Restaurants in Bangkok on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 list

What is it?: Bangkok got the number one spot in Asia this year, and it was taken by Gaggan Anand. This is the most recent evolution of Chef Gaggan’s endeavour, blending influences from India and beyond into the sort of hyper-modernist cuisine that only an El Bulli-trained chef could think up.

Why it’s loved: Many people in Bangkok talk about Chef Gaggan like he’s Jesus. Possibly even more talk about him like he’s Voldemort. But his impact is undeniable, and even many of his vociferous critics will cop to the man’s talents. The origin point comes from Chef Gaggan’s origins in Kolkata, but influences span the world. Consider his current menu, which comes in four parts, ‘India,’ ‘Japan,’ ‘Thailand’ and ‘Communal Soul Food.’ We can’t read the descriptions in Japanese and Hindi, but we can read the ones in Thai and English. ‘Baked.’ ‘Fried.’ Maybe he’s being coy with us, but it works – we’re excited.

Time Out tip: The best recommendation, as for any such restaurant, is to go in with absolutely zero requirements or preconceptions. One of Gaggan’s most feted menus only consisted of emojis. Just enjoy the ride.

What is it?: Nusara, in the heart of Old Town, is a Thai fine dining restaurant  helmed by Chef Thitid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn, bagging number six on this list, beating Chef Ton’s flagship Le Du.

Why it’s loved: The term ‘royal cuisine’ is one of Bangkok’s greatest culinary cliches. As soon as we see a new venue market itself as ‘royal,’ we can expect claims to a lineage from the palace kitchens. But at Nusara, we suspend our disbelief – Chef Ton brings classical elegance, with dishes that make heavy use of smoked and fermented ingredients taken from the fairy tales of old Siam. Combinations of technique and protein that might be unthinkable at your streetside ahan tam sang restaurant are shown to be the genius moves they actually are – the current menu features tom yam with beef and tom kha with pla salit.

Time Out tip: They take their wine seriously, with Chef Ton’s brother, Chaisiri ‘Tam’ Tassanakajohn serving as sommelier. Even if you can’t snag a table, swing by their wine bar, Mayrai, downstairs, and don’t forget to pair with their pad thai.

What is it?: One of not only Bangkok’s but the world’s most progressive German restaurants, set in a beautiful mid-century modern home in Yen Akat, with filling but thoughtful dishes prepared by twin brothers Thomas and Mathias Sühring, nabbing the number 11 spot.

Why it’s loved: It’s unfortunate that we’ve come to expect fussiness in fine dining. But despite countless accolades, the Sühring brothers are nothing but. At heart, these are dudes who just love to eat, raised with the farming, foraging, and fermenting traditions of their homeland. Born in what was then the German Democratic Republic, raised between Berlin and their ancestral farm, their dishes bring real gemütlichkeit to Bangkok, and despite their sophistication, they’re as welcoming as a roaring fireplace in the Prussian autumn. For a long time, one of the courses was currywurst from their favourite Berlin stand, and they still finish every dinner with their oma’s recipe for eierlikör (egg nog). More of this please.

Time Out tip: The best tables in the house are those next to the open kitchen, where you can watch the brothers do their thing. Sit back and enjoy the evening’s entertainment.

What is it?: In her ancestral home in Bangkok’s Chinatown, Chef Pichaya ‘Pam’ Soontornyanakij pays homage to the traditions of her Thai-Chinese ancestors, showing the ways by which the diverse culinary traditions of China’s southern coast were transposed by the diaspora and adapted to Thailand, an effort which earned her lucky number 13 on Asia’s 50 Best this year.

Why it’s loved: Set in an iconic spindly, century-plus old Sino-Portuguese shophouse in Yaowarat, where Chef Pam’s family spent generations in the Chinese medicine trade, this is one of the city’s most beautiful and historic restaurant venues. Her team prepares dishes that fuse the excellence of Thai ingredients, Southern Thai seafood in particular, with the sort of rigorous cuisine that has its origins in the ancient Chinese medicinal theory of five balanced flavours. While many set-menu restaurants feel a bit hollow, expect to leave Potong with a stretched belly. After all, in Chinatown you have no business leaving on an empty stomach.

Time Out tip: Whether you want a pre-dinner aperitivo or a post-dinner digestivo, Opium Bar upstairs delivers the goods. In keeping with the restaurant’s ethos, this is one of the city’s most creative and progressive cocktail bars, pairing classic and oft-forgotten Asian ingredients with high-flying techniques that would be perfectly at home in New York or Tokyo.

What is it?: Even before becoming Bangkok’s first restaurant to receive a third Michelin star last year, Thong Lo’s Sorn has needed no introduction – it’s famous (or perhaps infamous) for being the city’s toughest table to book. The Asia’s 50 Best folks granted him the number nine spot.

Why it’s loved: In a world of tiny plates and modernist pyrotechnics, Sorn is the antidote. Chef Supaksorn 'Ice' Jongsiri isn't a culinary school wunderkind, but instead a self-taught cook who learned from his family traditions in Nakhon Si Thammarat, and later from the foodways of the South. The interpretation might be fine dining, but the roots are very much in the Southern Thai home, with meticulous care taken. The chilli paste is made in a stone mortar daily, and the rice is cooked in clay pots, because that's how it's supposed to be. While many chefs aspire to be renowned artists, Chef Ice seems happy to be a master craftsman.

Time Out tip: About that reservation… international guests get priority booking, with reservations opening on the 15th of the month for the following month. Us unfortunate locals will have to wait to try our luck with the Table Check app on the 25th of the month. We will refrain from making comments about the use of VPNs, false names, and possibly wearing a fake moustache while dining.

What is it?: Silom’s Le Du raised eyebrows in 2023 as the number one restaurant in Asia. And while Gaggan Anand may have snatched the gold medal from them this year, they still hold a respectable number 20, the second restaurant run by Chef Thitid ‘Ton’ Tassanakajohn to make the list this year.

Why it’s loved: If Chef Ton's Nusara is a look back in time to his grandparents' day, Le Du is his more modern approach. The name is a bit of a key. Sure, it's a Thai word (reudu meaning 'season'), but it's spelled en français, and this was one of the first fine dining restaurants in Bangkok to take part in the international trend of local wisdom plus modernist technique. Seafood, in particular, is given priority, and expect dishes made with top-tier crab, squid, and grouper, and river prawn remains the one constant on the menu, served with brown rice risotto.

Time Out tip: Meals are available as a four-course (B4,500) or a six-course (B5,500). Given the marginal difference between the two, you might as well splurge on the full six.

What is it?: Almost certainly the most controversial choice on the list this year, Chef Gaggan’s collaboration with the brand to end all brands at Louis Vuitton’s Gaysorn Amarin location blends haute couture and haute cuisine, earning the number 31 spot.

Why it’s loved: You could make an argument that Gaggan's efforts are closer to performance art than cooking, and you could make an argument that high fashion is closer to performance art than clothing design. So this may not be as leftfield a concept as you might think – and of course the dining space is gorgeous. The cuisine itself is very much rooted in the Gaggan style, with major influences from India, Thailand, and Japan, served in avant-garde fashion – lick some stuff up while you're here.

Time Out tip: Visitors can't seem to stop mentioning the desserts, designed by Thai patissier Dej Kaewkacha. You may know him from his Kyo Roll En chain, and by making less sugary, more grown up desserts available in malls from Hat Yai to Pattaya.

What is it?: Way out in Ramkhamhaeng, somewhere a little bit before the map reads 'Here Be Monsters,' Chef Chudaree ‘Tam’ Debhakam has been crafting her modern, creative vision of ingredient-focused Thai cuisine. The Asia’s 50 Best team handed her the number 44 position.

Why it’s loved: In the testosterone-flooded world of fine dining, Chef Tam's approach seems remarkably feminine. Set in her grandmother's suburban home, Baan Tepa seems less like a two Michelin star restaurant than a space for grandchildren to play. Many ingredients come from the raised beds out back, where heirloom varieties are grown and served with love. The service is widely considered to be some of the city's best, and the flavours are not showy or high-octane – rather, they favour precision and subtlety. Dare we call them demure?

Time Out tip: Visitors are always given a tour of the garden, and it is indeed gorgeous, with its whole litany of antique herbs, spices, and vegetables – it's as charming and comforting as a Studio Ghibli setting (just don't please make it into AI art). There's also an outdoor garden cafe (although temporarily closed as of time of writing) for those who didn't manage to get a reservation at the restaurant.

What is it?: In a cosy space in Sala Daeng, Chef Prin Polsuk applies serious craft and vision to classic Thai flavours, with a different theme each season – it might be Northern, it might be khao tom, but it’s always excellent, and made it at number 47 on Asia’s 50 Best this year.

Why it’s loved: If Baan Tepa is the comforting feminine, then Samrub Samrub Thai might be the comforting masculine. With his long gray hair and sardonic smile, Chef Prin comes off like the uncle who would totally buy you fireworks and teach you how to shoot pool and pick locks, and don't be surprised if his young son runs through the kitchen at some point. It's as informal as a top-tier restaurant can get, and they make sure you leave with a stomach full of the best rice you've ever had. The menu rotates frequently, and at time of writing the focus is on the dishes of Ubon Ratchathani (care for some bee larvae?). By the time of reading, he'll almost certainly have moved on to some new concept. We can't wait.

Time Out tip: What to drink with dinner? What you would have with any good country uncle in Thailand – lao khao. Expect excellent craft versions of the strong stuff, and look to the jars on the shelves for what's infusing at the moment. The versions made with plums are especially nice, a local answer to umeshu.