Gaa

Garima Arora cooked at Noma from 2013 to 2015, then spent six months in Gaggan's kitchen before opening her own restaurant across the street in 2017; two Michelin firsts followed, the first star ever won by an Indian woman (2019 guide) and the first two-star promotion for one (2024 guide), held into 2026.

Why go

The Mumbai-born chef puts it plainly in her Asia's 50 Best profile: "I packed my bags, moved to Bangkok, spent six months in his kitchen across the street." She was named Asia's Best Female Chef 2019 the same year Gaa debuted at No.16 in Asia as Highest New Entry. In late 2020 the restaurant left Soi Langsuan, with a "So Long Langsuan" farewell pop-up, for a restored Thai house on Sukhumvit 53 (Time Out), where the cooking runs Indian techniques through Thai ingredients: tandoor, ferments, and street-food memory at tasting-menu precision. The two stars have held every guide since the 2024 promotion.

Order this / avoid

Order: the tasting menu, B6,200++ on the venue site, vegetarian version available in full. The plates that travel: the unripe jackfruit eaten with roti and pickles, the Bombay Sandwich with spicy uni, and the "Tandoori Story" durian, blended durian under spiced sauce with ghee-brushed roti, which Time Out singles out. Stay for the finish: "The Indian sweets at the end of the meal are simply unforgettable."
Avoid: navigating to the old Langsuan address, and writing off a full weekend; Saturday and Sunday add lunch and afternoon tea services from noon.

What locals & experts say

Time Out Bangkok (5/5, 2025, Toey Sarunrat): "What sets Gaa apart is the way it makes Indian cooking feel fresh without abandoning its roots." ref
Michelin Guide Thailand 2024: promoted to two stars, Arora "the first female Indian chef to receive two MICHELIN Stars"; retained in the 2026 guide. ref
Asia's 50 Best (2019): Asia's Best Female Chef and Highest New Entry at No.16; the extended list now places it No.95 in 2026, a slide the stars have run opposite to. ref
Local rec (via Jeff's list): Dylan, a chef, calls it fun fine dining.

Good to know

Timing: dinner daily from 5:30pm; weekend lunch and afternoon tea from noon.
Booking: essential via TableCheck, phone, or email; credit card holds the table, 48-hour cancellation on the tasting.
Dietary: a dedicated vegetarian menu, with vegan and gluten-free on advance notice, rare at this level in Bangkok.
Getting there: 46/1 Sukhumvit 53, a short walk from BTS Thong Lo.

Jeff's take (his words)

Note: "fun fine dining chef rec from dylan"

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

must-visit — Two Michelin stars held into the 2026 guide, both of them history-making firsts for an Indian woman, in a restored Thai house where Noma technique meets Indian tradition and Thai ingredients; the durian tandoori course exists nowhere else. Dylan's 'fun fine dining' call matches Time Out's read of a playful, warm room, and the B6,200 ticket with a full vegetarian mirror menu makes it the most flexible of the city's two-star tables. Craft, uniqueness, and a first-hand chef rec line up.