Chef Gaggan Anand’s ‘Gaggan’ Wins The Top Spot In Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants

Gaggan, the Bangkok based restaurant serving progressive Indian cuisine has won the top spot on the list of Asia’s 50 best restaurants. The winners were announced during the grand gala event which took place at the W Hotel in Bangkok yesterday. The annual awards show, in its fourth year, comprises of a list of top restaurants in Asia curated by The Diners Club Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy, including over 300 leaders in the restaurant industry across Asia. 

Innovative Indian Cuisine

Gaggan, a Bangkok based restaurant created by Chef Anand Gaggan, took home the top spot for a second consecutive year. Speaking to CNN, Chef Gaggan noted that the restaurants serves traditional Indian dishes with a unique and different twist to the preparation and the presentation. “It is different, because it doesn’t look the same, it doesn’t feel the same, it doesn’t scent the same. But if you are from Kolkata, and you put it in your mouth and close your eyes, it is a short flight to the street there, and you are getting the same flavour that you were raised on. That has been my foundation of cooking — eating in the streets and celebrating life in India.”

The Kolatta-born chef’s artistic creations celebrates the traditional Indian cuisine with an inclusion of avant-garde theatrical presentations. According to Chef Anand, Gaggan’s top honours in this year’s event could be attributed to the fact that the dishes on the menu is inspired by his own intuitions more than catering to the customers. ” This year, 2015-16, we cooked what we wanted to cook. Our success and the popularity have brought in a lot of clientele, and has changed a lot of things. We don’t think, ‘Will this make that person happy?’ Let’s make ourselves happy. And if we cook happy, I hope the guest is happy. And I’m sure they will be,” he added. 

The Indian Takeover

Not only did Gaggan, an Indian restaurant, take the top spot on the list of Asia’s 50 best restaurants list, Indian Accent in New Delhi, placed in the top 10 and was voted the ‘Best Restaurant in India’ for the second consecutive year by the panel. While receiving the award, Rohit Khattar, Chairman of Old World Hospitality, said, “It is indeed encouraging. We are all thrilled with this award for the second consecutive year and would like to thank the jury as well as our diners for their continued support. We opened Indian Accent in New York last week and are now looking forward to New York embracing our inventive Indian cuisine.” 

Indian Accent serves an unique interpretation of traditional Indian dishes and the restaurants was featured in 2015’s San Pellegrino list of 100 Best Restaurants in the World. Manish Mehrotra, Chef at Indian Accent, said, “We work 365 days a year towards this and are delighted with this recognition. These are exciting times for the food industry in India and we are glad to be contributing towards its evolvement. We hope to keep bringing the very best to our diners and look forward to many such achievements in future.”