Is Gaggan In Bangkok The World's Most Theatrical Dinner Party?

Days later, I still can’t decide how I feel about Gaggan, and that’s precisely the point. Chef Gaggan Anand doesn’t want you neatly wrapped in approval or disapproval; he wants you suspended, restless, exactly where he left you.

Welcome to Gaggan, one of the world’s best restaurants (No. 6 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants List 2025, to be exact). Strap in, or perhaps set your moral compass adrift. Tucked into Bangkok, Gaggan’s dining room is unapologetically moody, feels like the set of a dystopian heist film, a mashup of industrial grit and clandestine drama. Teal and red neon lights pulse against raw concrete walls while steel mesh cages you in. A central chef’s station dominates the space, part laboratory, part stage, almost demanding to be viewed as performance art. This is not the sanctified hush of white tablecloth fine dining.

The first step inside feels like crossing into a play already mid-act. The curtains have been drawn, the lights dimmed, the script still unwritten. The hot pink neon sign blinks like a dare, ‘Be a rebel.’ It lights up the room in a riotous glow, landing somewhere between dive bar energy and underground club cool. At a long counter, bodies perch awkwardly, eyes flicking between the man pacing in front of them like a restless jungle predator, Chef Gaggan Anand.

Then, just as the menacing music hits its crescendo, he stops the music with a dramatic thwack of the remote. The first rule of Gaggan’s Rebel Kitchen? You don’t talk when he or any of ‘them (chefs)’ talk. The second? You don’t pee, not until this ‘act’ of the first ten dishes is done. The Third? No flash photography. The stage is set, with metal chords and edible punchlines. 

Chaos Cooked Brilliantly

Chef Gaggan Anand channels the energy of Brad Pitt in Fight Club, unpredictable, magnetic, and thrillingly subversive. Dining at his 14-seat counter isn’t just a meal, it's performance art, a five-act play where food becomes the script and chaos the muse. Picture this: the room is dark, silent. A green, quivering ‘brain’ arrives, unsettling in its simplicity. Gaggan, like a storyteller teasing shadows, mutters, "Two friends. Bangkok park. King and Kong. Feeding lizards. Foie. Curry." It’s absurd, but tantalisingly vague, sparking uneasy laughter. As the countdown begins, 10…8…5, the tension mounts. "Wait." His command stops time. At zero, the room explodes into neon purple. The brain vanishes in three bites; it morphs from dish to memory. 

Flavour Meets Fantasy

The 25-course odyssey unfolds in five acts, the first three paying homage to India, Japan, and Thailand, the triumvirate of Chef Gaggan’s soul. It begins with a bang, Yogurt Explosion, a one-bite wonder that fizzes on the tongue like memories of street-side chaats, spun with ElBulli’s molecular magic. Then arrives the Aloo Gobi Cookie, crumbling into a nostalgic burst of spice and comfort. A mushroom ghevar dissolves like an edible haiku, while a sweet tart Japanese apple pizza redefines joy itself. But the true star? Gaggan, a culinary rockstar whose wild spirit infuses every dish, turning the meal into an unforgettable performance. Each course emerges in perfect harmony, the team moving seamlessly, precise as clockwork. Music doesn’t fade into the background; it sets the night’s tempo, emotions rising and falling with every beat.

Dinner As Drama

Gaggan spins stories, some true, some hilariously false. None of it matters, not really. Truth isn’t the point. What matters is the mood. At Gaggan, you aren’t a spectator. You’re pulled into the story, a necessary piece of the puzzle. The diner becomes a performer; the performance becomes dinner. The foie? The glowing brain? Real or not, it doesn’t matter. What matters is you were there, stepping inside the moment, feeling it unfold. Bite by bite, story by story. Seventy shades of laughter, half-whispered commentary, nerves warming to a shared rhythm of unpredictability.

Control, that sacred deity of fine dining, quietly steps aside. This is why Gaggan defies neat categorisation. Michelin watches from afar. The World’s 50 Best applauds louder each year. But what do you call a restaurant where the cutlery is sometimes discarded and the chef strums guitar strings as comfortably as flavour profiles? Innovative feels like a box far too small for the beast it tries to hold. Gaggan isn’t a place. It’s a pulse.

How alive can a meal be? From intricate bites that whisper to dishes that scream, every course stretches the limits of flavour, imagination, and sanity. You don’t walk away from Gaggan with simple opinions; you leave with an experience lodged in your soul. It’s chaotic, brilliant, and exhausting in the best possible way. 

ELLE Gourmet’s Verdict

Primordial fun is an understatement. Dining at Gaggan, the unruly union of culinary rebellion and meticulous technique, is akin to stepping into a Salvador Dali dream with a knife and fork. Portuguese head chef Fabio Costa, along with Rahul Kanojia and his team, delivers wonder on a plate, food that is equal parts theatre and alchemy. Yes, there are dishes designed to shock. Yes, Lizard brains might (spoiler alert, it’s goats brain) feature in the plot twist. But between the chaos lies undeniable genius. And as Sommelier Kojic Vladimir circles the room, pouring magnums like Cupid with a corkscrew, you realise this outrageous feast is rooted in both heart and brilliance. Days later, I still can’t look away. Gaggan isn’t just dinner. It’s pure, unbridled spectacle. 

Where: 68 Sukhumvit 31, Sukhumvit Rd, Klongton-Neu, Wattana, Bangkok 10110

Call: +66 98 883 1022

Cost: INR 47,000 approx.

Opening Hours: Open from Wednesday to Sunday (Closed on Monday and Tuesday)