What is it?: A long-running Southern restaurant with five locations in unexpected spots – Central Westgate, Fortune Town, Paradise Park, The Nine, and a stand-alone venue out in remote Phuttamonthon.
Why we love it: Discovering Mae Lui was one of those great happy accidents – we were doing our electronics shopping at Fortune Town, and in the ill-lit basement, we struck gold. Is this one for the spice-heads? No, not really, but flavours remain authentic nonetheless. Gaeng pu bai chaphlu is a Southern classic served with khanom jeen and all the accoutrements, the phat sator has just the right amount of stank, and please, please order one of the dishes with phak koot (fiddlehead ferns), quite possibly the world’s most underrated vegetable.
Time Out tip: Vegetarian-friendly food can be tough at mid-range Thai restaurants in general, where a heavy dose of fish sauce is the order of the day, but Reuan Mae Lui has an impressively large selection of veggie-friendly dishes. A number of chili pastes are made without the usual seafood bases, and the variety and selection of fresh vegetable and mushroom dishes is impressively large (hint hint about the yummy ferns, again).