-fry (tip: add an impossibly lacy fried egg for maximum decadence). Folding tables and stools line the narrow room, but what Baan lacks in decor it makes up for in speedy service. Lines sometimes get lengthy at weekends, so arrive early.

51 Bourke Street, Melbourne, thaibaanmelbournecbd.com.au