Boo Raan is the best Thai restaurant in Benelux. The buzzy vibe of this exotic establishment, traditionally appointed in bamboo, immediately incites you to take a seat as you drool over the menu. The real show takes place in the open kitchen, in which Dokkoon Kapueak and her all-women team craft a wide range of authentic dishes from northern and southern Thailand to order. The chef’s grandmother taught her all about spices from how to subtly balance sweet-sour flavours to how to enhance the main ingredient. Her pad thai kai is a festival of bouncy noodles, spicy wok beef in a riot of herbs and a masterful blend of sweet and spicy notes: the quintessence of authentic. A banquet of fresh ingredients, spices, unctuosity and emotions… Close your eyes as you take a bite and you may well find yourself standing in front of a street food stall in deepest Thailand. Should your eyes be bigger than your stomach, take your leftovers home in containers at the modest cost of one euro each, all the proceeds of which are donated to a school in the region where chef Dokkoon grew up.