Best Thai restaurants in Melbourne – The full list
Melbourne has a strong Thai dining scene, with restaurants ranging from casual CBD lunch spots and traditional curry houses to polished Chapel Street dining rooms and modern Southeast Asian restaurants with Thai influence. Around Little Bourke Street, Flinders Lane, Victoria Street and Chapel Street, you can find Thai food for every kind of occasion: quick noodles, warming curries, after-work dinners, date nights, group meals and more elevated share-style dining.
This guide focuses on five Thai restaurants in Melbourne worth knowing: Number12 Thai Restaurant, Smile Thai Cuisine, Pa Tong Thai, Thai Me Up and Salted Egg. Each one brings something different to the table, from affordable Thai street food and comforting West Melbourne favourites to Southern Thai flavours, contemporary Thai dining and bold modern Southeast Asian dishes.
1. Number12 Thai Restaurant
Number12 Thai Restaurant is one of Melbourne CBD’s most useful Thai restaurants, especially for city workers, students, visitors and anyone looking for a reliable meal around Little Bourke Street. It has the feel of a casual, modern Thai spot: easy to visit, central, affordable and built around the kind of food people want for lunch, dinner or a quick after-work feed.
The menu is built around comforting Thai dishes, including noodles, curries, stir-fries, soups and rice dishes. It is the kind of place where pad Thai, pad see ew, creamy tom yum, red curry and stir-fried dishes make sense as the core order. That makes it especially useful for diners who want familiar Thai flavours without making the meal too complicated.
Number12 works well for quick lunches, casual dinners and low-pressure group meals. The Little Bourke Street location makes it easy to use before drinks, after work, between meetings or while moving through the CBD. It is not trying to be a fine-dining restaurant, and that is part of the appeal. Its strength is everyday Thai food in a very convenient city location.
Number12 Thai Restaurant is best for Thai street food, pad Thai, pad see ew, curries, CBD lunches, casual dinners and anyone looking for a quick Thai restaurant in central Melbourne.
Address: 530 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
Menu: View the Number12 Thai Restaurant menu on Happy Menu
2. Smile Thai Cuisine
Smile Thai Cuisine is a practical West Melbourne favourite for Thai food on Victoria Street. It is the kind of neighbourhood restaurant that works when you want something warm, flavourful and dependable without needing a major booking or a formal dining room.
The menu covers many of the Thai dishes people often crave most: pad Thai, pad see ew, curries, stir-fries, spring rolls, satay, soups and rice dishes. That makes it useful for quick lunches, takeaway dinners, casual meals with friends and weeknight comfort food. Thai food also suits mixed groups because people can choose different spice levels, proteins and styles of dish while still sharing starters and sides.
Smile Thai Cuisine is especially good for diners around West Melbourne, North Melbourne and the Queen Victoria Market side of the city. It is not a destination-style restaurant built around theatrics; it is more about generous portions, familiar flavours and convenience. Sometimes the best Thai restaurant is the one you can rely on when you want a good curry or noodle dish after work.
Smile Thai Cuisine is best for Thai comfort food, takeaway, quick dinners, casual catch-ups, noodle dishes, curries and relaxed meals on Victoria Street.
Address: 357 Victoria Street, West Melbourne
Menu: View the Smile Thai Cuisine menu on Happy Menu
3. Pa Tong Thai
Pa Tong Thai brings a more distinctive Thai dining option to Flinders Lane. Located in the CBD, it is especially appealing for diners who want Southern Thai flavours, bolder spice and a restaurant that feels more specific than a standard all-purpose Thai takeaway.
The appeal of Pa Tong Thai is its focus on depth and heat. Southern Thai food is often known for stronger spice, sharper aromatics, seafood, herbs, curry pastes and dishes that feel more intense than milder Thai favourites. That makes Pa Tong a good choice for diners who already enjoy Thai food and want something with more regional character.
Pa Tong Thai works well for city lunches, after-work dinners, small group meals and casual dates. The Flinders Lane location is central and convenient, but the restaurant still has enough personality to feel like a planned meal rather than just a quick stop. It is a good option when the group wants Thai food but also wants something slightly more adventurous.
Pa Tong Thai is best for Southern Thai food, spicy dishes, CBD dinners, Flinders Lane lunches, seafood-leaning Thai flavours and diners looking for a more regional Thai restaurant in Melbourne.
Address: 271 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Menu: View the Pa Tong Thai menu on Happy Menu
4. Thai Me Up
Thai Me Up is a contemporary Thai restaurant on Chapel Street in Windsor. It is a good pick when you want Thai food with a more polished dining-room feel than a basic takeaway shop, while still keeping the meal relaxed and approachable.
The menu style suits sharing. Thai restaurants often work best when the table orders a mix of curries, noodles, stir-fries, rice dishes, starters and seafood, and Thai Me Up fits that format. It is especially useful for mixed groups because Thai food gives people a wide range of spice levels, proteins and vegetarian-friendly choices.
Thai Me Up sits comfortably between casual and elevated. It is relaxed enough for a weekday dinner, but stylish enough for a date, birthday meal or small group night out. The Chapel Street location also makes it useful before or after drinks in Windsor, Prahran or South Yarra.
Thai Me Up is best for modern Thai food, Chapel Street dinners, date nights, group meals, curries, noodles, stir-fries and anyone looking for Thai food with a bit more style and occasion.
Address: 135 Chapel Street, Windsor
Menu: View the Thai Me Up menu on Happy Menu
5. Salted Egg
Salted Egg is not a traditional Thai-only restaurant, but it belongs in this guide because Thai and broader Southeast Asian flavours sit at the heart of its identity. Located inside Quincy Hotel Melbourne on Flinders Lane, it offers a more polished, hotel-restaurant version of bold Southeast Asian dining.
This is the place to choose when you want Thai-inspired flavours in a more modern setting. The food leans into punchy sauces, aromatics, chilli, herbs, seafood, grilled elements and share-style dishes. It is less about ordering one curry each and more about building a table of bold dishes that work together.
Salted Egg works well for date nights, group dinners, hotel guests, after-work meals, celebrations and diners who want something more elevated than a casual Thai restaurant. The Flinders Lane location also makes it useful before or after city plans, especially around the western end of the CBD.
Salted Egg is best for modern Southeast Asian food, Thai-inspired dishes, date nights, group dinners, cocktails, shared plates and diners who want a more polished CBD restaurant experience.
Address: Level 1, Quincy Hotel Melbourne, 509 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Menu: View the Salted Egg menu on Happy Menu
Final word
The best Thai restaurants in Melbourne cover more than one kind of meal. Number12 Thai Restaurant is the CBD choice for affordable Thai street food and quick city dinners. Smile Thai Cuisine is the West Melbourne favourite for comforting curries, noodles and takeaway. Pa Tong Thai is the Flinders Lane pick for Southern Thai flavour and bolder spice. Thai Me Up is the Chapel Street restaurant for contemporary Thai dining in a polished setting. Salted Egg is the modern Southeast Asian option for Thai-inspired dishes, cocktails and shared meals.
Together, they show why Melbourne’s Thai dining scene is so useful: casual when you need it, bold when you want spice, polished when the occasion calls for it, and varied enough to suit everything from quick lunches to proper nights out.