Shoshana restaurant
86 Chakrabongse Rd, Talat Yot, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200
Order the hummus and falafel first, before the menu pulls you toward the Thai side. This is one of the few Bangkok kitchens still cooking Israeli food the way the original Israeli backpacker crowd taught it to be cooked, and the recipes are the reason regulars from that era still detour back here.
You step off Chakrabongse Road into a dining room that has been doing the same job for decades: feeding people Israeli food a long way from home. The hummus comes out smooth and warm, the falafel arrives crisp on the outside and herb-green inside, and the Mediterranean section of the menu reads exactly the way it should.
The kitchen runs a dual menu. One side is Israeli and Mediterranean, the other is Thai. The Israeli food is the reason to come. Hummus, falafel, and the rest of the small-plate spread are what built the name back when Khao San was still finding its identity as the backpacker spine of Bangkok.
The name itself was given to the restaurant by its earliest customers. Shoshana means rose in Hebrew, and the original Israeli travelers christened the place because the food tasted like home. The owners kept the name. They kept the recipes too.
Location matters here. You are 400 meters off Khao San Road, on the Phra Nakhon side, which means you get the Old Bangkok streetscape rather than the bar-strip noise. The Grand Palace sits a 15-minute walk south. This is the right area for a long, slow meal between sightseeing and the river.
A practical heads-up: this part of Phra Nakhon is not on the BTS or MRT. Plan a taxi or a tuk-tuk from Sanam Luang, or walk in from Phra Athit pier if you are already on a Chao Phraya boat day. Come with two people minimum and order across both sides of the menu.