Given that one of the first things Thais ask each other when they meet up is "Have you eaten yet?" it's clear this is a nation that's extremely passionate about its eats. You want to know how good a Thai restaurant is? Don't look at the menu, the décor or even the prices. Look at the number of people inside. That's your quality indicator.

In celebration of Bangkok's fantastic cuisine and the restaurants that have perfected it, we've rounded up 40 of the Thai dishes we couldn't imagine living without. Some are world famous, others are more obscure, but they're all worth trying, at least once. If you've got your own favorite that we missed, let us know in the comments box below.

1. Tom Yum Gung

This Thai masterpiece soup is teeming with shrimp, mushrooms, tomatoes, lemongrass, galangal and kaffir lime leaves. It can be ordered loaded with coconut milk (tom yum gung nam kohn) and cream or without (tom yum gung nam sai) for a slightly more sour and healthy version. This soup truly unifies a host of favorite Thai tastes: sour, salty, spicy and sweet, all in one bowl. This is an authentic Thai delicacy that many locals are passionate about and has spread around the world.

Banana Leaf Restaurant serves all around delicious food, including great tom yum gung. Silom Complex basement floor, Silom Road, Bangkok. BTS: Saladaen. Open daily from 11am to 9.30 pm. Tel: +66 (0)2 231 3124.

2. Gang Som Pak Ruam

The Thai fusion of sweet, sour and spicy are all combined into another ultra vibrant soup. This soup base can be packed with vegetables like carrots, cabbage and green beans (pak ruam) or it can be served with a deep fried omelet made from eggs and a stringy green vegetable leaf (Thai acacia leaf) called cha om (gang som cha om kai).

Tart and explosive gang som soup is served at Arhan Isan Rod Dej Restaurant, located at 3/5-6 Thanon Rangnam Road, Ratchawithi. Opposite from King Power complex. Open from 11am to 10pm. Tel: +66 (0)2 246 4579

Read more : http://thailandtrave...ve-without.html

I clicked on the link and the first thing I saw without scrolling down was a "HOTEL RESERVATION SERVICE"

and too bad the author did not post the name of all those foods in THAI FONTS, so those not able to read Thai (or at least not fluent such as myself) would find it more easy to spot the particularly dishes on the chalkboard of a local streetside-stall or hawker.....

Some nice dishes there but they are all pretty mainstream - It would nice to see some more obscure (at least outside of Thailand) dishes.

The list made me realise I haven't had Nam Tok Moo fro quite a while - I'll have to see about rectifying that

Yum yum

Not a gaeng som fan, tbh.

Where's the yum khai kem? or the Phat phet moo? tsk tsk