“Isan food in Bangkok is so different,” Num says, creating a sort of “parallel cuisine” in which almost every flavor is louder than what you get back home. “It’s spicier.

The best food in Udon Thani and Thailand’s Isan region, including Michelin Bib Gourmand winner Samuay & Sons, classic spots for som tum and larb, lots of fresh seafood and pork, and more.

I use a lot of ingredients, but for Thai food, every dish has to have fish sauce. So every dish in Isan uses pla ra, the fermented fish sauce. In Bangkok, they don’t eat it.

One could quibble that the pork belly was overly crisp and the Isan sausage a bit bland, but, overall, the food was fresh, beautiful and delicious. The masaman was fragrant, yet delicately spiced.

Thai Isan to bring Northern Thai delicacies to New Braunfels in 2024 "We feel like a lot of the Thai places are good, but they all have the same stuff," owner says.

Isan food is more than just flavour - it is a heritage and wisdom passed down through generations. This year's festival invites everyone to experience: ...

Authentic Isan Cuisine at Larb Ubol in Hell's Kitchen by Greg Morabito Dec 10, 2013, 9:05am EST ...

When Elmhurst’s Chao Thai appeared in 2006 in the shadow of the LIRR tracks, it was one of the first restaurants in the city to concentrate on the food of Isan. Five years later we had many more ...

The focus on Isan cuisine, meanwhile, was to “honor chef Nick [Korboon]’s birthplace,” Nakapakorn explains, also noting the lack of Isan food in Boston.