Khaosan Tapas Bar interior on Campbell Street, Penang

The Kitchen

Two finalists from MasterChef Thailand. One open kitchen on Campbell Street.

When the co-owners started planning Khaosan in early 2023, a chance meeting brought the team together — Chef Pond and Chef Toei, both season-three finalists of the show that rewrote modern Thai dining on TV, became co-owners alongside the Penang side of the partnership. They've been cooking together at the bar ever since.

Chef Pond and Chef Toei outside Khaosan Tapas Bar, George Town — Chef Pond (left) · Chef Toei (right) — Khaosan, Lebuh Campbell

MasterChef Thailand · Season 3 Finalist

Chef Pond

Pond reached the final rounds of MasterChef Thailand Season 3, the country's most-watched culinary competition. The show is a Nataraja Award winner — Thai TV's highest honour — and a launchpad for a new generation of regional Thai cooks.

At Khaosan he runs the tapas pass, translating Bangkok street snacks into composed small plates: betel leaf, southern chilli paste, smoked aubergine, ferments — short ingredient lists, long flavours.

SignatureKuagling Taco · minced pork, southern Thai chilli paste, petai bean.

MasterChef Thailand · Season 3 Finalist

Chef Toei

Toei rounds out the Khaosan kitchen with a focus on cold prep, raw bar and the playful crossovers that gave the bar its name — Thai flavours framed as tapas. Pannipuri shells filled with duck larb. Khao yum reimagined as a single composed bowl.

Her plating sets the visual tone of the menu: bright herbs, glossy sauces, controlled portions that reward ordering one more round.

SignatureKhao Yum · Thai “bibimbap,” river prawn, prawn-head butter, tobiko.

How it started

A chance meeting, after a long pandemic year.

Khaosan's Penang co-owner first arrived on the island in 1998, spent twelve years sharpening his restaurateur instincts in Australia, then returned in 2013. Surviving Covid as an operator was not easy.

Early in 2023 — still figuring out the next move — he met two finalists from MasterChef Thailand Season 3. The three became co-owners, took over a heritage shophouse on Lebuh Campbell, and put the first modern Thai tapas bar in George Town on the map.

The bar takes its name from Bangkok's Khaosan Road — short street, longest dream in the world. We try to keep a little of that energy on every plate.

Eat what the chefs are cooking.

Book a table for the full menu — or pull up a stool at the bar.

Reserve a Table View Menu