Lay Lao — Restaurant in Phaya Thai Subdistrict

This was one of my best meals during my Bangkok trip. Been on my radar for a while after hearing good things about it and when it secured another Michelin Bib Gourmand nod this year, I knew I had to go try it.

Located in a very chill residential neighbourhood with lots of old traditional shop along Ari Road and modern cafes and restaurants as you move into the side street, this place is always packed during meal times so reservations are advisable.

Arrived at 12pm and the staff took down my name. Waited a couple of minutes and I snagged one of the last tables indoors. There’s a good mix of locals and tourists customers.

Ordered their signature Pomelo Salad with Sun Dried Shrimp and Shrimp paste, Deep Fried Squid with Roe in Lay Lao’s secret sauce and Pad Thai with Crispy Pork Skin. Total damage 742 baht.

The pomelo salad was the best. It was sweet and refreshing from the pomelo, with savoury taste from the dried shrimps, spicy from the chilli, umami from the prawn paste and tanginess from the Thai lime. I simply could not stop from the get go and wolfed it all down. Easily one of the best dishes I have ever tasted. Period. And that’s saying a lot from a guy who does not like to eat fruits.

The fried squid was so so. Maybe because I was still over awed by the pomelo salad. Each squid sported a slightly crispy exterior but all were packed with roe. That’s something that I have only had a few times in my life because we cannot find such squid easily in Singapore. The so called secret sauce was sweet and savoury. Not that fantastic if you ask me. Still I enjoyed the dish.

The Pad Thai was simply fried rice noodles with raw chives and pork lard bits! Okay there was a little wok heat in it but nothing too special cause we get Penang Char Kway Teow in Singapore and Malaysia easily. Amongst the three dishes, I’d say this one was not worth price.

Service was efficient and polite. Lots of smiles everywhere. Food wise, the salad really elevated the entire dining experience. So much so, this place entertained my list of restaurants to revisit every trip to Bangkok. And there aren’t that many on my list for each city.

Well deserved Michelin Bib Gourmand nod. Strongly...

This is a Michelin Thai Restaurant (Year 2023 & 2019) hailed from a tiny province called ‘Hua Hin’ located along a seaside. Which means their best dishes are SEAFOOD. Their cuisine is more of a secret family recipe passed through generations.

Overall the food is truly amazing— if you order the right stuff (why would you ever order pad Thai here 😐). Dish are served course by course which is a standard of any semi fine dinning standards, it ensures food remains hot.

🌿 Roselle Tea Thick and flavourful

🌿 Sweet Corn With Salted Egg Fresh sweet corn with tangy citrus sauce balanced with saltiness from the salted egg which is a must to go with. (I don’t recommend squeezing the lime which will make the dish too sour)

🌿 Deep Fried Squid With Lay Lao secret sauce What an amazing piece of art! If you consider yourself a true Michelin diner, it is a CRIME to dip your first piece of squid into the green Chili sauce.

Instead, you should taste the green chilli sauce (tangy & light spiced) separately from the squid in its original sauce.

Despite its name of being ‘deep fried’, I feel that the squid was nicely grilled and only its head and tentacles were lightly fried or fire torched. The tip and tentacles are so CRISPY that you should eat it straight. The secret sauce is so umami that you don’t need the green chilli at all! It tastes like the secret sauce was a fresh concentration of squid parts marinated for days with tints of teriyaki and soy sauce.

Overall, all my food was immaculate and I haven’t had such great dishes for a long time. Thai folksy music was playing softly in the background. The restaurant spans over 3 indoor floors. Thanks for the...

I was drawn to their food smell without knowing it's actually a Michelin restaurant while exploring Ari. Anw, this is the first time I feel a Michelin restaurant serves food to my liking.

Ordered the prawn stir fried noodles (a.k.a char bee hoon) and I was pleasantly surprised! It's definitely an outta the world 11/10 rating for me. I went back for it the next day and even takeaway one back to Singapore same day.

Would recommend their crab rice with secret sauce (don't confuse it with their crab fried rice) too. It's a rating 10/10 for me. I tasted lime in the rice which is interesting and refreshing. People who dislike sour food/tomyum in general may not appreciate it.

Their creamy omelette and fried pork meat balls are very bad. I tried it so that you don't have to. It seems that their rice/noodles are better than the other dishes. I will still rate the place 5/5. Very impressed with the first 2 dishes.

Update on Mar/Apr 2023

I brought a Thai friend to try their crab rice with special sauce and stir fried noodles. She thinks it's good. So good that upon her first bite I saw that she rolled her eyes lol. I've also takeaway the noodles back to Singapore for my brother to try, he rated it 10/10 too despite the noodles have turned cold. Enough said.

I must also recommend you to eat the crab rice and fried noodles with their Thai seafood green sauce (just ask them for it), if you appreciate food with savory, spicy, sour and...