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17 restaurants get accolades as Michelin Guide launches in Bangkok
Some 17 restaurants in Bangkok have been awarded Michelin stars as the eponymous Guide launches in Thailand this week.
The Michelin Guide was unveiled in Bangkok on Wednesday 6 December.
A total of 98 restaurants made it into Bangkok’s Michelin Guide, which was released on Wednesday 6 December, but less than a fifth received the coveted star status.
No three-star venues have been named this year. Only three restaurants were awarded two stars, while 14 received at just one.
The announcement marks a shift in Michelin’s strategy to break into the Asian market. Previously, Michelin had liberally bestowed stars on restaurants in Japan, China and South Korea in a bid to sell copies of the little red book, resulting in some venues rejecting their stars altogether.
Despite its controversial place in the Asian restaurant scene, the Michelin Guide remains a household name, covering cities in nearly 30 countries worldwide.
Michael Ellis, international director in charge of the Michelin Guides, said: “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.”
Three restaurants obtained two stars in the 2018 guide to Bangkok: Gaggan, where the owner and head chef Gaggan Anand serves ultra-premium Indian cuisine to a level rarely seen, Euro-Japanese fusion venue Mezzaluna, and Le Normandie in Bangkok’s Mandarin Oriental hotel.
The guide’s judges said they were blown away by Gaggan’s original and creative dishes “with a wonderful blend of textures, flavours, and delicate spices.”
Le Normandie, meanwhile offers “a sophisticated French cuisine based on superb ingredients, refined techniques, and well-executed combinations.”
Opened in 1958, Le Normandie is the latest restaurant housed in the Mandarin Oriental hotel chain to pick up a Michelin star.
Also awarded two stars was high-rise haunt Mezzaluna.
Perched on the 65th floor of the Lebua Hotel, not only offers enviable views of the Thai capital, but also provides a complex seven-course menu in which head chef Ryuki Kawasaki delivers “European delights with Japanese precision.”
Of the 14 restaurants to receive one star, seven serve authentic Thai cuisine made by local chefs, according to the Guide.
Saneh Jaan, which is located across the road from the US embassy building, was awarded a Michelin star for service a combination of classic Thai dishes alongside harder-to-find delicacies including kaeng ranjuan, a robust hot and spicy soup made with shrimp paste, beef, and lashings of Thai basil.