Inside Gaggan and Tokyo's New Godzilla-Themed Hotel
Gaga about Gaggan
After Chef Gaggan Anand snagged the top spot in the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards this past March, the eponymous restaurant shot to the top of my to-do list on a recent trip to Bangkok. I wasn’t really sure what to make of “progressive Indian” cuisine but it's just as creative as it sounds. Having visited a few other molecular dining rooms in the past, I was expecting most of the dishes to be served up with a side of pretention. But from the moment you walk in to Gaggan's white-washed colonial building, you are treated like family. The sommelier is quick to offer you the perfect cocktail or glass of wine—don’t miss the smoking coconut lassi—and makes sure your glass stays half-full. As for the food, Chef Anand applies lots of technological tricks to his cooking, which transforms some Indian staples into a feast for the eyes as well. Picture an “explosive” sphere of yoghurt, edible plastic bags full of nuts and spices, or lamb chops with smoked whisky. You can try a sampling with one of the tasting menus, which start from a very reasonable THB1,800 ($415) and go up to THB4,000 ($924). I say without hesitation that the 21 courses I ate at Gaggan were 21 of the best bites of my life.
68/1 Soi Langsuan, Ploenchit Road, Lumpini, Bangkok 10330, Thailand, (+66) 2652-1700, www.eatatgaggan.com.
Gaggan's smokin' coconut lassi. Photo: Allwecandid
Snuggle up to Godzilla
“Look mommy, a dinosaur!” Tokyo welcomed yet another wild hotel last month, with the Godzilla-themed Hotel Gracery Shinjuku. Nope, it’s not at Universal Studios—the address opened in Tokyo’s nightlife and entertainment epicenter of Kabukicho. The monstertastic property is offering two types of Godzilla-themed rooms: one top-floor suite with special-effect walls and a huge claw coming out of the ceiling over the bed; and six other “Godzilla View” rooms that peer right into the red eye—a life-size replica of the film star’s head. The location is quite fitting, as it’s inside a new entertainment complex, complete with 12 cinemas. With any luck, you’ll get to see the King of the Monsters in action on the big screen… and then again before bed.
From JPY13,000 ($845). 1-19-1 Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan, (+81) 3-6833-2489, shinjuku.gracery.com.
Sweet dreams at Hotel Gracery Shinjuku. Photo: Photo: TM & © Toho Co Ltd.
Zero to Hero
Tree-hugging travelers out there will want to bookmark the new travel guides from Kiosk, a local lifestyle website that focuses on sustainable living. This year, the company has been rolling out a series of new Zero guides—all of which highlight eco-friendly places to stay, eat and drink in major cities across the world. The first guides to publish were London, Copenhagen and Singapore, but there’s one for Hong Kong out now as well as eight more to come this year. Even if you have no plans to leave the city, the website’s focus on eco-friendly news around town might just inspire you to clean up your act.
$128 from Page One, Shop LG 1-30, Festival Walk, 80 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, 2778-2808. Learn more at discoverkiosk.com.
