It’s been a while since I posted something non-Italy related, but get used to it! Curious Appetite isn’t limited to Italy. If you’ve subscribed to my Substack, you caught the long read version of my recent trip to Bangkok.
For my blog readers, I wanted to give a quick guide to where I ate in Bangkok.
This post focuses on the restaurants I visited during an intense tour of the Thai capital’s fine-dining scene.
Quick Guide to the fine dining restaurants, cocktail bars, and cafés I visited in Bangkok:
Fine dining
Gaggan
Nusara
Potong
Sühring
Casual restaurants
Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh
E-San by Gaggan
Cocktail bars
Bar Us
Vesper
Bar Sathorn
Coffee
Ceresia Coffee Roasters
PAGA Microroastery
MTCH
I’m sure if you visit Bangkok, street food and casual eateries will also be on the radar. I encourage you all to book at least one fine dining experience. Bangkok really showed me what Florence is missing (ahem, innovation, organization, fun, fine dining outside hotels, etc) and I found the small slice I tasted of Bangkok’s dining scene super exciting.
If you’re planning to visit (especially if you’re a fellow American with a rather sterile digestive system), avoid foods that may have been washed in tap water and be cautious with ice from markets or street vendors.
Most restaurants, cafés, and bars use factory-made ice from filtered water, so you can still enjoy cocktails, iced tea, and coffee without worry. I only really had an issue at a mid-range restaurant where I had some betel leaves I think were washed in the local water. Higher end spots I’d imagine have filtered/purified water for everything.
Before I deep dive into each restaurant’s highlights- a few foods for thought as per usual.
The irony is that Thailand was never particularly high on my travel list. I thought I might go my whole life without visiting. Growing up in Seattle, Thailand was the place classmates went backpacking “to find themselves,” or somewhere people returned from boasting about cheap street food and massages.
Of course, the street food is really, really good. (Here’s one of my favs from the trip on IG)
View this post on Instagram
But because of those clichés, I dismissed Thailand. Not only was I indifferent about visiting, Thai restaurants were usually my least favorite Asian food outing back home. I instead hoped my first trip to Asia would be somewhere like Vietnam or China.
So when I received an opportunity for a dining-focused industry trip to Bangkok, I was intrigued. The restaurant lineup was impossible to say no to.
I went in with almost zero expectations—ready to navigate spice levels, swat off mosquito bites and raging traffic. I assumed the “real” culinary revelations would come later in Chiang Mai, which is often celebrated for its distinct regional cuisine. (Which btw was fantastic!)
Oh, how I must now eat my words!
Strangely, I’m glad I arrived with such ambivalence because Bangkok completely blew me away.
Living in Italy and working in tourism can sometimes make the travel world feel very Eurocentric. In the summer, tourism can feel oppressive.
For scale, Italy is smaller than California but receives nearly 70 million visitors annually. Thailand, roughly twice the size of Florida, sees fewer than 35 million.
Despite being one of the most visited countries in the world, hotspots like Bangkok and Chiang Mai still felt surprisingly relaxed and manageable to me—even in December, part of Thailand’s high season which would equate Europe’s summer months.
As usual, traveling helps give me a new lens on my life in Italy and reframes how I think about food culture.
I’ve started to grow resentful in how we tend to pigeonhole certain destinations—Thailand with “cheap street food,” France with white-tablecloth gastronomy. Basta!
Fine dining and humble cooking traditions can’t exist without the other.
Some of the recipes inspiring modern chefs today were born in street stalls, family kitchens, and neighborhood taverns. At the same time, contemporary restaurants push technique and creativity forward in ways that eventually influence everyday cooking.
With that in mind, here’s where I ate in Bangkok—from ambitious tasting menus to playful concepts and cocktail bars worth seeking out.
Gaggan (check my video review here)
The most anticipated stop on the itinerary the restaurant from Kolkata-born chef Gaggan Anand.
It holds a Michelin star and has repeatedly ranked among Asia’s best restaurants, currently standing at #1.
Dining here feels less like a traditional tasting menu and more like a dinner party mashed up with musical theatrics. The space seats only about fifteen guests around a counter, where the kitchen puts the final touches on a multi-course experience in front of you.
The menu unfolds in acts inspired by India, Thailand, and Japan, with techniques moving from steamed dishes to grilled and fried courses. Former drummer boy Chef Gaggan makes sure music plays an integral role, and the in your face playlist adds energy to every bite.
What stood out most wasn’t just the technical precision but the way the meal fostered conversation. At one point the team challenged diners about sustainability (overfished popular items) and tired Michelin-star pony tricks. I.e. lobster, uni, tuna and salmon.
The food itself ranged from playful to nostalgic. One small bite—an “aloo gobi cookie”—unexpectedly transported me back to frying spices and attempting curries as a vegetarian high schooler in Seattle.
That sense of memory unlocking is what I love most about food.
A seat at Gaggan currently costs around $500 USD per person including wine pairings, tax, and gratuity. For a multi-hour experience with a litany of natural wines and an intimate setting, I’d say it’s worth the sqeeeze. Especially considering simply breathing in the US could cost you a grand. At least you get good food, memories and wine out of this deal!
Nusara (video review HERE)
Another standout was 1-star Michelin Nusara run by chef Thitid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn and his brother Tam running the vino show. #6 on Asia Best 50 list.
The dining rooms overlook Wat Pho, one of Bangkok’s most impressive temples which during the day are heaving with tourists.
Nusara is dedicated to their grandmother’s recipes, interpreted through the lens of fine dining. For a first timer, I can imagine the dishes were both approachable and stimulating—coconut-based soups, fragrant curries, and intriguing ingredients like sour guava.
The space itself is polished but warm, and the hospitality cozy. Even as an outsider to Thai cuisine, the meal felt like an engaging introduction to traditional flavors reimagined for the Michelin crowd.
Potong
Located in Bangkok’s Chinatown, Potong might have been the most soulful setting of the trip.
Chef Pichaya ‘Pam’ Soontornyanakij transformed her family’s historic building—a five-story former Chinese apothecary—into a restaurant exploring Chinese-Thai culinary heritage.
The architecture alone is worth the visit. The Sino-Portuguese building is a rare survivor in the neighborhood, and dining inside feels like stepping into a living piece of history.
The tasting menu interprets Chinese flavors through Thai fine-dining technique. One highlight was the beverage program, which included thoughtful non-alcoholic pairings built around teas and kombuchas.
Potong also houses a rooftop bar, making it a place where you could easily spend an entire evening.
Sühring (video review HERE)
German fine dining in Thailand? Yes, this destination restaurant is run by German twin chefs Mathias Sühring and Thomas Sühring.
Set in a lush garden that almost feels like a jungle retreat, the restaurant celebrates modern German cuisine and currently holds 3 Michelin stars.
The tasting menu draws from the brothers’ childhood memories—think elegant interpretations of classic dishes like spätzle showered in Alba truffle.
I never expected one of the best German meals I’ve had to be in Bangkok, but that’s part of what makes the city’s fine dining scene rather dynamic at least to me as a first timer.
More casual (and whimsical) stops
Not every meal was formal. A few lighter, more playful restaurants stood out as well.
Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh imagines a fictional love story between Mexican and Indian cuisines. The concept sounds gimmicky but works surprisingly well, blending spices and techniques from both traditions into colorful dishes. Video review HERE
Another fun stop was E-San by Gaggan, a casual offshoot from Chef Gaggan focusing on Northeastern Thai flavors. Expect bold combinations of chili, lime, fermented fish sauce, and herbs, with a slightly Japanese izakaya-style atmosphere.
A quick cocktail crawl
Bangkok’s bar scene is just as exciting as its restaurants. On one self-guided evening crawl I visited a few standouts.
Bar Us has a listening-bar vibe with cocktails riffing on classics using ingredients like miso, fig leaf, and umeshu.
Vesper offered a more classic setting and an excellent martini—though reservations are a good idea because it fills up quickly.
Other stops included Alone Together Bar, conveniently close to my hotel, Nuss Bar at Nusara, and the rooftop at Nobu Bangkok, which delivers sweeping views of the city skyline.
At Bar Sathorn, I particularly loved how cocktails incorporated local ingredients like Thai rum, mango, lemongrass, and honey.
Coffee & Matcha stops
Between meals, I found a few cafés worth bookmarking:
Ceresia Coffee Roasters
PAGA Microroastery
MTCH for matcha lovers
Bangkok’s specialty coffee scene is clearly thriving as the country has invested heavily in coffee growing/production. But Chiang Mai was where the specialty coffee scene was really at! Stay tuned for a Chiang Mai Coffee Guide…
If you’ve never been to Bangkok, I hope this gives you a sense that the city’s dining scene extends far beyond street food—though that alone would be worth the trip.
The mix of ambitious fine dining, playful restaurant concepts, excellent cocktail bars, and deeply rooted culinary traditions makes Bangkok one of the most exciting food cities I’ve visited in years.
And if you have been, I’d love to hear your own discoveries—especially the places beyond the obvious.
Now curiously obsessed with Thailand,
Coral