7 Top-Class Thai Restaurants in Newcastle

Chaophraya, Eldon Square

Situated at the top of Eldon Square shopping centre, Chaophraya offers a contemporary take on Thai food and serves it in impressive surroundings - both inside the restaurant and from its terrace which boasts amazing views across the city. They offer a range of menus catering for occasions or dietary preferences (with plenty of vegan, vegetarian and allergen free offerings) and there’s even a bottomless brunch menu available from midday at weekends. Chaophraya doesn’t do things by halves either – they even offer a cookery school (where you can learn to make pad thai, spring rolls and more), and a dine at home option. All this plus some really tasty food.

Bangrak Thai, Side

A more modest but no less tasty affair is Bangrak Thai, which specialises in street food dishes based on those you’d find in the Bangrak area of Bangkok. The menu contains a lot that’s familiar to fans of Thai food – Thai fish cakes, tom yum soups, curries – and lots of more unfamiliar dishes too, from hoy nung mussels to a ped pah khung duck stir fry.

The Siam Zaa, Waterloo Street

Just on the edge of the city, The Siam Zaa has gained a reputation for authentic, tasty Thai food with a very experienced head chef and all-round lovely staff. The menu offers everything you’d expect from a traditional Thai place but also holds some surprises, like deep-fried pig intestines. You can order via Deliveroo too.

Mantra Thai, Forth Banks

With an impressive façade on Forth Banks and a large spacious dining room, Mantra Thai is obviously serious about its food and the menu bears this out. It’s extensive and caters to diners looking for the familiar and tasty – massaman curries, Thai stir fries and the like – and things a little more specialized such as pan-fried sea bass, soft shell crab curry and a host of vegetarian options (the butternut squash and tofu in yellow curry is oh-so tempting!). There are a number of different menus to choose from, and they host regular wine and food tasting events too.

Nadon Thai, Mosley Street

This vibey restaurant at the foot of the Bigg Market is one of three, with branches in Durham and Morpeth, and has become a local favourite since it opened in 2016. The interior is low-key exotic and the menu is really appealing: all the soups, salads, stir fries and curries you’d expect alongside dishes like the mouth-watering tom yum hot pot, honey roast duck and a number of tempting sea bass options.

Thai House Café, Clayton Street

Thai House Café started life in Hexham, where it soon built up a reputation for really authentic, really tasty food. A move into the city inevitably followed and now this Clayton Street café is one of the go-to Thai joints in town. It’s fairly no-frills but that doesn’t matter when the food is delicious, the portions are large and the prices are fair! It also offers one of the biggest and most varied Thai menus around.

Zaap Thai, Newgate Street

Zaap Thai specialises in Thai street food with a bang and the Newcastle branch of the chain has been causing quite a foodie fuss since it opened seven years ago. Situated just on the edge of Chinatown and decorated to be as funky and vibrant as possible, it even offers diners the chance to eat in a tuk tuk!  There’s a host of small and sharing plates and nibbles on the extensive menu. It might not all be authentically Thai (dim sum for example) but Thai food is seen as a melting pot anyway. There’s bao buns, curries, soups and the rest with the option to order in with Deliveroo.

Thai food absolutely deserves to be gaining in popularity the way it has been – it’s interesting, tasty, varied and pretty healthy too – and as you can see, there are plenty of tempting Thai restaurants in Newcastle to try. So go whether you want a funky Bangkok market experience or something a little more refined, head into the city and get your fill.