Down the 71/2 Mac Thi Buoi alley, look for the wooden sign “Lac Thai 1 — Nha Hang Thai Lan” on the teal facade. Lantern strings hang across the entrance; inside, warm yellow walls and wooden tables — small, cozy, like a Thai family restaurant.
The food is the point: Yam Plaa Dook Foo — crispy fried fish with green-mango salad and cashews, 220k; fiery Som Tam Thai, 195k; Tom Yam Koong, 250k, served in a heat-keeping brass pot. Red elephant-pattern cloths, blue ceramic bowls — unmistakably a Thai table.
Lunch runs 11 AM to 2 PM, dinner 5 PM to 10 PM on weekdays; weekends run straight through 11 AM to 10 PM. Evenings are the best — the lamps glow, the brass pots steam: Lac Thai's golden hour.