All in good taste: the winners of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants are revealed - as Gaggan triumphs again
Gaggan, an Indian molecular gastronomy restaurant in Bangkok, took first place - but there was a strong showing from nine of Hong Kong’s finest too
Gaggan, Bangkok’s self-styled “progressive Indian restaurant”, has won top spot in the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants awards for the fourth year in a row.
In a press conference after the awards ceremony, which was held at the Wynn Palace, Macau, on Tuesday night, chef Gaggan Anand said that in 2015, when the restaurant first came in first place, “Everyone thought it was a fluke.”
“The second year, people thought we had bribed [people],” the molecular gastronomist continued. “The third year, we won it. This year, we don’t have to prove we won it.”
The chef, who will be closing Gaggan in 2020, commented on the challenges of staying on top. “We change our menu entirely every four months. About 80 per cent of the dishes we test [for the menu] go into the garbage.
“A guest might eat at my restaurant several times a year but when he says that the menu he ate this time was better than the last time, not that the menu last time was better than this one, that’s important but that's the challenge I face.”