Is Samrub Samrub Thai in Bangkok the world’s best Thai restaurant?

Dinner service just started at  Samrub Samrub Thai, but already things were getting loose.

As master of ceremonies and restaurant co-owner Mint Jarukittikun introduced the intimate dining space, a conversion of her shophouse childhood home in Bangkok's Silom district, she recalled years of sharing a bed with her sister.

“Was it uncomfortable?” one diner asked.

“There’s more space for us these days put it that way," piped up her husband, Prin Polsuk, the creative half of the spousal dream team and a chef regarded by peers as a living legend of Thai cuisine.

Shortly afterwards, an appetiser of fried banana sticks and a roughly hewn hunk of bee larvae was presented to diners along with a suggested aperitif of Thai rice liquor. Later we’ll tuck into Prin’s spin on drinking dishes such as sour pork and Vietnamese-style sausages with tamarind chilli sauce and drunken stir-fried frog legs with holy basil. It was Michelin-starred dining, but not as we commonly know it.

When Prin and Mint started the venture, they ran it as an after-hours social club where friends from the restaurant industry could let their hair down over drinks and Prin’s no-compromise interpretations of heirloom Thai recipes. Three years on, and two venue changes later, their drinking club is hailed by many as the best Thai restaurant in Bangkok — making it arguably the finest on the planet. Exalted accolades indeed, but watching Prin clown around with his wife, a miraculously refilling glass of wine affixed to his hand, you can tell he still favours ribald to refined.

With his long grey locks and straggly beard, Prin Polsuk looks more like a mischievous Zen master than a manicured kitchen professional. His hard-to-decipher, haiku-like pronouncements on successive courses are as random as the punchy spicing is direct.

Certainly, he is an atypical presence. Sitting at the counter to chat the day after my dining experience, he outlined some passions that shaped his journey, ranging from alternative rock titans like Nirvana to the satirical writings of Rong Wongsawan, a pivotal and prolific writer whose works challenged repressive morality and exposed hypocrisy in Thai society. Prin takes pride in being an outlier in a culture that values conformity.

“I was not a good student in university,” he recalled of his formative years. “I preferred reading in the library and drinking at night to the classroom.”

Yet this unpolished insurgent is revered by Asia's top chefs and food critics.

“Prin is the bomb to all the real chefs,” noted Mason Florence, former academy chair for World’s and Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. “He’s the quiet genius of Thai cuisine. Self-effacing to the point of reclusiveness, he lets his original yet deeply grounded cooking do the talking.”

Dylan Eitharong, chef at Hawwm, one of Bangkok's hottest tables, echoed this sentiment: “There is no better Thai restaurant in the world right now, or maybe ever. Prin and Mint have crafted the perfect place to get schooled in what Thai food is supposed to be.”

Prin’s culinary journey began almost accidentally. Initially studying engineering, he soon realised his passion lay elsewhere. Inspired by Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential, he took a short course at Mandarin Oriental, landing a position in their famed Thai kitchen. Under legendary chef Vichit Mukura, Prin learned fundamental skills, later refined at Nahm in London (and later back in Bangkok) as trusted chief lieutenant to David Thompson. There, he gained international exposure and culinary discipline.

Prin’s tight relationship with Thompson (they remain close) gave him considerable freedom, eventually leading to  Samrub Samrub Thai, which was originally conceived as a side project. It has gone from strength to strength while sticking true to its joint purpose as both a thrilling culinary experience and an educational platform.

“We share the food, the method, the knowledge, with friends, customers, and our beloved staff,” said Prin. “It’s like a family experience. Everyone comes to my kitchen. It’s transparent and sincere this way.”

Rather than highlighting singular dishes, Prin emphasises harmony: “We change the whole menu every month. It's our culture. It's not a single dish that's good, but a combination that defines ‘samrub’ — a variety of flavours to balance with rice.”

The restaurant’s move to Saladaeng coincided with the venue earning a Michelin star. “A huge honour,” echoed the pair. . “The recognition wasn’t really a goal. But it is fabulous to have that level of acknowledgment of what are we and the way we work.”

Prin, Mint, and their close-knit team regularly journey across Thailand, researching regional culinary traditions and obscure ingredients. During my sitting, I reaped the rewards of a recent field trip to Ubon Ratchatani, a rural province of rice paddies and small villages bordering Laos and Cambodia in Thailand’s far northeast.

Menu highlights on this occasion included a duck curry with braised lotus shoots in yanang leaf and vegetables and fried shrimp served alongside a unique nam phrik (Thai dip) made with fermented pineapple fish sauce and coconut cream relish.

Despite acclaim, the restaurant remains deliberately cosy and unpretentious. Mint and other servers introduce the dishes and explain some of the more unusual ingredients. The kitchen team busies themselves in full view of diners, grilling, stir-frying, steaming, and seasoning. Prin, meanwhile is the mildly sozzled PT Barnum of this intimate circus, toasting diners, and pouring shots from a giant vat of Thai liquor infused with cannabis leaves.

It feels more like an uproarious dinner party than a studied chef’s table. And that’s exactly the intention. “We started small, like a startup. We didn’t invest much. We grow slowly and simply, and that suits our personalities,” Prin said.

Although a naturally reserved and bookish personality, Prin has grown into his role as host. Yet, it is getting creative in the kitchen and charting the twisting capillaries of regional Thai culinary traditions that most stir his soul. He cooks every day for Mint and his young son. Regular odysseys into the provinces, meanwhile, uncover inspiring flavour combinations, rare recipes, and all manner of household tricks and tips that can be thrown into Samrub Samrub Thai's mixing bowl. Indeed, in exploring the arcane corners of the Kingdom’s food culture, he’s looking to the past to forge a way forward.

“Thai food is innovative by its nature,” he said. “We cook to reflect our personality as Thais. It’s a melting pot of cultures. Thai food is a linkage of many things for me. It’s philosophy, sociology, politics, capitalism, and everything in between."

As such, Prin’s exalted status in Bangkok’s dining scene is not merely as one of the city’s hottest chefs; he’s also recognised as one of Thailand’s most valued culinary heritage guardians, preserving and passing on knowledge of regional and sub-district cuisine. “It’s native and rustic knowledge from small communities across Thailand," he said. "We integrate cross-regional methods and flavours. With this mindset, we can keep creating new menus. If there's a cook, there’s an eater.”

With that, Prin excused himself. His son, who had been patiently waiting for his dad’s attention, was getting restless. Prin was also eager to focus on menu development, having been doodling dish and plating possibilities during our chat. He left us with a final thought on the future as we headed out the door. “I'm a simple man. I want to be a good farmer and cook.” He slipped away, back to his boy and his kitchen — where he's nurturing the roots of Thai cuisine for the next generation.