The Best Thai Restaurants in Fort Lauderdale and Broward

A full page of papaya salads is a promising sign. So is a noodle menu that takes you through several regions of Thailand before you reach the pad Thai. Broward has restaurants where you can spend an evening following those possibilities: herbs and lime, coconut curry, fermented fish sauce and roasted rice, pulling dinner in delightfully different directions.

Thailand's food is regional in a way many Thai menus flatten. The northeast, known as Isan, is built on fermented flavors, grilled meat and fiery salads. The north is home to coconut-enriched curry noodles like khao soi. Bangkok's noodle stalls brought the whole country's flavors together. The restaurants below give you a way into each of those kitchens without a plane ticket. They start in Isan, move through the noodles and street food, and finish with one Thai-American brunch.

Hollywood, Oakland Park and Plantation are named as such, so you can pick a meal without misjudging the drive.

Larb Thai-Isan · Fort Lauderdale

Larb calls its cooking "north-eastern style Thai food," and the menu is built around that identity. The kitchen is led by a traditionally trained chef, and the restaurant describes its recipes as long inherited family cooking. The room is narrow and colorful, and much of it looks straight into the kitchen, so you can watch the cooks at work while you wait.

Start with larb, a minced chicken or pork salad seasoned with herbs, lime and toasted rice powder. It's the dish that defines Isan: sharp, herbal and nutty at the same time. The crispy rice salad, yum naem khao tod, pairs crunchy rice with fermented pork sausage and peanuts, so each bite has a different texture. A coconut khao soi from the northern menu makes a rich counterpoint to the sharper dishes. The som tum selection includes salted-crab and fermented-fish-sauce versions, which taste very different from the peanut-and-dried-shrimp papaya salad most people know. Share everything so the table gets the full range.

Larb doesn't take reservations, and The Infatuation reports dinner lines. A weekday lunch is the easier way in. Tuesday is the closed day.

Where: 6234 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308 · Cost: Larb $12; crispy rice salad $16; khao soi $17. · When: Daily 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., except Tue.

Nour Thai Kitchen & Bar · Oakland Park

Nour is the most atmospheric room on this list. Under a canopy of wisteria, with a gold mural and dragon sconces, the dining room puts a little ceremony around dinner. The restaurant describes its space as built for intimate dinners, first dates and family celebrations, and that's the right tone: this is a place to sit, linger and order a second round of something.

Its story starts in Isan. The family's roots are in Yasothon, a northeastern province whose old town, according to Nour's own account, takes its name from a legend about a lion that emerged from the forest when the first Lao settlers chose the site. The kitchen says it makes its curry pastes and bases by hand, and it draws on Isan flavors that are bold, herbaceous and fermented, with farm-fresh ingredients on top.

The dish to order is chor muang, purple dumplings folded into flower shapes around a filling of shrimp, pork, peanut and palm sugar. They're delicate and a little sweet, which makes them a good opener before the bolder plates. The Infatuation recommends them. Ask about the fried spicy laab and the duck noodle soup, since menus change. Nour takes reservations through OpenTable, and booking is worth doing on weekends.

Where: 3554 NE 12th Ave., Oakland Park, FL 33334 · Cost: Check the current menu; prices not confirmed. · When: Mon-Thu 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-10 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Bok Bok Baby Buriram · Hollywood

The tum section is the reason to slow down at Bok Bok Baby. Tum is the Isan name for pounded papaya-style salads, and this Hollywood restaurant treats them as a category rather than a single dish. You can order sweet corn with salted egg, papaya with salted crab and fermented fish sauce, or cucumber seasoned the same assertive way. Each one is a different meal in a bowl, and they're best ordered in a group so you can compare.

The room has the energy to match. Neon, cooking videos on the TVs and a communal table make it feel like a night out with friends rather than a quiet dinner, and it suits a table ordering several dishes at once. Add Isan sausage or crispy pork larb to balance the salads. Be straightforward about heat: the menu says dishes cannot be returned for being too spicy, so talk to your server before you choose "medium." Heat is part of the Isan point, and the kitchen expects you to know what you're ordering.

Where: 2051A Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, FL 33020 · Cost: Tum sweet corn $16; crispy pork larb $16; Isan sausage $12. · When: Mon-Tue and Thu 5-11 p.m.; Fri-Sun noon-11 p.m.; closed Wed.

SOOODS Thai Noodles · Fort Lauderdale

SOOODS is built around the idea that Thai noodles are one of the country's great culinary treasures. Its own story page frames the menu as a trip through Thailand's noodle map, starting in Bangkok, where beef noodles, tom yum noodles and yen ta fo with its signature pink broth became city staples. The regional thread continues through the menu, with Ayutthaya boat noodles, Sukhothai noodles, yen ta fo with seafood and Chiang Mai khao soi.

Order by region if you want to learn something. Boat noodles are a dark, rich pork or beef bowl in the Ayutthaya style. Yen ta fo offers a fermented bean curd broth with fish balls and mixed seafood, and its pink color is part of the point. The dry khao soi is the second visit waiting to happen: it takes the northern dish out of the soup format, which makes for a different, more concentrated take on it. The name refers to slurping, so don't worry too much about graceful noodle manners.

Reservations are on the website. Weekend service starts at 2 p.m., later than on weekdays.

Where: 3026 E. Commercial Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308 · Cost: Bangkok beef noodles $20; other prices on the linked menu. · When: Mon and Wed-Thu 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Fri 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sat-Sun 2-10 p.m.; closed Tue.

Kan's Thai Kitchen · Fort Lauderdale

Woven lamps hang over Kan's dining room, with baskets on the walls and greenery between the tables. It's an inviting setting, and the menu rewards a closer look: the street-food section is where the kitchen gets most playful.

Moo ping is the classic starter, grilled pork skewers with a tamarind-chili sauce that is sweet, sour and hot at once. Nam tok, which means "waterfall," comes as sliced pork or beef tossed with herbs, lime and toasted rice powder. Pair either one with a papaya salad. You can choose the peanut-topped Thai style, or versions with salted crab or fermented fish sauce, which are more funky and more memorable. Ask about those differences before you order.

Weekday lunch combinations are the easy route, served Tuesday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The longer dinner menu is the better reason to come with time and a few willing sharers.

Where: 4838 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308 · Cost: Moo ping $11.95; pork nam tok $16.95; weekday lunch combinations from $13.95. · When: Tue-Fri 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sat-Sun noon-10 p.m.; closed Mon.

Gai Chicken N Rice · Fort Lauderdale

Chicken, seasoned rice and a separate bowl of broth explain Gai's appeal. Khao mun gai is a classic Thai everyday meal: chicken, poached or fried, over rice cooked in its stock, served with a clear broth and a dipping sauce. Gai's version turns a quick lunch into something more interesting than "chicken and rice" suggests.

If lunch is turning into dinner, add the pork-and-shrimp wontons with a dark chili sauce. The menu also reaches into northern Thai cooking with khanom jeen nam ngeaw, rice vermicelli in a spicy curry sauce with ground pork, braised ribs, cherry tomatoes and dried red cotton flowers. It's a bowl with real depth and sourness, and it's the reason to look past the name on a return visit. Gai works well for a focused meal or takeout rather than an elaborate occasion.

Where: 4391 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308 · Cost: Chicken and rice $16; steamed wontons $9.90; khanom jeen nam ngeaw $22. · When: Mon-Tue and Thu 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Wed 10:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.; Fri-Sat 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.

Anna's Café · Plantation · Thai-American brunch

Thai-American brunch is its own tradition, and Anna's leans into it. Beef panang curry inside an omelette is the signature move: the curry, with lime leaves and peppers, folds into the eggs. The tom yum burrito is a different kind of fusion, wrapping chicken, vegetables and egg fried rice with a house sauce that gives it the sour-spicy lift of tom yum.

Anna's belongs on this list for those dishes, not as a stand-in for a traditional Thai breakfast. Bring someone who wants a Benedict or a sweet croffle, and you can explore the Thai side without turning brunch into a debate. Keep it a daytime plan and confirm the closing time.

Where: 522 N. Pine Island Rd., Plantation, FL 33324 · Cost: Panang omelette $19; tom yum burrito $18; Dungeness crab Benedict $22. · When: Daytime breakfast and brunch; confirm the day's closing time.

Broward Thai Restaurants at a Glance

Before You Go

Isan refers to northeastern Thailand, and the larb, fermented sausages and pounded salads above are good ways into its cooking. Not every dish is chili-heavy, and spice levels vary by kitchen. Ask what suits your tolerance and any dietary needs, since a salad that looks vegetarian may contain fish sauce or dried shrimp.

Hours change, and several of these restaurants close one weekday, so check before you set out. Prices are the operators' posted figures and may not include taxes, tips or delivery fees.

The next time someone asks where to eat, you might have a better answer than the place you always order from. Try a different dish on the return visit, and take a friend who appreciates a good recommendation.