While other regional Thai cuisines are represented, intensely flavoured Isan dishes from north-eastern Thailand dominate the menu at this cosy eatery in the busy Si Lom neighbourhood.

Somtum Der is one of the cheapest places to eat in Silom, but that doesn’t mean their northeastern Thai favourites won’t leave you wowed. Som tam is the name of the game here – a popular papaya salad bursting full of flavour with an outrageous combination of spice (chilli), sourness (lime juice), sweetness (palm sugar) and a touch of saltiness (fish sauce).

Khon Kaen-native restaurateur Thanaruek Laoraowirodge and chef Kornthanut Thongnum have lit up everywhere from Tokyo to New York with their fiery Isaan flavors, though you’ll find the original blond-wood and bamboo branch of this somtam-focused restaurant on Sala Daeng, where it packs out daily with crowds seeking out their 20 varieties of papaya salad and well-executed laab and tom saep.

We all think we know something about Thai food before we visit Thailand for the first time. Not many cities exist in the modern world lack a favorite hole in the wall Thai kitchen with “the real Thai flavors and taste.” Menus in the West, particularly those in the U.S., read like an all star selection of Thai dishes that you’ll never see Thai people eat. Penang, pad thai, and a poorly executed version of sticky rice lead people’s perceptions of the flavors of Thai cuisine.

最近、タイの雑誌でよく見かけて 気になっていたお店、 SOMTUM DER に早速取材に行ってきましたー！

I love Bangkok. Food, traffic, sex, pollution: this town has it all. All pinks and neons, there is nothing half-baked about Bangkok. And Bangkok is hands down the world's greatest city for street food. What's more, the excellence on the street has urged even greater excellence indoors.