Chef Gaggan Anand started his restaurant in Bangkok back in 2010 and since then he has been very successful. Winning several awards here in Asia, but not yet a Michelin star…. but they only arrived in Thailand this year, so we will see what the experts will say…If my information is correct the guide arrives in both English and Thai at the end of this year.
You arrive in a little white wooden house in this small alley off Lang Suan Road. Lisa and I got a table in a room upstairs, quiet and quaint. They presented the menu in the form of an emoji for every dish you were to taste, no names! Then the sommelier arrived to propose the wine. There we were sipping our first wine with the two first dishes coming in, when I say dishes it’s more a bite. Throughout the whole dinner, there wasn’t any cutlery needed apart from two dishes out of 25.
The two first dishes arrive, Black salt watermelon and yoghurt explosion, very tasty and surprising, peculiar sensation of the palate, now to mention this is my first encounter with molecular cuisine and also with an Indian twist!
Just a moment after this, the staff is back at our table asking if we would like to join the Chef’s Table, which of course would be more spectacular and interesting whilst having your gourmet dinner you will also be able to be a part of the kitchen (lab) have a view over it and at the same time be given explanations, on the ideas around the food inventions and the wines as well.
As the Chef’s table hasn’t started when we joined, we had another go on the starters!
Here is the list of the dishes and their names:
This was an experience for sure! will I go back?? not so sure, can’t make up my mind about this restaurant … and you see, that’s the whole problem! gastronomy is for most people instinctively, you like or you don’t like, right? so I felt that this Aha!-feeling, surprise and overwhelm never really happened and considering the evening wasn’t cheap, was it worth it?
I also would like to give you a few other reasons why? and not just because of the prize.
I truly enjoyed 7-8 dishes out of 25, for me that’s not enough. I think I expected a greater gastronomy experience since everyone talked about it so eagerly. The wine pairing was not up to level or not up to my taste satisfaction anyway. Trying too hard to satisfy our palates with wines quite “unusual” couldn’t simple yet sophisticated have worked here?
As a conclusion to this, I would simply say that molecular upscale dining is nothing for me, well perhaps El Bulli… if Chef Ferran Adrià will open it again… I would very much prefer a juicy Tomahawk at Gaggan’s Meatlicious! Where the food and the atmosphere is great, down to earth and plainly “a damn good cooked meal”
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