I have had Gaggan on my bucketlist for a very long time. When he closed his restaurant 2019 I though that "fuck, I missed the option". When I finally started to travel back to Bangkok, it was impossible to get a seat at his new restaurant so it felt impossible as dining can be planned only after I get my vacation reserved and have a plane ticket in my hand.
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But this year I went to Bangkok WHEN I actaully had landed a seat at Gaggan. Of course he was not at the restaurant but he has a great team and this evening was one of the best food experiences I have had. It was interactive, painful, happy and very tasty.
Gaggan in Bangkok is one of the top XX restaurants in the world and in Asia. It has one star at Guide Michelin and depending on year, ranking goes up or down. As of now, Gaggan is ranked
6th in the world via "50best"
3rd in Asia via "50best"
Being a high-end dining, the classics apply. Booking is reserved with card and charged, do no be late etc. What sticks out at Gaggan is dresscode.. they will make fun of you if you wear a suit or something similar. They want casual.
The menu changes over time so I will not focus on each dish. It is useless as everything was a stunning dish, both visually and taste. What I think makes this especially enjoyable is that the show starts from you enter the restaurant and it goes on for the entire service. It begins with red weird lighting and rock music. It fades into presentations by the head chefs and in between there are speeches, comedy, jokes, tidbits of information, quizes and a general showcase of what you can do when pushing food creation to the limits. You will get music AC/DC, Eminem, Kayne West.. the dinner has its own soundtrack and in between you get the stories of food, memories etc by the staff.
Gaggan has one dish though that has been there for a very long time. I heard that once it was "Rat Brain" you ate. This time, it was the the movie "Substance" that was used for this dish. Looks weird but was actually a tasty goat.
25 (I got 26!!!) servings paired with a great drink list made me want the evening to never end. Service came in five acts and it was "no rules" dinner. The order of amuse-bouche, cold/warm starter, fish, palate cleanser and so forth, does NOT APPLY.
The service started with the first act; Gaggan celebrating his Indian heritage in 6 small bites. Yoghurt, Curry and Aloo Gobi as typical dishes
After that, he moved over to the second act; the Japanese kitchen with 6 small bits. Food like cucumber, uni and fruits.
The third act was of course Thailand with 6 dishes. Fish, goat, coconut soup as typical servings.
The fourth Act revolved around what is typical asian; the communal cooking. More goat, Vindaloo, Taco etc.
The fifth and final act before being kicked out.. was the Grand Finale with two fantastic dishes. There was a hidden dish at the end that one family AND I actually got. I have no idea why I was the lucky one but I won't say no.
After the dinner, your were rewarded with a personalized "menu" of everything you ate. Everything was in THAI!! But ..under a UV lamp, it was in also written texts in English.
So what is a typical evening at Gaggan can look like something similar to this embedded video:
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