How to eat like a Thai in Shanghai

It wasn’t long ago that only a couple of restaurants in Shanghai offered decent pad Thai or tom yung goong, but in recent years tasty Thai options have expanded rapidly. At present, Shanghai has around 60 Thai restaurants sprinkled throughout the downtown areas including multiple-outlet brands like Simply Thai with four branches and Banana Leaf Curry House with nine. 

The Thai government must be pleased. They see Thai cuisine as an important export that could help boost “confidence in Thailand as the world’s kitchen,” an important goal of their World Expo participation. 

So just how easy is it to find decent Thai food here and where is the best on offer? 

Shanghai Thai: Eating out

Wirat “Lucky” Phakhot, 32, from Udontani Isaan Province in the northeast of Thailand, is the head chef at award-winning Thai restaurant Naam Thai. He came to Shanghai in 2007, because he saw the Chinese economy growing, “and therefore lots of new opportunities for Thai food.” But along with opportunity, comes competition. With so many new Thai restaurants in town, Phakhot says the kitchen is heating up. “In Shanghai we have very strong competition now so we don’t stop developing new ideas and styles.” 

Phakhot says the Thai community in Shanghai is also growing, with an active population including students studying Chinese. So, with all these Thai appetites to appease, is Thai food here just like home? “It’s close, but still not quite authentic,” says Phakhot. “Most other Thai restaurants don't use real Thai ingredients and they adjust tastes to fit locals. The biggest challenge is to find the different ingredients.”

Thai in your kitchen

Chef Phakhot advises aspiring cooks of Thai dishes to try City Shop for basic Thai ingredients. “Sometimes customers come to our restaurant to buy some imported items,” he says. And attempting Thai cuisine in the home kitchen is not overly challenging, he says. “Many Thai dishes are really healthy, delicious and not hard to cook.”

Walter Zahner, founder of Naam Thai and general manager at Xintiandi’s celebrated T8, says he opened Naam Thai because, after living in Thailand for nine years, “I missed really good Thai food in Shanghai. I got tired of eating the spice-toned-down Chinese-adapted Thai fare.”

Zahner cooks some Thai cuisine at home himself, “I make soups like tom yam goong and tom kha gai. I like them hot and little sour,” he says. Zahner lists his own recipe for tom yam goong soup off the top of his head: lemongrass, small bird chilies, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, coriander roots and leaves, lime juice, fish sauce, mid-size Thai noodles, fresh blue mussels, squid, salmon pieces, and fresh shrimp. Garnish with chili oil and coriander leaves.

This same ubiquitous soup, chef Phakhot points out, is a good indicator of the quality of food in a Thai restaurant. “Also, just the fish sauce they serve with the food,” is a telltale sign of quality when eating out, says Phakhot. 

getting there

Naam Thai
Shop 1107-1108, Highstreet Loft, 508 Jiashan Lu, near Zhaojiabang Lu
嘉善路508号尚街1107-1108商铺, 近肇嘉浜路
tel +86 21 5465 6005