Az Cok Thai / Thai Street Food — Restaurant in Beyoğlu

Now there are two bijou Thai restaurants in Cihangir thought I would offer up my comparison based on recently dining at both ordering similar dishes.

Az Çok Thai is the original in the trendy Çukurcuma neighbourhood and sister to Çok Çok Thai in Pera. As the name implies it is very Az (little) with around 6 tables downstairs (2x2 outside) and a couple upstairs which was closed the night I visited. Decor is a tasteful mix of exposed brickwork and natural wood and materials. It gets busy too in the evening so worth booking or arriving early. It's located on a busy, narrow one way cut thru from Cihangir to Tophane and right opposite a mosque so during rush hour I'd probably choose to sit inside!

Prices are dearer than Pad Thai but you're paying for a more formal experience and they also serve wine and alcohol with a limited drinks menu and more informed service. Plus they add 10% service charge which is becoming more and more common in the more high end restaurants popular with visitors.

So most importantly to the food which is where Az Çok Thai stands out. Having been to Thailand many times and regularly eating and cooking Thai food in the UK, everything I tried had authentic Thai flavours and was really enjoyable. They tone down the heat a little to local tastes but you can request it spicier if you like it hot. Everything I tried was of a high standard and service was really friendly and welcoming.

So if you are aiming for more of an occasion or know your Thai food I would choose...

Had thai food from ( Thailand/Malaysia/Sri lanka) , I took my wife to share with her the Thai food experience The place is nice , food was so good ( specially we are in Istanbul ) not in south asian country But I saw that this place depend on The chef ( Thai gentleman ) The atmosphere ( cozy ) The type of service was not bad but the waiter was feeling herself like ( Jeff bezos 😁) She can’t explain what the the dish ingredients ( while if you are in South Asia you can ask any poor restaurant worker he can provide a brief description) Their menu without pics ... I know what to order , but since it’s first time to my wife so she’s asked the waiter ( women ) about dishes so we end up with ( google pics 😄 ) while its not bad way But we don’t like her way of explanation like ( what is this dish ? Her answer was - this is ( chor muang ) -like we are eating this daily in our house 😄 - One guy came with his family He asked her ( the waiter ) : what my daughter can have here ? Waiter answer was ( names of dishes 😄) Istanbul has 3 Thai restaurants only Ppl not get used of this kind And still she ( waiter ) treating customers like she’s selling gold ( all ppl know gold ) Last thing I want to say I hope they will mention there is an -optional- 10 % of service charge in clear BOLD way , but I know there is no benefit cuz if they not care of their menu why they will care of that note ? This place is hard to reach ... and the waiter will make it impossible...

5 year edit: Now that I’ve been to Thailand I can say this is great thai food outside thailand. The papaya salad is one of the spiciest things I’ve had.

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The restaurant was cute and cosy, we went on a thursday night and had a reservation but there were plenty of people coming without so i guess it wasn’t really necessary. Good for small groups (4 people max i’d say) and interestingly almost all customers were foreigners.

The staff was really warm and helpful. They were really nice and offered us hoy jasmine tea on a rainy day.

The food was PACKED with flavour. I haven’t been to Thailand but have been to quite a few thai restaurants and this was one the better ones for sure. The only downside to this whole experience i would say is that the portions were too small. Honestly, wasn’t expecting heaps of food but still it was quite small, so as a group of 3 people who love eating we ordered 4-5 main dishes (pad thai, egg noodles, fried rice and two types of beef curry) and a starter. Do the math.

It was also refreshing that it wasn’t too crowded. I’ve been meaning to try it out for some time now and only got around to doing it tonight and i regret not having gone sooner and will definitely go back.

P.s. Also make sure you try the thai iced tea they have, I forget what it’s called but it was divine....