Sukhothai, Singapore

47 Boat Quay
Tel 6538 2422

Yes, Boat Quay if full of tourist traps with dozens of touts trying to make you visit their over-priced and low-quality restaurants. And no, Sukothai is not one of them. Sukothai (“Dawn of happiness”) offers good-quality, reasonably priced thai food, ranging from the traditional cold thai beef salad (caution, very hot!) to a number of red, green and panaeng curries (red curry duck being my personal favourite) as well as a couple of more Chinese dishes. Unfortunately the dessert list is quite unspectacular.

The restaurant has been chosen as one of the best Thai restaurants in Singapore for a couple of years (don’t remember by whom, but it didn’t look like self-promotion), and while I have only visited the outdoor terrace, it also provides indoor tables in two stories. With its terrace situated right at Singapore River, the restaurant offers a great view on Clarke Quay and the boats floating by on the water. Should you decide to get seriously drunk, I’d strongly recommend not choosing a table from the first row, which stands just 30cm from the water.

As a summary, if you don’t mind the touristy surrounding and people stopping by your table once in a while to sell the latest touristy trash of the hour, Sukhothai is an excellent place to enjoy good thai food and an ice-cold tiger beer right next to Singapore river.

Visited: January 2006, November 2006, June 2007