The city of Brighton and the wide-eyed wonder of Thai food feel almost custom made for each other, with both boasting bright, vivacious flavours, the broadest spectrum of influences and inclusivity, and plenty of sass and spice.
No wonder there’s an active Thai community in the city, with an annual ‘Magic Of Thailand’ festival drawing the crowds both Brightonian and Bangkokian, and a dedicated Thai supermarket acting as a defacto community hub and purveyor of all the imported goods you need to make a proper curry paste. Hell, the current Thai king, H.M. King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua, even went to school in East Sussex in his teenage years.
We wouldn’t blame you, then, for assuming that Brighton would be awash with superb Thai restaurants doing robust, regional food from The Kingdom using only the freshest ingredients and not dialling back even a seed on the spice levels. Reader; you’d be wrong.
Though there are certainly a lot of places covering the Thai culinary canon in Brighton, it can be hard to find a truly great Thai meal here. All that said, here we detail our favourites, in this guide on where to eat Thai food in Brighton.
Namo
Bookie Mitchell has been one of Brighton’s most respected Thai chefs for over a decade, and in September 2025 she opened her first standalone restaurant: Namo, on Ship Street in the Lanes. The original Namo Eat at The Eagle Pub continues to serve the modern Thai street food that built her reputation, so you now have two ways to experience her cooking.
The journey began during lockdown, when Mitchell started a delivery service from her home kitchen. That evolved into the hugely successful residency at The Eagle Pub in North Laine, where her cooking earned a spot in Brighton’s top 30 restaurants and a nod from BBC Good Food as one of the city’s best places to eat. Ship Street represents something new: a full-service restaurant where Mitchell can push deeper into the food of her native Northern Thailand, with a more refined setting and an expanded menu.
Born in Lampang, near Chiang Mai, Mitchell learned to cook at her grandmother’s side before moving to the UK in 2003. She made her name in Brighton through Street Thai in the early 2010s, Thai cookery classes and charity fundraisers at Brighton Community Kitchen, and a string of pub residencies at The Hare and Hounds, Sidewinder, and of course The Eagle. Now, with two sites to her name, she’s offering Brighton both the laid-back pub experience and something altogether more ambitious.
At Ship Street, the menu ditches the expected pad Thai and green curry in favour of dishes rooted in Mitchell’s memories and travels. Expect miang bites served on bitter chicory in place of betel leaf, gai golae (southern-style grilled chicken), Mekhong-marinated beef, and vibrant Laotian salads. The cooking is skilled and thoughtful rather than heat-forward, with prices landing around £25-50 per head.
At The Eagle, you’ll find the street food classics done properly: gaeng garee goong (a fragrant, coconut-sweet prawn curry), spicy soft shell crab salad, and the all-conquering pad grapao moo with holy basil and a runny fried egg. Pair it with a pint from the pub’s craft beer selection – the local Hopinator, redolent of pineapple and lime, goes particularly well with the spice.
Reviews from the Good Food Guide have praised the cooking, and early feedback on Ship Street suggests Namo has only raised the bar. For anyone looking beyond the usual Thai crowd-pleasers, these are now Brighton’s most interesting options.
Address: The Eagle Pub, 125 Gloucester Rd, Brighton BN1 4AF, United Kingdom
Address: 24 Ship Street, Brighton BN1 1AD Website:
Website: namoeat.co.uk
UniThai Oriental Market
Sitting on Church Road, where Brighton merges effortlessly into Hove, UniThai Oriental Market is a hidden gem that offers an incredible selection of Thai dishes at unbeatable prices. This small, unassuming grocery store doubles as a casual eatery, serving up delicious home-style cooking in a no-frills setting.
Walk through a narrow pathway that’s lined with the promise of esoteric dried goods and – rejoice – fresh rarities shipped in from the Kingdom every Wednesday. Pause to admire packages of holy basil, fresh grachai and makrut lime leaves. And, as the clatter of woks intensifies, know that you’re in for a bowl that sings with the freshness of those ingredients. If you can snag a table that is; it’s certainly cosy in the back of this supermarket.
Dish out your finest sawadee (ka/krap), and occupy yourself by listening to the soundtrack of kitchen clatter and the roar of the wok burner. Within minutes, you’ll have a freshly prepared plate of Thai deliciousness, cooked with love.
Perhaps it’s that sense of ‘authenticity’, as you luxuriate in the reassuring sound of Thai chatter and the unmistakable pok pok pok of the pestle and mortar. Or, maybe it’s the excellent boat noodle soup (kway teow rua) with bouncy pork balls, freshly made, punchy af pad grapao (a runny egg is mandatory) or fish cakes that boast that all important ‘factory bounce’. Either way, or perhaps because of all those things, we’re definitely sold.
Read: 6 IDEAL places to eat noodles in Brighton
Address: 10 Church Rd, Hove BN3 2FL, United Kingdom
Website: www.facebook.com/pages/Unithai
The Giggling Squid
The Giggling Squid is a popular chain of Thai restaurants known for their stylish interiors, attentive service, and expansive menu of well-cooked Thai dishes.
The restaurant, a UK-based chain, was founded by husband and wife duo Andy and Pranee Laurillard in Brighton in 2002. The unique name has an interesting origin story; the ‘giggling squid’ was originally a nickname given to one of their three children, and how this particular metaphorical baby has grown under the couple’s stewardship, with a whopping 46 locations now in operation across the country.
The Brighton location (there’s a second in Hove, incidentally) is situated in the heart of the Lanes, making it an ideal spot for a leisurely lunch or dinner after exploring the city’s most famous backstreets. With an extensive menu that caters to vegetarians, vegans, and gluten-free diners, there’s something for everyone here.
The restaurant itself is housed in a charming old fisherman’s cottage, with some of the dining happening outfront and alfresco, surrounded by the quirky shops that define this particular corner of Brighton, and just minutes away from the town’s iconic attractions such as the Brighton Palace Pier, the BA Viewing Tower, and the Royal Pavilion.
When the weather is warm, that open-air seating and its prime people-watching vantage point make for a memorable dining experience indeed, even before you tuck into the famous salt and pepper squid, chilli-forward som tam salad, and the signature Giggling Pad Thai. For us, this is food best enjoyed as a few snacks, with an ice cold Singha in the sun. There’s nowhere we’d rather be (except Thailand, of course!).
Website: gigglingsquid.com
Address: 11 Market St, Brighton BN1 1HH, United Kingdom
Kanok Thai
Kanok Thai is a family-run restaurant that prides itself on offering a colourful, convivial atmosphere in keeping with both the Land Of Smiles’ famous welcome and the similarly amiable reputation of the restaurant’s adopted home in Brighton, all exemplified by the statue in the window delivering Thailand’s familiar genial gesture, the wai.
Located on Preston Street, known locally as ‘restaurant street’ for, erm, obvious reasons, it’s a wonderful place to spill in to after a day at the beach, either for a quick snack on the great satay sticks sold here, or for a longer, more leisurely meal – beers, bowls of rice, the works.
It’s also an eminently affordable place to dine, with soups and salads particularly good value, including the restaurant’s decent version of Thailand’s famous tom yum, which clocks in at just £6.95 (for the prawn version). When you’re done slurping, head opposite for a cocktail at Gung Ho, one of the best cocktail bars in Brighton.
Though the street is replete with places to eat, you won’t be able to mistake Kanook Thai for another with its two toned lime green frontage which wouldn’t look out of place on the colourful streets of Phuket Old Town.
Address: 65 Preston St, Brighton BN1 2HE, United Kingdom
Website: kanokthai.co.uk
Siam Siam Thai
Another agreeable place for Thai food in Brighton happens to be on the same road as Kanok, a little further down towards the beach. Siam Siam Thai feels very much suited to a romantic dinner, with its twinkling fairy lights and intimate corners perfect for an undisturbed evening of eating.
A family run affair, the owners and their adult children, who run the floor, hail from Thailand’s north-east, and it’s sensible to go with the food of the country’s Isaan region accordingly which is where the restaurant excels. So, that’s a host of spicy salads – laap, som tam, nam dtok – alongside, of course, a basket of steaming sticky rice.
Should you be keen to branch out and traverse the length and breadth of Thailand, then Siam Siam’s ‘The Travel’ set menu – featuring satay and dumplings from the south, spring rolls from Bangkok’s Chinatown, and jungle curry from Thailand’s north – is a great way to sample the vast array of tastes and textures that define the country’s cuisine. All yours for £55.95 (for two) – doggie bags are actively encouraged!
Address: 74 Preston St, Brighton BN1 2HG, United Kingdom
Website: siamsiambrighton.com
Bangkok Delivery Boy, St. Leonards On Sea
For some properly brilliant Thai food in East Sussex, you might actually have to leave Brighton and head an hour east to St. Leonards On Sea, where the superb Bangkok Delivery Boy often pops up for residencies.
Here, chef Neil Eakapong, who built a sterling reputation for his uncompromising Thai flavours at various private events and supper clubs in London, does all the good things right and faithfully, from hand pounded curry pastes, freshly squeezed coconut cream, and heaps and heaps of flavour. Chef Eakapong does a seriously good, traditional Thai dessert, too. What’s not to love?
Keep an eye on their Instagram for updates on where Bangkok Delivery Boy will be popping up next.
Instagram: @bangkokdeliveryboy
We’ve also heard great things about Red Snapper, a family run joint headed up by chef Panwad Manateepho. We can’t wait to check it out soon.
