All You Need to Know about Dining at Gaggan

Ranked #1 on Asia’s World’s Best Restaurant List, Gaggan stands out from the usual modern fine dining experiences. Guests experience the fun and thrill of eating with Gaggan’s creativity, interactivity, artful presentation, and flavors from around the world.

How to Make a Reservation

The easiest way to land a reservation is by planning in advance. If you book 2-3 months prior to your trip, you will likely get a table. If you try to make a booking within one month of your stay, you will likely not hear back from the online reservations system. Plus, if you try to call the restaurant’s phone number, you will only hear from their busy signal.

Insider Tip: If you stay at a reputable five-star hotel (like The Peninsula Bangkok), you can ask the hotel’s concierge to assist you with reservations and contacting the restaurant (as many of these hotels have a direct line and access to the best restaurants in the city.)

 

What to Expect at Gaggan

Set in a quiet neighborhood, vehicles drive through a long, narrow driveway to arrive at Gaggan’s white, colonial structure shining in the night. Most guests dress for the occasion despite the smart casual dress code. Diners come from around the globe with a mixed crowd of serious food lovers to Bangkok or Asian society wanting to be seen and heard dining in this exclusive establishment.

Service reflects Chef Gaggan’s relaxed, fun-loving, non-formal attitude. It can border unprofessional for those classic high-end food diners. The target audience aims at the new rich and moneyed millennials.

The tasting menu consists of 25 courses for 5,000 baht or $150 USD. The dishes change frequently according to the seasonality of ingredients and the chef’s whim. If you have experienced other high-end tasting menus, you may expect amuse bouche plates, palate cleaners, and post-dessert treats. Don’t expect that here. You get exactly what you pay for on the menu – no more, no less.

 

Interactive Dining Experience

The best part of the Gaggan experience is the interactivity in eating and in guessing what exactly you just ate. Of the 25 courses, 20 of them, for this particular evening, were eaten without utensils and just with your fingers.

Some of these dishes are presented with a detailed explanation of the ingredients and preparation. Others are simply placed on the table with a vague few words for the guests to smell and taste the answer which is then fully explained after the table completes the course.

🌯 The entire menu is a simple, vertical line of 25 emojis. Each represents the courses of the meal. However, things are not as they seem – this burrito emoji does not at all mean you are getting an actual burrito. Instead, you just ate goat’s brains in the form of a fried phyllo wrap
🍊 Another course where the plate is simply placed in front of you with the word, “Orange.” Then you take the bite and figure out what exactly you just ate. Don’t be afraid, however, this was just a delicious bite of foie gras inside yuzu marshmallow

 

Progressive Indian Cuisine

Gaggan labels his cuisine as “Progressive Indian”. There are flavors of Indian spices and homages to classic Indian dishes. With that background, the evolution of the dishes pushes your mind to appreciate Gaggan’s interpretations and innovations.

🍖 Pork Vindaloo. Traditional pork vindaloo coated with Japanese panko crumbs and hot English mustard. This is like a marriage of Japanese katsu and Indian curry. The result is a memorable creation from the fluffy crunch and the spiced curry
🥞 The 21st course – Lobster Dosai Indian Pancakes. By this time of the meal, you will likely feel full and more than ready for dessert. This savory course is one of the largest sizes and heaviest of all the dishes. Perhaps a smaller, lighter bite would be more appreciated; but perhaps it is because you might have the expectation of a sweet pancake to start the dessert courses

 

Japanese Influence

Gaggan has officially announced its future closure and next set of plans. In 2020, the Bangkok restaurant will close its doors and concepts in Japan will proceed to begin. The first will be in Fukuoka in a small restaurant which will only open 20 days a month.

With his anticipated move to Japan, you can already taste the influence in Japanese cuisine in a few of the dishes. Plus, he brings back the most premium ingredients from his frequent travels and research in Japan. Perhaps these dishes are a glimpse of trial dishes for his future establishments.

🍸 Gin Tonic with cucumbers and the freshest Hokkaido uni on top. This is a bite of absolute heaven for uni lovers. Gaggan has a source for the most premium cuts of Japanese seafood, and he properly chills and serves the dish with a modern and fun experience
🍣 Chutoro. Melt-in-your mouth tuna belly served on top of a dash-based meringue (in place of the traditional sushi rice). Another amazing dish with clear Japanese influence. Perhaps it is his love of Japanese ingredients and Japanese cuisine that inspires Gaggan to head to Japan next

 

Dessert Courses

By this time of the meal, you will be more than ready for a sweet ending. Each of the dessert courses is perfectly light to balance savory dishes and harmoniously conclude this most epic tasting menu.

🌹 Beetroot Rose. A beautiful start to the dessert courses. The roses come in what looks like a book – quite reminiscent to The Beauty and The Beast. The fun presentation reopens your stomach for the last 4 dishes of desserts
🇮🇳 Mango Ghewar. If you watched the Gaggan episode on Netflix’s Chef’s Table you will have learned the background story to this dessert and conclusion to the meal. Chef Gaggan pays homage to India and his family with this last dish

 

Watch the video below with my full dinner experience at Gaggan. And subscribe to my YouTube channel for the latest travel vlogs!

 

Address & Hours

Gaggan
68/1 Soi Langsuan
Ploenchit Road, Lumpini, Bangkok
+66-2-652-1700
6pm to 11pm
Reservations Only

 


 
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