Bangkok, along with Singapore, Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong, Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo has long been referred to as one of the major dining capitals in Asia.

The vibrant capital city of Thailand offers a wide array of delicious offerings that run the gamut from casual street food to fine-dining creations by renowned local and foreign celebrity chefs.

With the support of the Thai Tourism Authority, the MICHELIN Guide Bangkok will showcase the best of Bangkok’s food offerings via three interconnected channels:

• A MICHELIN Guide Bangkok print and digital guidebook to be published in the second half 2017 that is solely, independently and anonymously produced by the MICHELIN Guide’s team of restaurant dining inspectors
• A series of culinary events fronting local dining establishments and foreign chefs rated by the Guide
• A gourmet digital lifestyle editorial with informative, interactive content that supports the MICHELIN Guide Bangkok

Debunking MICHELIN Guide Myths…

Myth 1: The MICHELIN Guide rates top chefs

We'll let you in on a little fact not everyone realises: there is no such thing as a Michelin-starred chef.

Having worked in a Michelin-starred restaurant or even owning a string of three-starred establishments does not make one a Michelin-starred chef - because the term does not technically exist.

The MICHELIN Guide awards stars to restaurants based on the quality of the food they serve, and not to individuals. Rightfully too, as world-class meals are often the collective efforts of an entire kitchen team, and not one man (or woman) alone.

The guide is updated annually and restaurants can lose their stars if they close during the year of assessment, or if they do not maintain their standards over the year.

Conversely, a restaurant does not instantly lose its stars even if its head chef decides to leave halfway through the year and is replaced by a new chef.

Myth 2: The MICHELIN Guide does not rate a restaurant's service standards

While it is true that stars are awarded to restaurants based on the quality of their food alone, there is more to the MICHELIN Guide rankings than its coveted stars.

The MICHELIN Guide’s team of restaurant inspectors recognise that a restaurant’s ambience and the attentiveness of its wait staff contribute as much to a comfortable dining experience as the food being served.

As such, there’s a separate category of “covers” (or couverts in French) - represented by the fork and knife symbol for restaurants and the pavilion symbol for hotels - to indicate the comfort and quality of a rated establishment.

Establishments may get one cover to indicate that it is a comfortable restaurant and up to five stars for luxurious restaurants. Symbols may be black or red: black indicates that it is basic and red symbols indicate that a venue is particularly comfortable.

Myth 3: The MICHELIN Guide is biased towards French cooking

The MICHELIN Guide has a stable of inspectors who are full-time employees; they are responsible for rating over 40,000 hotels and restaurants in over 25 countries across four continents. Many of them have studied in the best hospitality schools in the world, live in different continents and have an open mind towards cuisines from every culture.

As such, the guide celebrates local food variance too - and this is reflected in the wide repertoire of symbols it uses. In territories such as Spain, noteworthy tapas bars have an additional wine and toothpick symbol on their listings, while quality pubs in the UK/Ireland guide are marked with a beer mug symbol.

Meanwhile, restaurants with impressive notable wine, sake and cocktail lists are recognised with the grape, sake bottle and cocktail glass symbols respectively.

Myth 4: The MICHELIN Guide only lists fancy fine-dining restaurants

This is one bargain-savvy Thais will be happy to hear: the MICHELIN Guide isn’t always about white table cloths and polished crystal glasses.

Globally, stars have been awarded to a wide spectrum of restaurants, but the 2010 crowning of Hong Kong dim sum chain Tim Ho Wan’s hole-in-the-wall maiden outlet in Mongkok, Singapore’s Hawker Chan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice Hawker Store in 2016 and Noodle and Y1,100-a-bowl streetside ramen noodle bar Tsuta in Tokyo in 2015 were indications that good food needs no minimum spend.

To cater to food hunters seeking a satisfying meal without breaking the bank (and who isn’t one?), the Bib Gourmand category introduced in 1955 recognises establishments who provide a stellar three-course meal for a moderate price. This is capped at 36€ for restaurants in France, Spain and Italy, 37€ for restaurants in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany, 28 pounds for the UK/Ireland guide, US$40 in American cities, HK300 in Hong Kong and Y5,000 in Tokyo.

In the most recent edition of the 2016 Paris Guide, the MICHELIN Guide also debuted a brand new category in the guide, L’Assiette, or The Plate in English, which recognises restaurants that serve “a good, simple meal”, but which haven’t been awarded stars or bibs.

Myth 5: MICHELIN Guide inspectors are not always anonymous

Keeping the identities of the MICHELIN Guide’s inspectors confidential is necessary to ensure that their independence and freedom to speak their minds isn’t compromised.

However, different members of the MICHELIN Guide team may at times identify themselves in order to conduct “technical visits”, on which they obtain up-to-date information and press materials such as menus and photographs from restaurants and hotels. Once an inspector identifies himself to a particular establishment for a technical visit, he will no longer be the one assessing it, leaving other members of his team to do it on separate, unannounced visits.

MICHELIN Guide inspectors visit every venue listed every 18 months as a minimum, and its Bib Gourmand and starred venues as many times as necessary. Restaurants do not - and cannot - pay to be listed in the guide.