When we booked our trip to Thailand a year ago, the first piece of advice we got from MULTIPLE people, was to make sure to get reservations at Gaggan. Gaggan has consistently been listed in the top 50 restaurants in the world, made it to the top 10 in 2015, and was rated the number one restaurant in all of Asia – and boy are they right.
We made our reservations about 3 months before our trip. When booking online, there are only two options for times the early seating at 6:30 or the late seating at 9:30. We decided to go with the later seating so we could fit more things in, which ending up being a good thing since I completely messed up the time difference and we didn’t actually land in Bangkok until 6:30 that day.
When we arrived at the restaurant we were already blown away – you’re in the middle of this busy, dusty city, and suddenly you turn down an alley to a beautiful white glass house that looks like it belongs in the country. We checked in with the hostess, and realized that we somehow booked the testing lab, which was SO worth it – I highly recommend asking for this as it is a much more immersive experience. We were taken upstairs to bar seating around the kitchen where we could watch the chefs prepare each course – and boy are there a lot of courses.
When we first sat down, the chef, Charles, came by to show us the menu – 25 courses explained only by emojis (emojis, as he explained, are the common language between all countries). He also explained that the menu consists of 25 small items because 25 bites is what it takes for the average person to become satisfied in a meal. While each course was designed to be small, some were more than one bite, leading to the perfect amount of food.
There is no specific wine pairing with their menu, however, the sommelier was able to recommend an incredible orange white from Spain that he said went best with the first two thirds of the menu. Once we finished the bottle, he recommended the perfect red by the glass to go with the last portion.
Our first course was the lemon emoji. As Chef Charles explained, this course was designed to be sipped and smelled at the same time to get the full experience. When the cup came out, a cold smoke was coming from the sugar like powder in the dish. We were to inhale the mist, and then sip the liquid to get the full flavor. The scent was a citrus smell, and the liquid was a combination of citrus and spices designed to give you the taste of the original cola.
Second course was an explosion emoji. It came out on a spoon, and looked sort of like a poached egg. Chef Charles explained that this was designed to give you a taste of the Indian flavors to come. It was yogurt, and when you bit into it it “exploded” in your mouth with a liquid that was full of delicious Indian flavors. It definitely got us excited for the rest of the menu.
The third course was a plant emoji. This bite was a take on a traditional Bombay dish of bhel, which was similar to a rice cake. It came out in a rice paper with small drops of an Indian spice on top. SO good.
Fourth up was the eggplant emoji. What looked like a sweet, ended up being an incredible savory bite of a delicious puree with Indian spice inside two eggplant cookies.
Number five was the chili emoji, which immediately scared Eric and I, as we both are pretty adverse to spicy foods. When it came out, we were pretty surprised by what looked like a piece of chocolate. We were right. When you first bit into the white chocolate truffle, you immediately tasted the spicy jalapeño center. Once the jalapeño started to get spicy, the creamy chocolate took over and balanced it out. While it wasn’t my favorite item, it was definitely a cool way to see the immense thought that goes into not only the flavors, but also how and when they hit your taste buds. Pretty incredible.
Next up was the mushroom emoji. Mushroom puree with green peas and mushrooms, wrapped in a wonton with a wasabi dust. This was one of the best bites of the whole meal.
Number seven was a bowl of rice emoji. This course was designed to recreate the Indian idly sambar dish. The bite was a light spongy cake like base with a delicious foam of Indian flavor and a crispy piece of basil on top.
The eighth course was an apple emoji. A frozen apple base was placed on top of a woven nest of coriander spice and then topped with a savory dollop of Indian flavor and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Nine was hands down our favorite, probably because it included something fried. It was a prawn center that was breaded in an ash mixture of burnt leeks, onions and garlic and then fried. Dusted on top was a layer of onion ash. It was INCREDIBLE.
Next up was the aloo gobi caviar. Aloo is another name for potato in Indian culture, and our dish was a small dried potato carved out and filled with caviar and Indian spices.
The eleventh dish was the most interesting in my opinion. The emoji was an orange, yet it came out on a carved out ear of corn with dried corn pieces on the plate. The outside was a citrus waffle cookie, and the inside was a savory cream, which we found out after the meal was a goat brain puree (and it was delicious).
Bite number twelve was a sake emoji. It was liver in between two paper thin pieces made of sake and topped with a passionfruit puree and a small flower.
Course thirteen was the ice cream emoji. We were given a small cone filled with mango ice cream, wasabi, and topped with a fresh piece of uni. The flavors on this one were another example of how detailed this menu gets. You first tasted the cold mango ice cream, then the hit of wasabi, and the freshness of the uni. It was amazing.
Number fourteen was sushi. Indian sushi, which sounds like the craziest thing, because it is. It was a meringue base in place of rice with a piece of toro on top. It was then sprinkled with an Indian spice and a dollop of a chutney puree.
The fifteenth course (so many!) was a taco emoji. It was a crunchy taco shell filled with an Indian flavored fish tartar.
Bite number sixteen was a green tea emoji. The dish was made with a red tomato powder and hot matcha was poured over and mixed tableside by the chef. It was warm, savory, and delicious.
Seventeen was a beef emoji. The was a fried pork vindaloo croquette with dried leek on top. It was one of my favorite items on the menu and was SO full of flavor.
The eighteenth item was a photo of a stew. The first thing I noticed was how absolutely beautiful the bowl holding this dish was – the way they served the items was almost as mesmerizing as the food! It was a cold curry with sliced scallops and small fried onions on top.
Number nineteen was a cute little bird, which ALMOST made me feel bad about what we were about to eat (but not enough to stop eating!). Our plate came out with a cage that was lifted to reveal two pieces of quail marinated in delicious Indian spices.
Bite twenty was a fish emoji. This dish took a little longer to cook and gave us a nice little break to digest and order more wine. This was about where I started to feel full, and get a little nervous that there were still five more dishes. The fish was marinated and rubbed in Indian spices and then wrapped in tea leaves that were set on fire to cook the fish without it being charred.
The twenty-first dish was a hot dog emoji, and definitely the one Eric was most looking forward to trying on the menu. The meat was lamb and it was served on a bun that was very similar to a bao.
Twenty-two was a crab. It was a layered dish of jasmine rice, crab curry, and an egg custard on top. We mixed it all together before eating, and it was amazing. Definitely one of my favorites, but also the largest dish on the menu. While most item were a bite or two, this one felt more like a full appetizer sided item. Halfway through I was sufficiently stuffed. This was the last of the savory courses, and they came around to offer coffee and tea to everyone before moving on to the final three dessert courses.
The twenty-third course was a block of cheese emoji (we were having too much fun and forgot to take a picture of this one!). It was made with beetroot and blue cheese dust sprinkled over the top. Everyone seemed to really enjoy this one, however I’m not a big fan of blue cheese so it wasn’t my favorite.
Bite twenty-four was a butterfly, and the one I was most intrigued by when I first glanced over the menu. The green was soft and cake like and the butterfly was made of soy paper so it was edible. The entire dish was a basil chocolate flavor and it was REALLY delicious.
The twenty-fifth and final item was represented by a strawberry emoji. It was a ghewar cake with a custard, a sweet flavored gelatin, topped with a Japanese strawberry (the most perfect strawberries in the world) and then the final touch of a gold flake because as Chef Charles put it “you paid enough to be here so we added some gold.”
By the time we finished we were SO full, and we couldn’t stop raving about how amazing the entire experience was. As we were settling the bill, the maitre’d called us a car so it would be ready right as we left, and we headed back to our hotel perfectly satisfied and SO glad we had booked dinner. If you’re planning to be in Thailand you MUST book this. Comment below with any questions, and if you’ve been let me know how you liked it!
