The moment you’ve been waiting for is here: the everything-food-and-drink list to end all lists. We’re undertaking a rather ambitious project—a year-long endeavor that lays out our flat-out best picks of the most exceptional culinary experiences in Denver and Boulder.
We’ll cover the usual suspects: tacos and ramen, for example. Pizza and burgers, too. But think of this as the Herculean version of Denver and Boulder’s gastronomic universe. Over the next 52 weeks (give or take), we’ll post 104 different lists, wherein we’ll give you the lowdown on the very best neighborhood restaurants, bottle shops and butchers, food festivals, pop-up dinners, industry nights, cooking classes and kitchen stores, chef counters, spice shops and cake shops, Cuban sandwiches, Chinese hot pots, and even the best food from truck stops. Who knows? We might be compelled to feature a fantasy-filled list of strip club grub that goes beyond thighs and breasts.
Thai food, like strippers, often has a spicy reputation. And when it comes to Thai restaurants, Denver has plenty of destinations that coax your endorphins into overdrive. But independent of whether you’re a masochist who flirts with fire, or simply a fan of homespun flavors that make you sigh with gratitude, these five Thai spots serve the best curries, noodle dishes, and soups in the city.
The Flat-Out Best Thai Restaurants in Denver
1. Aung’s Bangkok Cafe {1225 East Hampden Avenue, Englewood; 303.806.9354}
Strip-mall Thai at its best, this serene spot in Englewood struts the culinary finesse of chef-owner Aung Kyaw (pronounced “Ung Joe”), a refugee from Myanmar who fled to Thailand and eventually moved to Denver, where he made his mark in the kitchen of US Thai, unleashing his much talked about incendiary curries lashed with chiles.
Here, at his stylish new restaurant, “Thai hot” is still an inferno that will make the blood in your veins erupt like a volcano, and if you go that route, servers will likely ask for affirmation, just to make sure that you’re up for lighting your mouth on fire. Even if you’re not, that’s fine, because your curry—mellow, moderate, hot or obscenely wicked—will be brilliantly balanced in flavor and handcrafted with dried chiles, spices, and herbs; Kyaw does not use pre-made curry pastes. Another obsession: Kyaw’s sensational Laotian larb.
2. Thai Street Food {11650 Montview Boulevard, Aurora; 303.587/2293}
Utumporn “Anna” Killoran originally started her homage to Thai cuisine on the 16th Street Mall, where her cart justifiably commanded waits that stretched up to an hour. Several years ago, she opened a brick-and-mortar in Aurora, giving fans a sit-down restaurant in which to revel in her flavor-bombed curries, soups, noodle dishes, and salads. Now, it’s mostly a carry-out operation, although she does offer limited reservation-only seating during off-peak hours, provided you’re willing to succumb to a 15-percent surcharge—and have cash on hand; no credit cards are accepted.
Still, despite the rather unorthodox setup, Killoran‘s food—even the ubiquitous pad Thai and drunken noodles—are remarkably complex, beautifully seasoned, and culturally spot-on. Beware, though, that the spice levels here are not for the faint of heart. If you have an aversion to chiles, take baby steps; if you’re a warrior, make a deal with the devil and order your panang curry “fire” hot. Just don’t blame Killoran when your lips burn like hell; she doesn’t give refunds to those who can’t withstand the burn. But she does pour a fantastic Thai iced tea, though it probably won’t thwart the blaze.
3. Thai Diamond Cafe {1560 Kipling Street, Wheat Ridge; 303.462.0435}
Like most Thai joints, the exterior of this strip center storefront is forgettable, but once you step through the door, an elegant interior, bedecked with a fish tank, dark woods, and fresh flowers, awaits.
The menu, which jaunts through just about every region of Thailand, isn’t revolutionary, but it does proffer dishes that you won’t likely encounter on every other Thai scroll: a kabacha squash starter, for example, lightly battered and served with a Thai-style sweet and sour sauce, or fried skewered shrimp wrapped with egg noodles. The traditional dishes skew toward delicate palates, but they’re composed of comforting, harmonious flavors that hit all the high notes. And if you’re on a relentless pursuit of chiles, the condiment tray obliges.
4. Suvipa Thai {1015 South Federal Boulevard, Denver; 720.379.6038}
Two words: curry puffs. Every lunch or dinner at this modest habitat of Thai foodstuffs should unequivocally begin with the obligatory curry puffs, crimped ovals of croissant-like pastries enveloping smashed potatoes punctuated with cumin, coriander, and garlic—spices that are reminiscent of a yellow curry. Truly, these things are rhapsodic.
So, too, is the green papaya salad, satisfyingly tart, slightly sweet, potently pungent with fish sauce and textured with raw crunch. Even the pad Thai is a cut above the competition, eschewing the typically tedious tangle of sugar-sauced noodles for a symphony of texture and acidity. I’ve found that the kitchen hesitates to heed the call of the wild, but if you walk on that side, there’s a well-stocked condiment tray that involves a quartet of chile-smacked enhancements.
5. US Thai Cafe {5228 West 25th Avenue, Edgewater; 303.233.3345}
Despite the fact that its lauded chef has since moved on to open a restaurant that bears his own name, this beloved home-style Thai joint still packs in crowds—and packs a punch. All of the old-school standbys dot the tattered menus, and the kitchen takes a no-holds-barred approach to chiles, happily obliterating your sinuses, if you insist, with sweat-inducing curries that could coffin your nervous system. But it doesn’t have to be that way: order any of the stir-fried dishes or deeply flavored curries, earthy with spices and rich with sweet coconut milk, and addiction follows—independent of whether they’re chile-fueled or subdued. The spring rolls and tangy tom yum are addictive, too.
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