Never has a meal left me so conflicted that I was not able to put my experience down in words. Its taken me more than 10 days to be able to pen down my thoughts about my recent meal at Gaggans. And my friends in Delhi AND Bangkok have been asking about my experience so I finally managed to get a few words out.
Gaggans had been on our to do list for a while now but we missed getting a table during the last few trips to Bangkok so when we were planning our summer break there this year, one of the things we did before even booking a hotel was a reservation at Gaggans. We had to move the date around a bit but we finally got our confirmation to eat at the eponymous restaurant run by the ONLY Indian chef to have bagged 2 Michelin stars.
Located in a sort of a hideaway and clearly not looking for walk-ins, the restaurant is set up in very nicely done house with the tables spread across the different rooms. We arrived a little ahead of time as I did not want to lose my table, and after a brief wait we were seated.
The menu was a long list of Emojis, 17 to be exact, representing each course. My wife being a vegetarian got one with a couple of Emojis different from mine. While a few of the images gave hints as to what was coming, most were difficult to decipher, adding to the mystery of the dinner that was to unfold. As the servers brought our food, carefully placing the vegetarian version in front of my wife, they insisted we eat it first before they would tell us what it was. Predictably, barring a few of them, we got them wrong and the servers took great pride in telling us what we had just eaten.
Most of the courses came sans silverware and we were supposed to get involved with our food. One actually came with a bluetooth speaker playing the song “Lick it up” by Kiss, because that is what we were asked to do with the sauce smeared on our plates. Coming to the dishes the food was served in, they were matching with the food and clearly custom made for each course.
It was a 3 hour extravaganza and we got up from the meal feeling quite full so contradictory to some other experiences I heard of, there was more than enough food. And I was dining with my wife so it would be dangerous to say the wait in between courses was uncomfortable, which it truly wasn’t.
Chef Gaggan Anand was very present through the dinner and his celebrity status was clear to see as he walked from table to table like an epicurean rock star, chatting with the diners and happily posing for photographs. I had my fan boy moment and not only got a picture but I asked him to sign my menu which he did. My respect for the man has only increased for what he has done to Indian cuisine and for putting us on the global food map.
Eating something, I feel is a multi sensory experience and the chef can play with the elements to appeal to all of the senses. I loved the way Gaggans brought in every sense to play with the food. What I value the most though is the sense of taste and I felt it was that sense that was lower in the mix. Maybe to appeal to a larger International client base, I felt the flavours were somewhat muted.
The food presented was not short of art painted by a master, which Gaggan clearly is. I think my art appreciation gene though is missing. So while I know a Picasso can be worth millions, I don’t know what the fuss is about in his paintings. I would walk through the Louvre, ONCE.
The sheer inventiveness of the food and the absolutely superb service will make sure I will cherish this experience for a long time to come. Would I go back and eat this meal for two that costs $500 ? As much as I enjoyed the experience, the answer is a NO.
Not many pictures in this post, while I took pics of everything we ate, the lighting in the room made the pictures quite dark. I missed my video light sooooo much !
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