Bangkok: the new 'international capital of fine dining'

Bangkok has outperformed Paris and Lima with six entries in the world's top 50 restaurants listing, sealing "its reputation as an international capital of fine dining", said The Times. It is the first time the Thai capital, better known for its "cheap and cheerful street food", has had more entries than any other in The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025, considered the "most influential rankings of its kind" in the culinary industry.

The "quiet revolution" that has reshaped Asian fine dining is "one rooted not in trends, but in tradition", said Sasha Mariposa in Tatler. Its top restaurants have gained acclaim through their use of "heirloom ingredients and ancestral techniques", drawing on "centuries-old knowledge" to craft "elegant and evocative" dishes.

Potong, ranked at 13 and given the Highest New Entry Award, is run by Pichaya "Pam" Soontornyanakij, the first Asian to win the title of The World's Best Female Chef by the panel, said Harriet Cooper in The World's 50 Best. Inspired by her upbringing, the restaurant is located in what was "once her family's ancestral traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy", where she weaves her heritage into a "progressive Thai-Chinese menu" through an "immersive" journey that incorporates the philosophy of the "five elements and five senses".

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Gaggan, sixth on the list, was already "crowned" best restaurant in the region by the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list in March, said Bloomberg. Chef Gaggan Anand's "multisensory" dining experience provides 22 courses of "Indian-accented cuisine" and incorporates music and imagery to produce a "wildly innovative" experience.

Bangkok is "on a roll in the world of fine dining", as other restaurants from the area included on the list were: Sorn (No. 17), Sühring (No. 22), Le Du (No. 30) and Nusara (No. 35). Through these restaurants, Bangkok is making a name for itself as a culinary capital, as it "continues to rise in the ranks of the world's fine dining spots".