Bangkok’s best Michelin-starred restaurants

What it is: Taking the Thai-Chinese flavours of Bangkok’s Chinatown from the street to the world of international fine dining, Chef Pichaya ‘Pam’ Soontornyanakij has earned one Michelin star year after year in a narrow shophouse in the back lanes of Yaowarat.

Why we love it: The story is central to the experience, and diners are guided through it from the moment they sit down: this isn’t just Chef Pam’s restaurant, it was her family’s home, where they sold Chinese medicine under the ‘Potong’ brand, samples of which decorate the glass tables of the reception area. And indeed, many of the dishes take as much inspiration from the herbalist’s craft as that of the farmer and fisherman, with a liberal use of often mysterious spices, and a particularly heavy use of those mysterious elixirs at the much-beloved Opium Bar upstairs. Insert lame ‘prescription’ pun here.

Time Out tip: The glass elevator that connects the multiple floors of the restaurant (with diners guided to the different floors), can barely fit two people, and has sensors that will stop the thing at a moment’s notice. The ridiculousness is frankly part of the fun.

What it is: Two twin brothers, two Michelin stars, and one spectacular restaurant, bringing the culinary world of modern Germany to Yen Akat.

Why we love it: Germany doesn’t exactly have a great international culinary reputation – the unfortunate stereotype being mammoth portions of sausage, washed down with massive flagons of beer, soundtracked by goofy music played by men in hunting caps. One by one, the other countries of Europe have been demanding culinary respect in the Francocentric world of fine dining – Italy, Spain, the Nordics – and Sühring is one of the best cases for Germany to have a seat at that table. Chef Thomas and Matthias Sühring keep the hominess and lack of pretence, but instead focus on excellent ingredients inspired by their family’s traditions of home-grown produce, locally caught river fish (trout and sturgeon are given the respect they deserve), and the clever use of fermentation to both improve flavours and stock up for the lean times. Intimate tables are available, but the best seats are at the open kitchen.

Time Out tip: Each meal finishes with a glass of eierlikör, the German version of egg nog, using their Grandma’s recipe (they’ll even show you the book where she jotted it down). Thick, rich with egg yolks, and delightfully boozy, it ruined Christmastime egg nogs around town for us for years.

What it is: Quite possibly our favourite Indian restaurant in Bangkok, a one Michelin starred spot in the former Gaggan space a little bit off of Lang Suan – we will remain tight-lipped as to who wore it better.

Why we love it: When people outside India think ‘Indian food’, they’re likely to think of what has become the standard Indian takeout menu (butter chicken, saag paneer, and so forth) but it’s not just one cuisine, not even close – it’s a literal subcontinent. Inddee’s degustation menu takes diners around India, from state to state, from Himalayan peaks to sun-soaked Kerala beaches. Diverse climates mean diverse ingredients, and while there are those familiar Indian spices, they are there to accentuate the primary ingredient, with a level of technical precision in the kitchen matched by few in town.

Time Out tip: We can’t say enough nice things about the pairings, with Thai-American head sommelier Jay Bottorff heavily praised by Star Wine List (think of it like Michelin, but for wines). The conventional wine pairings are fantastic, but special attention is paid to the cocktail programme as well – something that so often gets snubbed in the world of fine dining.

What it is: In an airy space at Iconsiam, the Empire of Alain Ducasse’s Bangkok embassy has earned one Michelin star, serving modern French cuisine against the backdrop of one of the city’s best river views.

Why we love it: Alain Ducasse was a founding member of that great wave of French chefs who turned away from high-flying technique and towards locality and terroir – in his case, his home stomping grounds in the South of France. And he now exports that passion through over 30 restaurants around the world. Chef Wilfrid Hocquet and his team carrying out this mission, highlighting top-tier ingredients with a frequently rotating menu and consistently excellent dessert game, ideally paired with their excellent French wine selection. Special attention is also paid to the humble bread service, with artisanal loaves and house-made butter that make ‘filling up on bread’ not such a bad idea.

Time Out tip: Can’t afford the set menus that go well into the quadruple digits? To experience the kitchen’s craft, Blue’s a la carte all-day dining menu has you sorted, with some of Bangkok’s best sandwiches, and even a happy hour selection of very reasonably priced craft cocktails.

What it is: A tiny one Michelin star venue in an alley a little bit off of Sala Daeng where Chef Prin Polsuk and his team serve up seasonal menus that reflect different elements or regional variations of Thai cuisine.

Why we love it: Fine dining is often stereotyped as fussy and stuffy, which makes those fine dining powerhouses that welcome you in and encourage you to have a good time all the more delightful. At Samrub Samrub Thai, the rice flows freely, the lao khao flows almost as freely, and diners engage in conversation with the staff almost as much as with their tablemates, with Chef Prin MCing the festivities. Like all good events, the convivial vibe is predicated on lifetimes of research and experiment. Each seasonal menu is a deep dive into the flavours, traditions, and ingredients of a particular facet of Thai cuisine. In May and June of 2025 it was Surat Thani, and the menu reads like a Cliff’s Notes version of what makes Southern food great.

Time Out tip: We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – dang that’s good lao khao! Grab yourself a glass of whatever’s infusing this week.

What it is: Sathorn’s premium French restaurant, boasting one Michelin star and founded by Chef Arnaud Dunand Sauthier after his departure from the two-star Le Normandie at the Mandarin Oriental.

Why we love it: Chef Arnaud is a proud son of Savoy, a mountainous region in Southern France at the western end of the Alps, and he carries this heritage to Sathorn Soi 10. That being said, don’t expect these to be age-old, hyperlocal dishes – these are the sort of smart, protein-forward French fine dining dishes that we love, spoken with a Savoyard accent (a little vin jaune here, a little mountain cheese there), and a certain willingness to push boundaries (see, for example, blue lobster with larb spice). One of his signature dishes since his Le Normandie days has been potato with sea urchin and caviar – the sort of dish that’s so decadent you might wonder if you’re committing a crime. A very delicious crime.

Time Out tip: We love love love that cheese trolley, one of the city’s best. It’s almost enough to make you forego the dessert altogether. If it looks cool and smells wild, get yourself a wedge.

What it is: This list would absolutely be remiss without mentioning Sorn. After all, they’re the only restaurant in Bangkok that got the big three stars. They’re located in Thong Lo, but that fact might be trivial – the diners are more likely to be international visitors who have made a trip to Sorn as much of a highlight as their visits to temples and beaches.

Why we love it: The story has been told time and time again, in this publication and elsewhere. Chef Supakorn ‘Ice’ Jongsiri has taken his family’s recipes and traditions from the South of Thailand to the fine dining table. At Sorn, the main emphasis is on doing things the right way, even if others are taking shortcuts – we’re talking chili pastes made fresh daily and rice cooked in specialized clay pots. Flavours are uncompromising, because it’s Southern, with an abundance not only of chillies but also fresh black pepper and fermented fish products that put pla ra to shame. We’re so sorry if you can’t handle it.

Time Out tip: Holy crap getting a reservation here is hard. For those of us who can’t, Chef Ice’s original restaurant, the much-loved Baan Ice, provides the same ethos, but executed in an everyday dining style.

What it is: With one Michelin star, Mia has evolved from a much-loved a la carte restaurant near K Village into one of the city’s premier tasting-menu restaurants, under the supervision of power couple Pongcharn ‘Top’ Russell from Thailand and Michelle Goh from Malaysia.

Why we love it: Mia’s menus are the sort of thing we love because of their refusal to be categorised. While it’s typically classed as a ‘European’ restaurant, the influences are decidedly cross-cultural, with plenty of tropical Asian flair, and seem more derived from the life and travels of the chefs than any kind of hidebound tradition. One of the signature dishes, for example, is their ‘cereal bowl’ dessert with malted milk and corn – like an after-school Thai streetside ice cream fit for a king. Vegetarian and vegan diners will be pleased to know that special emphasis is made on crafting menus to accommodate them, and they’re good enough to impress even the truly carnivorous.

Time Out tip: Whether or not you’re dining, the attached cocktail bar, Behind the Curtain (guess where you’ll find it) is a great spot for a craft aperitif. We’re big fans of the house negroni, in particular.

What it is: With a menu deeply rooted in Indian culinary tradition but taking full advantage of modernist techniques, Haoma in Sukhumvit Soi 31 has had one Michelin star for years, but they were the first restaurant in Bangkok to get the Michelin Green Star for sustainable gastronomy.

Why we love it: When you walk into Haoma, you go through the garden, and that garden is essential to the experience – you see the herbs that will soon be on your plate. Ecological consciousness and the minimisation of waste are at the very centre of Chef Deepanker Khosla’s ethos, with much of the product coming from their own site (hard to believe that they’re growing excellent veggies a little off Sukhumvit, but the proof is on the plate). The menu takes inspiration from historic and even ancient Indian recipes, but the plates often look almost Nordic in their minimalist presentation. And as one might expect from an Indian restaurant (especially one focused on sustainability) the vegetarian menu is as good as the non-veg.

Time Out tip: While Indian restaurants aren’t exactly known for their wine pairings, Haoma happily bucks the trend. Last year, sommelier Vishvas Sidana won the Star Wine List Grand Prix by focusing not on ostentation, but on careful curation and a generous pour of comedic flair.