If you’ve whizzed up Bourke Street on a tram towards Parliament House in the evening, you’ve probably wondered: what’s everyone lining up for?

Queues of diners have become a regular sight outside Thai restaurants that have flourished along the street in the past two years, as the Paris end of the city shakes off its pandemic woes and acquires a new identity.

In the past two years, at least six new Thai restaurants have opened in the two blocks of Bourke Street between Spring and Russell streets, doubling the area’s number of Thai eateries.

“Quite a few Thai restaurants have inquired on the top end [of Bourke Street],” says commercial real estate agent Jason Orenbuch of CBRE, which has done two lease deals for new Thai restaurants on this strip.

“Once upon a time, the east end was all Italian,” he says.

Melbourne’s flourishing Thai Town – previously missing from the city’s culinary fabric, in stark contrast to Sydney – offers dishes drawn from across Thailand’s regional sub-cuisines. There’s Isan food, Thai barbecue-meets-hotpot, real-deal boat noodles – and hardly a green chicken curry in sight.

Foot traffic and Bourke Street’s two tram routes were the main attraction for Jirada Ponpetch, owner of Thai Baan, which opened in March in what was previously Italian restaurant The Mess Hall.

“I like Bourke Street. It’s the main street. I was looking near Southern Cross, but [the site] was in a small lane. I prefer having the traffic and the tram,” she says.

The tram was also a key factor for Chavalit Piyaphanee, whose Soi 38 (winner of The Age Good Food Guide 2024 Critics’ Pick award) was one of the first Thai restaurants to open in the city’s east end eight years ago.

Tucked inside a multi-storey carpark down a laneway off Bourke Street, this novelty has become a huge part of his restaurant’s appeal, but newer businesses are moving into prime real estate on Bourke Street proper.

“There’s a lot of Thai operators now. Just in that small short block [of Bourke Street] there’s about 11. It’s crazy. And I think it’s just going to get crazier,” says Piyaphanee.

Melbourne’s Thai population has increased by nearly 25 per cent since the 2016 census, a significantly larger jump than Sydney, which has historically been the epicentre of Australia’s urban Thai population.

“Five years ago when I came and opened Isan Soul, there weren’t lots of Thai stalls around,” says Surachai Kunchairattana, who also owns Pick Prik and Heng, a colourful food hall styled on Bangkok’s Chinatown.

“It was just Soi 38. But after the pandemic, lots of shops were for lease.”

During the pandemic and resulting work-from-home orders, foot traffic from nearby offices more than halved. Many long-standing tenants such as The Mess Hall shut their doors, paving the way for young Thai business owners who are now enjoying the city’s steps towards recovery.

Vacancy rates in the CBD dropped from 13.2 per cent in July-December 2021 to 9.8 per cent 12 months later, according to CBRE.

Kunchairattana says he knows of at least two more Thai restaurants about to open near Pick Prik and perennially popular Nana Thai is doing renovations to add more capacity. Kunchairattana doesn’t mind, he says, because it pushes him to do better.

It’s a sentiment shared by the owners of Thai Baan and Soi 38.

“It’s more competition, of course. But [it means] we have to do the best we can,” says Thai Baan’s Ponpetch.

Five Thai Town restaurants to try

Pick Prik

There’s nearly always a queue for this food hall, encompassing three venues in one. Pick Prik’s menu has the most choice, spanning kid-friendly items including charcoal-grilled chicken, large sizzling pots of tom yum soup with seafood soup, and pad krapao: stir-fried pork with chilli and holy basil. But you can also order mookata (barbecue crossed with hotpot) from sibling venue Heng for a fun group dining experience. Sit under the lantern-festooned ceiling and marvel at the walls crammed with colourful Thai food packaging and antiques imported from Thailand.

Shop 2, 131 Bourke Street, Melbourne

Thai Baan CBD

The tick-box menu at this small, yet lively eatery covers lots of ground. Start with drinking food like fried beef jerky or garlic pork ribs, then cover your table with seafood papaya salad, smoky pad see ew noodles, grilled pork cheek, and raw salmon with century egg in a sweet and sour dressing. Solo diners can opt for the signature boat noodles, made to a 30-year-old family recipe.

51 Bourke Street, Melbourne, thaibaanmelbournecbd.com.au

Thong Thai

This slender restaurant has a street-facing window that shows off a large wok where seafood omelettes are made, so you’d be wise to order one. Choose from oyster or mussel, then follow it up with a refreshing sour salad with crisp fried fish, favourite noodle dishes such as pad thai served on sizzling hot plates, and khanom jee: delicate coils of fresh rice noodles served with curries from across Thailand. Choose your favourite.

18 Bourke Street, Melbourne, thongthai.com.au

Thai Asia Unique Cafe

Several Thai eateries can be found in the Paramount Food Court, a beloved address among office workers seeking high-quality yet affordable lunches. This stall offers a staggering breadth of options. There’s restorative pork bone soup, whole fried barramundi for those with pals in tow, crisp roast pork with Chinese broccoli, and tom yum noodle soup in varying spice levels. It’s licensed and after 4.30pm, hot pot is available.

101 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne

Soi 38

Perhaps the best known restaurant of the area is also its least visible. Follow the signs for parking down McIlwraith Place and you’ll walk away with much more. Spring for large share-friendly noodle soups like the “ultimate bowl” (a medley of pork, eggs, squid and more), smoky grilled brisket, and bracing lime-dressed raw seafood dishes, including scallops.

38 McIlwraith Place, Melbourne, soi38.com