Thai food has a global reputation for being fantastic and that is for a good reason. As a consequence, the last thing you might consider doing during a visit to Bangkok is eating Indian food. And that would be so wrong. If you visit the capital of Thailand, we need to urge you not to leave the city without a visit to Gaggan.

The restaurant is located in a beautiful colonial house, somewhere in a tiny street of Bangkok. It was opened in 2010 by Gaggan Anand. He is Indian, born in Kolkata and married with a Thai wife. Gaggan, who is a Thiruvananthapuram Institute of Hotel Management graduate, got the inspiration for his cooking style during an internship at El Bulli. The famous restaurant of Ferran Adria, that is now closed, was at that time the place where most of the new cooking techniques, often referred to as molecular cuisine, were created. By applying techniques normally only used in a physics or chemistry lab, the texture and taste of food is changed. This application of science in the kitchen, was the inspiration for Gaggan to start his restaurant once he was back in Thailand.

Gaggan describes his cooking style as progressive Indian cuisine. And that gives you a very good idea of what you can expect, if you dine in his restaurant. The presentation of most dishes is very modern and artistic. Even though he does not always push the boundaries as much as Ferran Adria, by looking at the dishes that are served it is very clear where the chef got his inspiration from. However, the most surprising moment in our opinion, is not when you see the dishes, but when you start tasting them. It is amazing how he succeeds in hiding such strong authentic Indian tastes in dishes that at first look very contemporary European. And that is the strength of this chef. In every dish, you strongly taste his Indian roots and his ability to cook Indian food to perfection. It becomes even more clear, when he serves his home-style chicken tikka masala with naan breads. No visual presence of any molecular techniques here, but authentic Indian cooking at its best, with a taste experience that we have not even found on our many travels to India.

In the kitchen, Chef Gaggan is surrounded by an international team with staff from almost every continent across the globe. If you succeed in booking the Chef’s table, you get an unobstructed look behind the scenes. Service in the restaurant is attentive and correct, in a more casual manner.

Even though the usage of modern cooking techniques and the authentic Indian tastes in every dish might not suit everybody’s palate, we deeply enjoyed every visit to Gaggan so far and were often blown away by what we tasted. We are eager to see how this progressive Indian cuisine will evolve over time.

Written by Johan