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Nahm in Bangkok is Named Asia's Best Restaurant

Jonathan Fairfield

By Jonathan Fairfield
in Thai Food

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Jonathan Fairfield Star Member

Jonathan Fairfield

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Nahm is Asia's Best Restaurant--and five more Thai restaurants made the list!

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Singapore:-- Two of Bangkok’s leading eateries underlined the current strength of the local dining scene as Nahm was named the best restaurant in Asia at last night’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards in Singapore and Gaggan finished third. In total, six restaurants in Bangkok made the list.

By Nick Measures | Feb 25, 2014
The awards are a local version of the global World's 50 Best Restaurants, by San Pellegrino, and have come to be known as the definitive ranking for top restaurants in the world.
The traditional Thai food of David Thompson’s Nahm at the Metropolitan Hotel beat off rivals from such cuisine capitals as Tokyo and Hong Kong to be named best in the region.
Thompson, whose now closed Nahm in London became the first Thai restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star, is known for his focus on using traditional ingredients and for hunting down rare recipes was praised for his commitment to Thai cuisine.
“Thompson’s close attention … , makes Nahm a shining example of fine Thai cuisine and a restaurant worthy to sit on any galloping gastronomes’ list of must-visit destinations,” Asia 50's Best Restaurants wrote.
Nahm moved up from ranking third at the 2013 Awards and in the process managed to dethrone last year’s winner, the sustainable two-Michelin Star French cuisine of Narisawa in Tokyo.
Despite the high praise Thompson did receive some pretty unwarranted criticism when he first opened Nahm back in 2010, with many locals complaining that foreigners couldn’t cook Thai food as well as Thais, and that his food was overpriced. Check out our interviews with Thompson here and here.
Nahm’s victory was not the only success story for Thailand at the ceremony with the molecular wizardry of Chef Gaggan Annand’s progressive Indian restaurant Gaggan finishing in an impressive third spot. The judges stated that “Anand’s restless creativity and sense of fun has helped Gaggan become one of Asia’s most fashionable destination restaurants.” We discovered that he has both in spades in a recent interview and learnt how his passion for food is driving him on to perfection.
Further down the list the Thai with a contemporary twist of Sra Bua by KiinKiin was at 21, former Alumni of Thompson’s Nahm in London Bo and Dylan and their Thai restaurant Bo.Lan came in at 28 ,while Ian Kittichai’s Issaya Siamese Club was a newcomer to the list at 33, with Tim Butler and Eat Me completing the list from a Bangkok and Thai perspective at 37.
Here are the top 10:
No.1
NAHM
BANGKOK, THAILAND
No.2
NARISAWA
TOKYO, JAPAN
No.3
GAGGAN
BANGKOK, THAILAND
No.4
AMBER
HONG KONG, CHINA
No.5
NIHONRYORI RYUGIN
TOKYO, JAPAN
No.6
RESTAURANT ANDRÉ
SINGAPORE
No.7
WAKU GHIN
SINGAPORE
No.8
ULTRAVIOLET BY PAUL PAIRET
SHANGHAI, CHINA
No.9
LUNG KING HEEN
HONG KONG, CHINA
No.10
8 1/2 OTTO E MEZZO BOMBANA
HONG KONG, CHINA
Source: BK Asia City
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prog Apprentice Member

prog

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Thanks for the post. Impressive. Farang and Indian. Wonder if Thais agree.

I am not surprised that this topic doesn't interest the refined TV audience.

I went to Gaggan for the first time last month and it was great. If you have 10 courses, they are not all likely to be amazing, but overall the success rate was really good for that type of meal.

Not sure how often they change the menu but when they do, I will be back again.

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atyclb Platinum Member

atyclb

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Thanks for the post. Impressive. Farang and Indian. Wonder if Thais agree.

I am not surprised that this topic doesn't interest the refined TV audience.

I can understand how many thais believe non thais cannot cook thai food as well. They have mixed bag of superiority / inferiority / insecurity complex.

medical schools have a "no foreigner" hire policy. its like admitting non thais can be as smart as thai doctors and showing walking talking examples.in stark contrast koreas seoul national university actively recruits nobel prize winners without regard to national origin or ethnicity.

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hhiser Advanced Member

hhiser

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Thanks for the post. Impressive. Farang and Indian. Wonder if Thais agree.

I am not surprised that this topic doesn't interest the refined TV audience.

I would think that rubbing it in that a Farang chef cooks better Thai food, by a considerable margin, would be in poor form.

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AyG Platinum Member

AyG

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Yes, I remember Thai being very impressed by the bun shops that opened few years ago and they were queuing for it...

First time I see the words Thai and critics together, maybe I don't know enough :-)

In the cases of Cinnabon, Krispy Kreme, the new-to-Thailand brand of popcorn (the name eludes me for the moment), &c. you're mixing up the lure of novelty with that of taste. Thai people have been given the opportunity to try something that was previously only available to the wealthy Thais who could travel to foreign countries, and that's going to create a certain buzz - along with the uber-hyping of the products in the media.

As for Thai people as food critics, in my experience your average Thai person analyses their food much more than a typical Westerner. In the west we're taught not to be rude about the food we're eating, so we don't discuss the balance of flavours and how "correct" the dish is - to do so would probably cause offence. Such discussion is commonplace at the dinner table in Thailand.

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