ISAN

The Northeast of Thailand

ABOUT US

We brought the taste with us.

Everything on our menu starts there.

Isan is the northeast corner of Thailand, twenty provinces on a high plateau with the Mekong River along its edge, separating it from Laos. A third of the country comes from there, and the food came with them. Som tum, larb and grilled meat aren't a regional specialty at home; they're what Thailand eats every day, on the streets of Bangkok as much as anywhere in Isan.

We cook it in Orlando the way it's cooked there.

THE FOOD

What Isan cooking runs on

Lime, chili, and fresh herbs by the handful. Fish sauce, and pla ra, the fermented fish that gives Isan dishes their deep salty bottom note. Khao khua, sticky rice toasted in a dry pan until it smells like popcorn, then ground to a nutty powder that gives larb its texture. Charcoal. And sticky rice in a basket, eaten with your fingers.

Sour and salty come first. Sweetness barely comes at all.

ON THE MENU

Thai style or Lao style

You'll see that choice next to our papaya salads. Isan sits along the Mekong, and the cooking on both banks of that river is one family. It isn't a different cuisine, it's the same dish with a different hand on the seasoning.

Thai style is a little sweet, with peanuts and dried shrimp.
Lao style is salted crab and fermented fish sauce, no sugar. Funkier, saltier, and the one we eat ourselves.

Order either. Order one of each and compare them.

THE STANDARD

ZAAP

In central Thai, delicious is AROI (อร่อย).

In Isan we say ZAAP (แซ่บ), and it means something sharper. The mouth-watering kind of good, the sort that arrives with heat and sour and salt all at once.

It's half our name. It's also the only thing we measure the kitchen against.

Gallery

This is what zaap looks like

Clear takeout container of grilled meat and vegetables placed into a black Isan Zaap paper bag

Two hands toasting branded cups of Thai iced tea in front of a MICHELIN 2023 plaque

Overhead spread of papaya salad, grilled meats, sticky rice, noodles and boiled eggs on a white table

Pork skewers charring on a ribbed cast iron grill beside a tin of seasoning sauce

Gloved hands plating shredded green papaya salad on a red plate beside a clay mortar

Two hands toasting glasses of Thai iced tea over a table of salad and crushed peanuts

Table spread of green papaya salad, pad thai with shrimp, minced pork and two iced teas

Basket of crisp fried pork strips lined with paper beside chili dipping sauce in a gold cup

Spoonful of purple taro balls in warm coconut milk, with mango sticky rice behind

Sliced grilled beef tossed with red onion, mint and chili flakes in a steel mixing bowl

Dining room with leafy plants, hanging bulbs, wood panelling and large windows onto the street

Green curry simmering in a steel wok with fresh basil leaves and eggplant, steam rising

Raw shrimp in green chili and garlic sauce with mint, shredded carrot and an orchid

Overhead view of a steaming herb soup with mushrooms, tomatoes and red onion in a metal pot

Singha 2024 Best Pad Thai Champion plaque beside a plate of pad thai and a cold beer

Hand squeezing lime over a plate of shrimp pad thai with bean sprouts and crushed peanuts

Close up of sliced grilled pork belly with dark char marks on a white cutting board

Flames leaping from a wok of minced meat and green chilies on a restaurant stove

Gloved hands tossing blue crab pieces with cilantro, red onion and chilies in a metal bowl

Fried chicken wing being dipped into a small gold cup of sauce above a wicker basket

Red oval platter of sliced grilled sausage with shredded papaya, peanuts and lime, held aloft

Grilled pork skewers on a red plate with shredded papaya and lettuce, lifted with tongs

Hands holding a woven bamboo basket of sticky rice beside a red platter of grilled meats

View the gallery

MICHELIN GUIDE FLORIDA

A recognition we're proud of

We're proud of this one, and we'll say so plainly.
It came in 2023, and it has come back every year since.

A Bib Gourmand is the MICHELIN Guide's mark for exceptional food at a moderate price.
It isn't a star and isn't trying to be. No tablecloths, no tasting menu, just food worth going out of your way for.

We take it as a promise rather than a trophy.
Every plate that leaves this kitchen has to be worth the ones that earned it.

Let us order for you.

Tell us what you like and how hot you want it.

See the menu→Order online