RFK Cuisine · Seafood · Bangkok
Best Seafood Restaurants in Bangkok 2026
Seafood · Bangkok · 6 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026
After dark on Yaowarat Road, the seafood comes out to the sidewalk: charcoal grills throwing smoke over tanks of crab and foot-long river prawns, plastic stools spilling into the street, the neon of Chinatown overhead. That is one half of seafood in Bangkok — fast, smoky, eaten on the curb — and it sits beside the other, the big air-conditioned institutions where crab arrives buried in yellow curry and you pick your fish live from a market display. Six rooms, ranked from a curry-crab landmark to the Chinatown grills, on the cooking, the room and what the catch actually costs.
1.Somboon Seafood
The birthplace of fried curry crab, a Bangkok institution since 1969; book the Surawong branch for the dish every visitor should eat once.
Somboon Seafood opened near Chulalongkorn University in 1969 and gave Bangkok its most famous seafood dish: poo pad pong curry, whole crab stir-fried in a yellow curry of soft scrambled egg and curry paste, rich and gilded and copied across the city ever since. The Surawong Road branch at 169 is the largest and best of its eight locations, a 200-seat room that runs through steamed sea bass, fried grouper and a deep menu of Thai-Chinese seafood alongside the famous crab. It carries a Michelin Guide listing and the confidence of a place that invented a classic. It is the safe, brilliant introduction to Bangkok seafood — air-conditioned, reliable, and worth the queue. Reserve ahead for a weekend or a group.
Reserve direct or on a booking app; the poo pad pong curry and a steamed sea bass.
2.The Seafood Market and Restaurant
The supermarket-trolley seafood experience since 1978; push a cart through the live display and have your catch cooked any way you like.
The Seafood Market on Sukhumvit Soi 24 has run the same theatrical concept since 1978, summed up by its motto, "If it swims, we have it." You take a shopping trolley through a supermarket-style display of live crab, lobster, prawns, clams and whole fish on ice, pay by weight at a checkout, hand it to the kitchen with your chosen cooking method — grilled, steamed in lime and chilli, fried with garlic — and it comes out to your table. It is more experience than fine dining, priced by what you load into the cart, and it is the most fun a family or a group will have with seafood in the city. A short walk from BTS Phrom Phong; book for a weekend.
Reserve for groups; load the cart with tiger prawns and crab, steamed in lime and chilli.
3.T&K Seafood
The green-aproned Chinatown grill on Soi Texas; pull up a plastic stool after dark for charcoal river prawns and the full Yaowarat scene.
T&K Seafood holds the corner of Soi Phadung Dao — known as Soi Texas — on Yaowarat Road, where every evening it sets out charcoal grills, ice tables and a sprawl of plastic stools across the Chinatown pavement. The green-shirted staff are an institution in themselves; the order is goong pao, giant river prawns split and grilled in the shell until the heads run with roe, plus steamed crab, stir-fried morning glory and a tom yum. It is loud, hot, smoky and cash-driven, and it is one of the essential Bangkok street-dining experiences. Turn up after dark, take whatever stool is free, and watch your dinner cook on the street. No reservations; the queue moves fast.
Walk in after dark, cash; the grilled giant river prawns and a plate of steamed crab.
4.Kuang Seafood
The late-night Ratchada favorite with live tanks and fair prices; go after midnight for grilled river prawns chosen straight from the water.
Kuang Seafood, on Ratchadaphisek Soi 10 in Huai Khwang, is the local choice for live seafood without the tourist markup — a big, busy room with tanks you choose from and a kitchen that grills, steams or stir-fries your pick to order. The barbecued river prawns and the garlic shrimp are the draws, the crab is reliably fresh, and the prices are fair for what you get. It runs late, until around 1 a.m., which makes it the spot for a seafood feast after a night out or for a large Thai family table on a weekend. It is unglamorous and all the better for it. Walk in; bigger groups should arrive early or expect a wait.
Walk in, open late; pick live prawns from the tank and have them charcoal-grilled.
5.Laem Charoen Seafood
The reliable, mall-friendly seafood chain built on one perfect dish; book for the deep-fried sea bass with fish sauce that made its name.
Laem Charoen started in the seaside province of Rayong in 1979 and has grown into more than twenty air-conditioned branches across Bangkok's malls, but it has kept the quality that built the name. The signature is pla krapong thord nam pla — whole sea bass deep-fried until the flesh is fluffy and the skin shatters, then dressed in a sharp, sweet fish-sauce reduction — and it is one of the best single seafood plates in the city. The crab-meat fried rice, the spicy seafood salads and the curries hold up too. It is the dependable, no-surprises option when you want excellent Thai seafood in comfort rather than on a curb. Walk into a mall branch, or book ahead for weekends.
Walk in at a mall branch; the deep-fried sea bass with fish sauce and crab fried rice.
6.Lek & Rut Seafood
The rival grill across the corner from T&K; settle Chinatown's oldest seafood argument yourself over a plate of grilled prawns.
Lek & Rut Seafood — often written R&L — sets up directly across the corner from T&K on Soi Phadung Dao, and the two have run a friendly rivalry for years over which side cooks Yaowarat's best street seafood. The format is identical: charcoal grills on the pavement, ice tables of crab and prawns, plastic stools under the Chinatown neon. The cooking is a touch different night to night, and locals hold strong opinions, which is exactly why you come — order the grilled river prawns and the curry crab at one, then come back and try the other. It is the same essential Chinatown experience as its neighbour, and worth knowing both. Walk in after dark; cash.
Walk in after dark, cash; the charcoal river prawns and a curry crab, then compare with T&K.
How Bangkok eats seafood
Bangkok seafood runs on two registers. The street register lives in Chinatown, on and around Yaowarat Road, where the corner of Soi Phadung Dao turns into an open-air seafood market every night — charcoal grills, live crab, the giant river prawns called goong that are the city's great seafood splurge, sold by weight and split over the coals. The room register is the big institutions: Somboon and its fried curry crab, the trolley theatre of the Seafood Market, the mall reliability of Laem Charoen. Most of it is Thai-Chinese in DNA, built to be shared family-style across a crowded table rather than plated for one.
Practicalities: the street grills are cash, walk-in and busiest from 7 p.m., while the institutions take bookings and cards and are worth reserving for groups. River prawns and crab are sold by weight and are where the bill grows, so confirm the price before you order the big ones. A 10 percent service charge appears at the air-conditioned rooms, not the street stalls. For the wider field, compare the global coast in the best seafood restaurants worldwide guide, read the Hong Kong seafood scene for the other great Asian seafood city, and map the rest of town through the Bangkok dining guide.
Where not to book
Skip these for serious seafood
The tourist-strip seafood buffet on Khao San or Sukhumvit's bar blocks. Iced displays of grey prawns and pre-cooked crab under a buffet sign, sold to passers-by who do not know the difference, are the one seafood trap to avoid. Eat at the Yaowarat grills or Somboon instead, where the catch is fresh and the price is honest.
The Chinatown grills if you want a quiet, reserved, air-conditioned dinner. T&K and Lek & Rut are loud, hot, cash-only and on the street, not a place for a formal night. For comfort and a booking, go to the Seafood Market or Laem Charoen instead.
Frequently asked
What is the best seafood restaurant in Bangkok?
Somboon Seafood is the city's defining seafood institution, open since 1969 and the birthplace of poo pad pong curry — crab fried in a yellow curry of soft egg and curry paste that every Bangkok visitor should eat once. The Surawong branch on Surawong Road is the largest and best. For a hands-on experience, the Seafood Market lets you pick live seafood from a supermarket display and have it cooked; for Chinatown street grilling, T&K on Yaowarat is the move. Somboon is the safe, brilliant answer.
Where do you eat seafood in Bangkok's Chinatown?
Yaowarat Road is the heart of it, and the corner of Soi Phadung Dao — nicknamed Soi Texas — is where two rival sidewalk seafood restaurants, T&K Seafood and Lek & Rut, set up charcoal grills and plastic stools every evening. Both grill foot-long river prawns, steam crab and stir-fry to order on the street as Chinatown's neon glows overhead. Go after dark, pick whichever queue is shorter, and order the grilled river prawns. It is one of Bangkok's great street-dining experiences.
How much does seafood cost in Bangkok?
It depends on what swims to your table. A street-side meal at T&K or Lek & Rut runs 600 to 1,200 baht a head once you order the big river prawns, which are sold by weight and are the priciest item. Somboon and Laem Charoen land around 700 to 1,500 baht with crab and a whole fish. The Seafood Market and Kuang, where you buy live seafood by weight, can run higher depending on appetite. River prawns and crab are the splurge; the fish and stir-fries are cheap.
What seafood dishes should you order in Bangkok?
Start with poo pad pong curry, the fried curry crab Somboon made famous, and goong pao, charcoal-grilled giant river prawns split and seared in the shell — the signature of the Yaowarat grills. Add a whole deep-fried sea bass with fish sauce, the dish Laem Charoen is known for, a plate of steamed crab, and a spicy seafood salad or tom yum goong. Order family-style and share; Bangkok seafood is built for a table, not a plate.
Do you need a reservation for seafood in Bangkok?
Mostly no. The Chinatown street restaurants — T&K and Lek & Rut — are walk-in only, with a wait at peak evening hours, and Kuang and the mall branches of Laem Charoen take walk-ins too. Somboon and the Seafood Market take bookings and are worth reserving for a weekend dinner or a large group. For the Yaowarat grills, just turn up after dark and join the line; the turnover is fast.
More seafood, by city
More from RFK
Browse the full Bangkok dining guide, compare the global field in the best seafood restaurants worldwide, read the Hong Kong seafood guide, plan a Chinatown street feast for solo dining on Yaowarat, or open the full RFK cuisine index.
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