Arriving in Bangkok, any foodie knows there's one restaurant they cannot miss. Sadly, Gaggan Anand's new restaurant has a 6-month waiting period so, you need to plan ahead. However, if you do manage to get a reservation, here's what to expect.
This picture taken on October 31, 2019 shows a staff member preparing food in the open kitchen ... [+]
After a disagreement with the shareholders, superstar Indian Chef Gaggan Anand shut down his timeless restaurant in Bangkok and opened a new venue, named Gaggan Anand. Over three months, the chef along with many of his previous staff who walked out of the previous venue, rented a space and build it up to become the new playground for Chef Gaggan. The restaurant opened on November 1st, 2019.
The restaurant is broken down into three areas, G's Spot is a bar setting where guests can watch Gaggan and other chefs prepare the dishes while chatting and joking with the guests. There's Family Table for a private dining experience, that isn't cheap, and then we have Arena G, the more 'traditional' restaurant area for groups. Here the cost per person is approximately US$265, a wine pairing menu can be experienced for an extra US$150. Only 50 diners are served each day and reservations can only be made online. Now, that's enough about procedures, let's look at the new restaurant and whether it's still deserving of it's spot as Asia's Best Restaurant, and the World's 4th Best.
The 25 course meal begins with a puzzle, each piece of the puzzle features an emoji sticker, similar to the original restaurant before it. From the start, diners get a look into Gaggan's fun and playful personality. The game is simple - each of the 25 courses to come is affixed to one piece of the puzzle, the goal is to put the puzzle together in the order the dishes come out. The overall theme is relaxation, breaking downs the barriers of fine dining, and more so, having fun. Most dishes don't include cutlery, urging diners to eat with their hands. Other dishes come with instructions. The rainbow-coloured paste of Indian spices, for example, sees diners licking the plate from bottom to top in order to catch every colour on their tongue. The menu is fun. In terms of flavour, there is something for everyone in the 25 courses of Indian twists, explosions of taste, and classic recaps. The Truffle Fried Milk comes to mind as memorable courses, as does the explosive Lord Of The Rings, where guests are prompted to make a middle-finger gesture and consume the course from their middle finger. The Grey Asteroid also brings a lot to the table, literally. As most courses are small and quick, the entire experience stands out more than most individual dishes; diners are constantly kept on their toes with new flavour combinations and creative dishes. By course 18 we were full and were wondering how we'd go on, but in the end we managed to eat it all.
Another strong positive - the staff. While the man himself was downstairs entertaining his guests the staff made every guest feel welcome and satisfied. Playful with each guest and amongst themselves, it's true that Gaggan now has an army of 65 talented chefs, each worth their own title.
The walls have changed but not the quality, if anything, it has risen and Gaggan Anand has outdone himself again. While the food world was excited to see him venture off to Japan, maintaining and enforcing the legacy he has build is just as great.
