The results for the inaugural edition of the Michelin Guide Bangkok were unveiled earlier today. The selection features a total of 98 restaurants with 17 establishments newly awarded one and two Michelin stars. Two stars is the highest distinction given in the 2018 Bangkok guide with no restaurant earning three stars.
Michael ELLIS, International Director in charge of the Michelin Guides says: “We are proud to launch this first selection of the Michelin Guide dedicated to Bangkok, highlighting the richness of the city’s gastronomy. Our inspectors were thrilled to find a local culinary scene with an amazing vibrancy, myriad new restaurants, an astonishing variety of wonderful street food, but also Thai cuisine served in different forms.”
The restaurants which have earned the distinction of 2 stars are Gaggan, Le Normandie and Mezzaluna. At Gaggan, chef-owner Gaggan Anand takes Indian cuisine to a level rarely seen with his original and creative inventions that showcase a refined blend of textures and spices. Opened in 1958, Le Normandie at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel offers haute French cuisine in an elegant ambience. Mezzaluna, perched on the 65th floor of Lebua Hotel, specializes in European-style cuisine executed with Japanese precision, offered in five- and seven-course set menus.
The first selection of the Michelin Guide Bangkok awarded 14 restaurants with one star. The list highlights the quality of local cuisine as half of them–including Chim by Siam Wisdom, Bo.lan, Saneh Jaan, and Sra Bua by Kiin Kiin–are Thai restaurants that offer both traditional and contemporary takes on Thai cuisine. Of particular interest is Jay Fai, a street food vendor whose owner-chef insists on cooking over her home-built charcoal stoves, continuing her father’s 70-year legacy that comes in the form of delectable crab omelets, crab curries and dry congee.
International cuisine was also recognized in the red guidebook, including Ginza Sushi-ichi, which receives fresh ingredients from Tokyo every day, and Sühring, where brothers Mathias and Thomas Sühring present diners with at times playful and at others classic takes on German cuisine. French restaurants L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, J’AIME by Jean-Michel Lorain, Elements, and Savelberg also received a star each.
In addition to the starred restaurants, this year’s selection features a total of 35 restaurants awarded a Bib Gourmand designation for serving a quality meal for under THB1000. The inspectors unearthed all kinds of affordable eats, including smoky pad Thai cooked over a charcoal stove at Baan Yai Phad Thai, stir-fried chicken noodle soup at the time-honored Guay Tiew Kua Gai Suanmali, and seafood dishes at the more traditional restaurants like Jay Oh with a local, rustic ambience.
Click here to check out all the restaurants that made this year’s selection.
Published 2017.12.06
