28 November 2025
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As The MICHELIN Guide Thailand 2026 makes its grand debut, we’re spotlighting the standout dishes that truly impressed our famously discreet Inspectors. We asked them to share their most memorable dining moments from across the country — and the results speak for themselves.
Their favorites range from Southern Thai specialties and locally inspired twists to bold contemporary creations shaped by each chef’s unique imagination — from rising young talents to celebrated culinary stars.
Wildpastete / Parsley / Pistachio
Sühring (Three MICHELIN Stars, MICHELIN Guide Thailand 2026)A truly memorable dish and easily one of our favorites. A refined version of a traditional German game pie — a kind of pâté en croûte — was first presented whole, beautifully crafted and decorative, before being taken back to slice and serve. Made with venison, duck liver, turnip, mushrooms, poultry, pistachios, and rich Madeira jelly, it showcased classic technique at a very high level.
The pastry was tender and golden, encasing a perfectly balanced filling of prime, lean meats, herbs, and nuts that ate effortlessly with remarkably low fat. The egg-and-truffle centerpiece added a personal and elegant touch. The accompanying salad of parsley, parsley root, and parsley purée, dressed with a thick truffle vinaigrette at the table, brought freshness and contrast to the richness. The tiny pickled salad tucked inside a crisp tuile cylinder was both clever and delicate. Altogether, it was a dish of great precision, balance, and lightness — classic in form, beautiful in presentation, and executed with true mastery.
Parsi Love Affair
INDDEE (Two MICHELIN Stars, MICHELIN Guide Thailand 2026)This dish blends Indian-style spiced scrambled eggs with the smooth, custard-like texture of Japanese chawanmushi. Macadamia nuts and chopped mushrooms add a nutty flavor and gentle crunch, while sweet peas, carrot caviar and plant-based pearls deliver pops of color and texture. A rich tomato sauce ties everything together with bold depth. The combination of ingredients creates a well-balanced dish that’s both inventive and satisfying. The carrot caviar stands out as a playful, elegant touch, enhancing the presentation and adding subtle sweetness. Diners can also choose to upgrade the caviar topping.
Scallop with champagne sauce and chayote
Belén by Paulo Airaudo (Selected, MICHELIN Guide Thailand 2026)A Japanese scallop arrived perfectly cooked —tender and gently sweet. It was set over a base of XO sauce that added savory depth, while a champagne sauce around it brought a light, creamy lift, accented with a teaspoon of coriander oil. Charcoal-roasted chayote sprouts and leaves added a smoky crunch that contrasted beautifully with the delicacy of the scallop. The crisp fried silk on top contributed both texture and a playful finish. Balanced in flavor and elegant in execution, this was one of the highlights of the night.
Tubu Millefeuille
Juksunchae (One MICHELIN Star, MICHELIN Guide Thailand 2026)This dessert is among the most favorite sweet treats throughout the year. A millefeuille made with delicate tofu-skin pastry is filled with light cream, set over miso crumble and tofu mousse, and served with soy milk ice cream, caramel sauce and banana dressing. The combination is excellent — especially the tofu-skin layers. I’m usually not a fan of traditional millefeuille because of its heavy buttery flavor, but this version is light, balanced and genuinely delightful.
Textures of asparagus | daikon | beurre blanc | white chocolate
Etcha (One MICHELIN Star, MICHELIN Guide Thailand 2026)This dish looked sweet and elegant, with Thai asparagus delicately carved into little white flower shapes. The addition of grilled asparagus and daikon brought a pleasing contrast in both texture and appearance. What tied everything together was the beurre blanc sauce with white chocolate. It might sound sweet, but the flavor was light, elegant and never overpowering. The balance was just right — creamy yet still fresh. This dish showed how special Thai white asparagus and simple daikon can be transformed into something refined. I especially liked how the soft flavors matched the white, gentle presentation.
Les Berlingots
Anne-Sophie Pic at Le Normandie (Two MICHELIN Stars, MICHELIN Guide Thailand 2026)Delicately crafted homemade pasta parcels are generously filled with smoked Camembert, delivering a bold, savory cheese profile wrapped in a smooth, creamy texture. Each bite is lifted by vibrant pickled tomatoes, whose bright acidity cuts through the richness and adds a refreshing contrast. The dish is elegantly finished with a fragrant sauce infused with chamomile, saffron and tomato.
Charcoal Grilled Madai | Clams & Basil Sauce | Razor Clams & Agretti
Cannubi by Umberto Bombana (One MICHELIN Star, MICHELIN Guide Thailand 2026)The madai was grilled skin-on, giving it a subtle charcoal aroma and a crisp texture. The flesh was cooked perfectly — juicy and flaky. A mussel placed on top added a rich, briny flavor and a welcome hit of saltiness. Its aroma blended beautifully with the light clam-and-basil sauce, which looked creamy and carried a gentle herbal note. Razor clams, cut into small pieces, provided a bit of bite, while the agretti added texture and an intriguing twist. A truly memorable dish from this lunch.
Yam lychee
CHAWEE (Bib Gourmand, MICHELIN Guide Thailand 2026)This salad was both memorable and full of character. It starts with fresh Northern lychees, pitted and juicy, tossed with fragrant toasted coconut. It’s topped with finely ground dried shrimp, crab leg meat, and small pieces of blanched shrimp, along with sliced shallots and fresh chilies. The seasoning is intentionally simple: just Pattani salt, a touch of coconut sugar, and a squeeze of lime — without any fish sauce or additional condiments. The flavor is naturally sweet-tart, refreshing and beautifully perfumed with toasted coconut that melds seamlessly with the lychee’s sweetness. The dish has interesting layers in both aroma and taste, with a gentle heat that’s perfectly balanced. It’s a clean, bright fruit salad that showcases seasonal ingredients in a simple yet deeply impressive way — light, refreshing and harmonious in every component and every bite.
Crab curry with runny crab roe, garuda leaves, and crispy shrimps
Nusara (One MICHELIN Star, MICHELIN Guide Thailand 2026)
This dish combined both power and finesse. The golden yellow curry, made with turmeric, galangal leaf and red curry paste, delivered just the right level of heat with a natural underlying sweetness. It featured a mix of blue swimming crab and mud crab, generously topped with horseshoe crab roe for added richness and umami. Extra crab roe was folded into the sauce, giving it a creamy body without making it feel heavy. The balance of spice and flavor was spot-on, allowing the crab’s natural sweetness to shine. On the side, crispy baby shrimp and deep-fried Garuda leaves were light, crisp and fragrant — almost like tea-scented seaweed — and they paired beautifully with the curry, adding crunch and aroma. Altogether, it was a standout dish: complex, elegant and deeply satisfying, easily one of the highlights of the night.
Pla sai uan (Net-caught fish)
Dear Phangan (Bib Gourmand, MICHELIN Guide Thailand 2026)This dish is something you don’t often come across. It features Southern-style fermented sour fish, freshly deep-fried until crisp and served piping hot on a banana leaf. The aroma is wonderful, and the fish isn’t greasy at all. The flesh has a gentle tang without the strong fermented smell often associated with pla som. Each piece is neatly sliced and fried until crisp on the outside and tender inside — the tail, in particular, is deliciously crunchy, and even the bones can be eaten.
The toasted rice coating around the fish puffs up beautifully, adding fragrance and a light, crisp texture that makes the dish stand out. It’s served with sliced shallots, fresh chilies and lime wedges. The chef recommends squeezing lime over the fish before eating to brighten the flavors and balance the natural tang of the fermented fish. It’s a well-executed Southern Thai classic — comforting, nuanced and noticeably more refined than your typical fermented fish preparation.
READ FURTHER: A Chat with a Thai MICHELIN Guide Inspector
Header image: © The MICHELIN Guide Thailand, Diago Arenas/ Sühring
Header image: © The MICHELIN Guide Thailand, Diago Arenas/ Sühring
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