Daily 11:30am-12am

The price: Two-course set menus for B390 or B690

 

This artfully decked out former residence near the Goethe Institute is Sathorn’s latest Italian dining player. Lunch prices skirt well below the price of a single main at dinner, and stick to a concise two courses. The B390 set starts off with a choice of salad, while mains get you the likes of tortiglioni all’arrabbiata (spicy tomato sauce with garlic and parsley) and slow-roasted sundried tomato and rosemary-spiced baby chicken. The B690 set offers a choice of spaghetti carbonara or grilled Italian sausage with mashed potato.

 

Mon-Sat 11:30am-2:30pm

The price: Two-course set menu for B350; three-course set menu for B450

 

Perched above the Chong Nonsi office hordes on a mezzanine level of Empire Tower, Water Library’s first stab at a steakhouse snubs the little people with a stockbroker-appeasing menu of imported steaks and seafood. Dinner here would comfortably set you back B2,000, making these set lunch prices genuinely admirable. Dishes change regularly, but things we’ve seen include pumpkin soup and beef goulash as starters, as well as spaghetti arrabiata, grilled sea bass and wagyu beef burgers for mains. Includes coffee or tea at the end of the meal. Nice!

 

Daily 11:30am-2:30pm

The prices: A la carte

 

The refined barbecue specialist’s lunch menu dishes out the same kind of stuff you’ll find at dinner—barbecued meats, burgers, hearty salads and pastas—portioned down slightly and priced accordingly. Go as a group of four, order up the roast beetroot and herb salad (B190), Japanese pumpkin salad (B180), beef burger (B380), penne Bolognese (B320) and some chicken thigh (B170) and you’ll each be in for under B400, even after tax. That’s a mighty fine lunch at that price—just don’t expect to get much work done afterwards.

Daily 11:30am-2:30pm

The prices: B950-B1,950 for lunch sets

 

For most of us, this might be our only time to try the immaculate offerings of this two-time Top Tables winner. The chic, red-and-black restaurant designed by Pierre-Yves Rochon (who did London’s Savoy and Paris’s Four Seasons George V) turns out contemporary French fine dining, with sets ranging from two courses (starter and main) to four courses (two starters, main and dessert). Current options include sweet and sour prawn and turnip ravioli with rosemary, tempura of grouper fillet wrapped in shiso leaf and squid ink risotto, and pork cutlet in mustard sauce.

 

Daily 11:30am-2:30pm

The price: Set menu starts from B2,000; dim sum sets from B1,180

 

Mahanakhon Cube’s other big dining player has the lofty concept of serving modern Chinese dishes in a style befitting French fine dining. Whether you’re going for the full ten courses, or the smaller option of assorted dim sum, soup, main dish, vegetable dish, rice or noodle dish and dessert, you still have to book 1-2 days in advance. Expect the likes of double-boiled black chicken consomme, stewed fish maw with abalone sauce and Yong Zhou-style fried rice.

 

Mon-Fri noon-2pm

The price: A la carte or set menu for B1,600 per person

 

At David Thompson’s showpiece Thai restaurant, you can order from the a la carte or go for a full set menu that includes appetizer, salad, vegetable dish, soup, stir-fry, curry and dessert. Only available at lunch is the single-dish kanom jeen (rice noodles) with your choice of dressing, including coconut milk with fresh herbs and fish dumplings (sao nam, B600), catfish curry with tamarind and lemon basil (B650) and minced prawn curry with yellow eggplants and holy basil (B720).

 

Daily noon-2:30pm, except last Sunday of the month

The price: Five-course set menu for B1,100

 

Back in 2014, this restaurant beat Robuchon to becoming the first restaurant in Bangkok backed by a three-Michelin-star winner (chef Jean-Michel Lorain of the Côte Saint Jacques in Burgundy). While you can still order a la carte at lunch, the five-course set is the way to go. Dishes currently featured include tomato fish soup with red mullet and stuffed calamari and pan-seared tuna fillet with caramelized baby eggplant.