Restaurant Thaiboat

Down a side street from Skanstull you...

I went out to dinner this weekend to celebrate a friend's birthday... and my friend chose the restaurant Thaiboat. I have been here several times and was sure that I had already written a review, but apparently not! I guess the first thing I should explain is Sweden's love affair with Thailand and their culture. For the better part of two decades, Thailand has been the number one tourist destination for Swedes trying to escape the dark and cold winters. Due to this, Swedes have brought back a lot of Thai culture with them, mainly in the form of restaurants and massage salons, to remind them of their recent vacations.

...find the Thaiboat complete with own tuk-tuk. 

Thaiboat is, just as the name suggests, a Thai boat. A floating restaurant permanently moored on Årstaviken near Skanstull. The boat is quite large and contains two bars as well as the restaurant. To make it feel more like Thailand, they have cleverly added a beach complete with sun chairs, lounge and palm trees. All of this adds to quite a festive party ambiance during the summer months with many locals coming in their own boats, which they moor alongside the restaurant.

View of Årstaviken from the restaurant

The food (Thai cuisine obviously) and drinks are very good as well. Thai restaurants are relatively inexpensive when compared to other restaurants in Stockholm. However, dishes at Thaiboat are more comparable to a mid priced Stockholm restaurant probably due to the location. On this visit, I decided to avoid the Massaman and Paneng curry dishes (which I usually order) and took the grilled duck breast. Very delicious!

Its own beach!

The restaurant is open year round but obviously really comes alive in the summer when sun-loving Swedes take advantage of the waterfront setting. One nice detail is that the restaurant is near a lock system which boats use to move from the Baltic Sea up into Lake Mälaren, so a variety of boats pass by and line up... everything from barges to pleasure yachts. Its location on the waterfront in a residential area makes it a little hard to find, but the easiest way to get there for Rival Hotel guests is to take the subway, green line from Slussen, two stops to Skanstull exiting to Ringvägen. From there it is a 10 minute walk to the restaurant. Otherwise it is a 7-8 minute taxi ride. Click here for more restaurant reviews.

This image and...

...this one from thaiboat.se. More can be viewed here!