The first ever Michelin Guide Thailand was unveiled last night (Dec 6) at Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok hotel. Ninety-eight Bangkok restaurants made the guide, with 17 of them receiving Michelin stars.
Leading the charge were Gaggan, Le Normandie and Mezzaluna with two stars each, while Jay Fai was the only one of Bangkok’s awesome street eats to win a Michelin star. A further 27 street-food vendors made the guide with Bib Gourmand and Michelin Plate recognition (see below).
No Bangkok restaurants managed to win the coveted and incredibly rare three Michelin-star accolade, of which there was just 127 in the world in 2016.
Back in February, the Thai government signed a five-year contract with Michelin, worth around THB$143.5 million (almost S$6 million), to launch the yearly guide covering Bangkok only in its debut edition.
Multiple inspectors visited potential restaurants multiple times anonymously and paid their own bills, judging restaurants for their quality of ingredients, cooking techniques, chef’s personality, value for money and consistency.
The ranking goes from one to three stars, with one dubbed “a very good restaurant in its category” and three being “exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.”
The full list of Bangkok’s Michelin-star awardees is as follows:
Two-star
• Gaggan
• Mezzaluna
One-star
• Bo.lan
• Chim by Siam Wisdom
• Elements
• J’Aime by Jean-Michel Lorain
• Jay Fai
• Nahm
• Paste
• Suhring
The remaining restaurants that made the guide received Bib Gourmand and Michelin Plate recognition. Bib Gourmand recognizes “quality cooking for B1,000 or less,” while the new Michelin Plate recognizes restaurants where the inspectors have discovered “simply a good meal.”
Notable absentees from the star list include Thai fine-dining restaurant Le Du, Trat-meets-Isaan cuisine specialist Supanniga, the Turkey-inspired tasting menu experience at House on Sathorn, and new-wave Thai tapas restaurant 80/20. All of them received Michelin Plate recognition.
Since its debut in France in 1900 by the eponymous French tire company, the prestigious red-covered guide has been a restaurant bible for foodies who seek exceptional dining experiences. Each year, the guide’s inspectors dine at potential restaurants and give them ratings, ranging from one to three stars. In Asia, there are already guides for Hong Kong-Macau, Japan, Seoul, Shanghai and Singapore.
So, did the Michelin inspectors do their homework? Did your favorite Bangkok restaurant make the cut? Will they award more street food places with stars?
If the second edition of Singapore’s Michelin Guide was any indication, our hopes aren’t high. And oh boy, did we wax lyrical about how that went. We can only hope Bangkok doesn’t suffer the same fate.
