Where fine dining meets theatre, creativity, and controlled chaos
As our countdown of the Top 10 Restaurants in the World’s 50 Best 2025 continues, No.6 takes us somewhere completely different.
Not just a restaurant — an experience.
Gaggan, Bangkok, led by the ever‑unpredictable Chef Gaggan Anand, isn’t trying to fit into fine dining. It’s actively rewriting it.
A chef who’s never followed the rules
Before stepping into kitchens, Gaggan Anand was a musician — and that creative background still runs through everything he does today. His early career began with the Taj Group in India, before moving to the legendary El Bulli in Spain, where he worked under Ferran Adrià and developed a passion for pushing boundaries through food.
That experience shaped what would become his identity: progressive Indian cuisine, built on technique but driven by emotion, creativity, and a refusal to stand still.
His original Bangkok restaurant, opened in 2010, quickly became one of the most talked‑about in the world — earning multiple titles as Asia’s Best Restaurant. After closing in 2019, he returned with a completely new concept, before recently bringing it back to its original name: Gaggan.
What makes Gaggan different?
Put simply — it doesn’t behave like a fine dining restaurant.
At its core is a progressive Indian tasting menu, but that only tells part of the story. Influences from French, Thai, and Japanese cuisine run through the dishes, with techniques and flavours layered in ways that feel playful rather than rigid.
Then there’s the format.
Menus are presented using emojis instead of descriptions. Guests are encouraged to eat with their hands, interact with the food, and fully engage with the experience. Some dishes even challenge traditional etiquette entirely — all part of Anand’s belief that dining should be a “rollercoaster of emotions” rather than a passive experience.
It’s bold. It’s unconventional. And it works.
The space: intimate, loud, and anything but ordinary
Gaggan isn’t a vast dining room — it’s an intimate, high‑energy space, centred around a 14‑seat chef’s counter where the boundaries between kitchen and dining room blur completely.
The design reflects the food: raw, creative, slightly rebellious. Think concrete, neon lights, open interaction, and a feeling that anything could happen next.
This isn’t about quiet luxury — it’s about presence, personality, and connection.
Why it matters
At No.6 in the world, Gaggan represents something bigger than rankings.
It’s proof that:
- Fine dining doesn’t have to be traditional
- Structure doesn’t have to mean rigidity
- Creativity can still exist at the very highest level
In an industry that often leans towards polish and precision, Gaggan leans into energy, personality, and unpredictability — and in doing so, it’s carved out a space entirely of its own.
The bigger picture
As part of our Top 10 countdown, Gaggan stands out as one of the most distinctive restaurants on the list. While others refine and perfect, this one disrupts — and sometimes that’s exactly what the industry needs.
At Jubilee, we talk a lot about kitchens with identity.
Gaggan doesn’t just have one — it owns it.
And that’s exactly why it sits comfortably at No.6 in 2025.