Bangkok street food vendor bags a Michelin star
Michelin has cemented Bangkok's status as one of the world's great foodie destinations with the launch of their first ever guide to the city.
A total of 17 restaurants were graced with stars. No restaurant achieved the top accolade of three stars but three restaurants made the two-star cut: French fine dining restaurant La Normandie at the Mandarin Oriental, innovative Indian restaurant Gaggan and Mezzaluna, which is helmed by Japanese chef Ryuki Kawasaki and specialises in European cuisine.
In a truly international selection, other one-star winners included Savelberg, L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, J'aime by Jean-Michel Lorain, Ginza Sushi Ichi, Elements and Upstairs at Mikkeller. While flying the flag for upmarket Thai cuisine were Bo.Lan, Sra Bua by Kin Kin, Nahm, Sürhing, Paste, Chim by Siam Wisdom and Saneh Jaan.
In a city famed for its fabulous street food, however, most notable amongst the awards was the one star given to 70-year old street food legend Jay Fai, whose eponymous restaurant in Banglumphu is famed for its crisp seafood-stuffed 1000 Thai baht (£23) omelettes, one of the most expensive street food dishes in town.
A further 17 Bib Gourmand awards (a lower-category honour handed out to more modest establishments) were given out to restaurants such as tiny noodle shop Sanyod and hole-in-the-wall Jay Oh, where diners sit on plastic stools and feast on abundant bowls of tom yum (hot sour soup) and stir-fried clams for less then £5 a pop.
Michelin's strict criteria of only awarding restaurants with a fixed addresses ruled out many of the city's best-loved street food vendors. But, the little red book does include a street food section directing visitors towards the city's finest stalls, stands and hawkers. The full guide names 98 restaurants across the varies categories.
Commenting on the awards, two star-winner Chef Arnauld Dunand Sauthier of La Normandie at the Mandarin Oriental said: "This is not just a victory for me – or the other restaurants here – but a victory for Thailand as it rightfully takes it's place on the stage as one of the world's best culinary destinations."
As if we need another excuse to visit one of our favourite cities.
