Global Courant
There are so many Michelin stars that Mr Mathias Suhring – one of the German twin brothers who run the two-Michelin-starred modern German eatery Suhring – says Bangkok chefs are now competing to see who can win a third first.
This recognition has cemented Bangkok’s reputation as a place where you can enjoy expensive cuisine, while still often paying less than in gastronomic centers like Hong Kong and New York.
While the meals are expensive in a city where plates of food like pork skewers (moo ping) and pad thai can be purchased for a few dollars, they can cost less than in most other global capitals.
Dinner at Copenhagen’s Noma, one of the world’s top-rated dining establishments, costs 5,950 Danish Krone (S$1,152) per person, including wine pairings. At Gaggan Anand it costs about US$327 (S$446) per person, including drinks.
“Luxury here is cheaper, more accessible and more affordable,” says Mr Gaggan Anand, a native of Calcutta and one of the first international chefs to open his own eponymous fine dining restaurant in Bangkok more than a decade ago.
Chefs are keeping prices low in part by taking advantage of the lower costs of setting up and operating restaurants in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.
Bangkok is an attractive place for an ambitious chef, who may not have the financial backing to open elsewhere.
The city’s high-end dining scene also benefits from steady improvements in supply infrastructure over the past decade.
Luxury restaurants now have access to high-quality regional ingredients, from seafood to vegetables and even dairy products, that they would once have had to import.
Along with the influx of international tourists, locals have also embraced the city’s new status as a gastronomic hub, partly due to Covid-19: Asia had some of the world’s strictest border measures.
Long closures and disruptions are hitting culinary capitals like Hong Kong and cities in Japan and mainland China. Unable to travel, Thais, like others in Asia, began exploring the dining options near their homes.
Thailand, like many other countries, is still working towards an economic recovery from the pandemic.
Tourism, especially from China, is recovering, but has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. China accounted for almost a third of the nearly 40 million tourist arrivals in 2019 and is crucial to the sector’s recovery.
Boosting it is a priority for new Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who has introduced a number of measures such as visa-free access for Chinese travelers.
The recent political impasse also roiled markets. Before Thavisin came to power in August, Thailand spent months under a transitional government with limited ability to implement policies or approve spending.
At the same time, competing regional culinary and tourism destinations such as Tokyo and Singapore have reopened.
Likewise, restaurants are still struggling to regain their pre-pandemic business.
Mr Gaggan Anand was ‘killing it’ with 300 covers a week before the Covid outbreak, but is currently only open four days a week at about a third of previous capacity, the chef says.
Some business prices have risen post-Covid-19.
Le Du’s Tassanakajohn says the cost of vegetables, meat, seafood and cooking oil has risen by at least 20 percent since the pandemic. Staff wages have also increased by 10 to 15 percent, he adds, as the country’s labor supply has declined.
As a result, Le Du increased prices for its set menu by 25 percent after the pandemic, to the equivalent of about $125, even as competition to attract tourists increases.
