Charcoal 

 

Indus   

 

This sleek house-and-garden has delighted fans of northern Indian food since 2006 with its no-nonsense versions of some of the subcontinent’s most popular dishes: chicken tandoori, dal, butter chicken, you name it. These days, fine-dining elegance also presents itself in a 10-course tasting menu, which is no mismatch for the elegant old residential setting.

71 Sukhumvit Soi 26, 02-258-4900, 086-339-8582. Open daily 11:30am-2:30pm, 6-10:30pm. 

 

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Rang Mahal   

 

There’s no way to overstate the satisfaction of booking brunch at this sky-high Indian fine-dining perch. The abundant food spread—sinfully rich curries, perfectly barbecued tandoori meats and pillowy breads—tastes as inspired as it always has done, while the ambience is more than a match for it. For the best experience, pick one of the window seats amid Rang Mahal’s decadent blend of OTT plasterwork and regal fabrics.

26/F, Rembrandt Hotel, 26 Sukhumvit Soi 18, 02-261-7050. Open daily 5pm-midnight; Sun 11am-2:30pm.

 

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Indian Hut 

 

If you live too far from Indian Hut’s lavish world of tufted velvet and gilt-frame pictures to eat in, then make sure it’s on your Foodpanda shortlist for the powerfully flavored dal tadka (lentils with spices and herbs), the moist and rich murgh makhani (butter chicken) and the soft, well-charred naan.

414-420 Surawong Rd., 02-236-5672-3. Open daily 11am-11pm.

 

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Punjab Grill

Fine-dining Indian restaurant group Punjab Grill has a dozen venues in India, plus locations in Abu Dhabi, Singapore (where it’s been hailed as one of the city’s greatest restaurants) and in Bangkok. Authentic yet modern, chef Bharath Bhat’s menu has creative touches, such as the avocado papdi chaat, a take on the classic Indian street-side snack with a taste of Mexico and the look of a California maki, alongside classics like chicken tikka and lamb chops cooked in real tandoori ovens.

Radisson Suites, 23/2-3 Sukhumvit Soi 13, 02-645-4952. Open daily 6pm-11:30pm.

 

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Indian-Inspired

 

Gaggan 

Welcome to Asia’s most famous restaurant. Gaggan has won Asia’s Best Restaurant for four consecutive years (from 2015-18), in addition to picking up two Michelin stars on the guide’s debut in Bangkok. And for what? Tasting menus of Indian, Japanese and Thai flavors skewed beyond all recognition into everything from Minion ice pops to lumps of coal. The 25-course tasting menu is a three-hour event that’s half dinner, half TED talk. Some of it is pure spectacle—the dish called “Lick it Up” (truffle, green peas, fenugreek and tomato) arrives to Kiss on full volume—while other parts are a hushed deconstruction of food history. Gaggan’s curry, for example, has evolved into raw scallops dressed only in chili oil, curry leaf oil, shallots and a quenelle of cream. 

68/1 Soi Lang Suan, 02-652-1700. Open daily 5:30pm-midnight.

 

Gaa 

The brainchild of chef Garima Arora (Noma-trained and a former sous-chef at Gaggan) offers a trans-Asian culinary journey, applying the finesse and detail of fine dining to street food across 10 or 14 courses. Thai and Indian cultures converge in the poached grouper, wrapped taco-style with caramelized milk skin and kanom la (a southern Thai crepe floss dessert), while Japanese touches also abound. The ingredients, however, are 100-percent local, pulled together with an approach that verges on scientific.

68/4, 68/5 Lang Suan Rd., 091-419-2424. Open daily 6-10pm.

 

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Mid-Level

 

Himali Cha Cha & Son 

Exclusively for Citi credit card members: Silom: Get 10% discount when spending THB 2,000 or more /sales slip Today - 28 Feb 19

Sri Ganesha 

 

Despite the proliferation of north Indian restaurants, we can count their south Indian counterparts on one hand. That’s why legions of mustachioed uncles from India’s south come here for iddly rasam (rice cakes with lentil broth) and dahi vada (lentil donuts dunked in spiced yogurt). Don’t come expecting your favorite curries of butter chicken or lamb rogan josh because here it’s about lighter broths simmered for hours and packed full of masala spices.

 

G/F, Sukhumvit Suites, 19/13-14 Sukhumvit Soi 13, 02-651-1335, 089-167-4889. Open daily 10am-10pm.

 

 

Credit: www.saras.co.th

Saras

Credit: www.fb.com/silom19alley

Saravanaa Bhavan

Its sign boldly declares it the “world’s no. 1 Indian vegetarian restaurant chain.” This Chennai-born chain boasts 39 branches in India, another 47 in countries all over the world, and counting. The restaurant’s ubiquity in its home state of Tamil Nadu, in India’s south, means locals often refer to it as their version of McDonald’s. The menu is gargantuan but typically centers on the holy trinity of dosa (thin rice and lentil crepes with various fillings), idli (steamed lentil rice cakes) and vada (crispy lentil doughnuts). 

2/F, Baan Silom, Silom Soi 19, 02-635-4556, 02-635-4557. Open daily 9:30am-10:30pm.

Street Flavors

Royal India

The cramped tables and harsh lighting are hardly inviting to the uninitiated, yet for years the restaurant has been serving some of the most consistently delicious northern Indian food in Bangkok. Looking for a light meal? Turn on your heels, because here they cook in true grandmother style—plenty of cream and ghee. For roughly a third less than what it’ll cost you in the city, you get true homemade lip-smacking good Punjabi recipes. 

392/1 Chakkaphet Rd., 02-221-6565. Open daily 10am-10pm.

BBQ Delight

This Upper Silom shop-house beckons you in with its heavily-manned, open-air grill out front. Around since the early 2000s, the restaurant specializes in Pakistani barbecue and curry dishes: if you can get beyond the mutant coloring, the green tikka boti is juicy and beautifully charred, no doubt the work of barbecue experts. The mughlai mutton chops, too, are well marinated, packing a surprising creamy flavor. Special mention must go to the naan, which is pillow-soft and really some of the best we’ve tried in town. 

BBQ Delight, Mahaset Rd., 02-631-7526. Open Mon-Sat 1pm-12:30am, Sun 11:30am-10:30pm.

Punjab Sweets

It’s impossible to pass Punjab Sweets without being lured in by the mouthwatering array of treats on display. But before you follow your candy-store instincts, head up to the second-floor dining area—where the walls are papered over with football and Bollywood stars—for some seriously good vegetarian food. The Indian soaps playing on the TV and the views of the Sikh temple nearby (Wat Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha) make it all the more authentic. The spiced paneer dosa (a rice and lentil pancake filled with Indian cottage cheese) is light enough to leave you room for dessert. Come in the morning and older folks have a run of the place, sipping freshly brewed chai tea to offset the sweetness of a bite of barfi. 

311/1 Chak Phet Rd., Phra Nakhon, 081-869-3815. Open daily 8am-7pm.

Tony’s Restaurant

This diner tucked down a canal-side street in Phahurat is your destination for feasting on a shoestring budget. Eat to the accompaniment of the clatter of spatulas, the chef’s way of showing off his skills. The roti is made from scratch—mixed, kneaded and fried to order. Take a peek into the open kitchen to see the secrets behind the recipes. The tasty paratha (fried dough) comes with a range of stuffings from cumin seeds to onions and potatoes. Dunk your paratha into the palak paneer, a creamy curry of pureed vegetables and mustard leaves with chunks of fried cottage cheese. 

Wanich Soi 1, Phra Nakhon.

Tamilnadu

Named after the southeast Indian state from which Silom Road’s Mariamman Temple (or Wat Kaek) draws its architectural inspiration, this three-decade-old southern Indian restaurant deals in both vegetarian and halal non-vegetarian dishes. The devoted Indian-Thai clientele ensures tables fill up quickly. Order up the masala dosa and you’ll quickly discover why. The fresh-from-the-pan rice crepe is huge and clearly cooked to order, still glistening with oil and perfectly crisp. In its center, the hefty ladle of masala potato is both filling and delicious. Tamilnadu remains our pick of the neighborhood for anyone after solid, canteen-style Indian food that’ll fill you up for under B200. 

5/1 Silom Soi 11, 02-235-6336. Open daily 8:30am-10pm.

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Put on your stretchy pants, forget about the macros and tuck in to BK Best Eats 2018. This is the Bangkok dining that ignores fancy restaurants and 10-course tasting menus and goes straight for the comfort food—steaming bowls of fat-rich ramen, triple-decker burgers, all-you-can-eat dim sum buffets with an extra helping of pork buns. In other words, the stuff most of us eat out, most of the time.

Download your PDF copy of the guide here.