An all-you-can-eat buffet in Bangkok is a smart choice if you’re looking to enjoy a feast on a budget. You can enjoy incredibly good value, indulging for around (or less than) 500 baht! It’s true that many 5-star hotels have very expensive brunches that can really burn a hole in your pocket, but with these top picks, you get tasty food at amazing rates.

On our list, we have wide-ranging hotel spreads, sizzling curries and meaty barbecues, so whatever you fancy you should find something suitable. All of these deals are the regular price and are open 7 nights a week. But at the risk of sounding like your mother, take your time and don’t order too much in one go. Anything you don’t eat usually carries a large ‘fine’ to prevent wastefulness.

  • 1

    Kuroda

    Kuroda
    • Budget
    • Food

    Fans of Japanese food will love Kuroda, a restaurant with a 22-page menu of classic Japanese dishes, all available in unlimited amounts at around the 500-baht mark. The layout is bland and a little like a canteen, but the service is prompt and the plates of salmon and tuna sashimi just keep on coming.

    Other regular highlights include toriyaki chicken sticks, grilled beef, ramen noodles, and shrimp tempura. Kuroda has several branches but the one on Ekkamai (Sukhumvit Soi 63) is the easiest to find. It’s about 200 metres from the junction with Sukhumvit, on the left-hand side of the road.

    Location: 5 Soi Sukhumvit 63, Khlong Tan, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

    Open: Daily from 11.30am to 11pm

    Phone: +66 (0)2 381 2844

    Map
  • 2

    Shabushi by Oishi

    Shabushi by Oishi
    • Budget
    • Food

    Shabushi by Oishi is a shabu-shabu franchise that has a ubiquitous presence in shopping malls across Bangkok, often with lines of people waiting to get inside to feast. Each Shabushi branch is designed in the same way, very much like a sushi train restaurant.

    Stools are lined up along a revolving conveyor belt that delivers the variety of ingredients to your seat, which you then boil in your pot of either spicy tom yum flavour broth or a lighter, salty broth. Ingredients range from fish, clams and shrimp to beef, chicken and all manner of vegetables. Often, there’s also a sushi area, free soft drinks and ice cream.

    Location: MBK, 444 Phayathai Rd, Bangkok, Pathumwan 10330, Thailand

    Open: Daily from 10am to 10pm

    Phone: +66 (0)2 686 3569

    Map
  • 3

    Best Beef

    Best Beef
    • Budget
    • Food

    Best Beef is hugely popular with locals and expats thanks to the huge selection of barbecued meats and vegetables available. This open-air but under-cover restaurant is located in On Nut, east of downtown Bangkok but still close to the BTS.

    It gets hot and you’ll smell like beef for the rest of the evening due to the spit-back from the iron skillet, but if you’re looking for a big, meaty feed just how local Bangkokians do it, Best Beef is highly recommended. The menu (in Thai) has 4 cuts of beef, 3 cuts of pork, as well as offals including liver, tongue and intestines – all available in unlimited amounts which you cook yourself directly at the table. When it comes time to order, just point at the pictures and smile.

    Location: 1490/2 Sukhumvit Road, Phra Khanong, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

    Open: Daily from 4pm to midnight

    Phone: +66 (0)2 742 9416

    Map
  • 4

    Mumbai’s Great Punjab

    Mumbai’s Great Punjab
    • Budget
    • Photo

    Mumbai’s Great Punjab is a great value Indian restaurant, offering 4 different curries, basmati rice, naan bread, poppadums and garnishes, all for the amazing price of around 200 baht. The 4 curries revolve around chicken, dahl (lentil), paneer and vegetables, so there’s really something for everyone, and you can order all you like for 2 hours from noon to midnight.

    Popular with the Indian community in Bangkok, Mumbai’s Great Punjab also has an a la carte menu, but many go for the all-you-can-eat option as it’s such good value. The restaurant is quite easy to find next to Trendy Building on Sukhumvit Soi 13, walking distance from Nana BTS Skytrain Station.

    Location: 5-6 Soi Sukhumvit 22, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110, Thailand

    Open: Daily from midday to 12.30am

    Phone: +66 (0)2 258 4963

    Map
Paul Smith | Compulsive Traveller