BK Magazine’s Top Tables 2023 restaurant awards, which ranks Bangkok’s Top 100 restaurants for the calendar year, saw a lot of movement in the rankings compared to the list just a year ago. The 13th annual event saw new names burst into the upper echelon of the rankings (with no bigger movement than the current holder of the number one pick), while some old stalwarts of the city’s dining scene held their spots. 

The guide and event culminated in an awards celebration on November 27 at Anantara Siam Bangkok, sponsored by UOB and supported by alcohol partners Gulp, Campari, and TAP. 

Check out the Top 30 rankings below, and visit Issuu to see a digital copy of the full print guide. 

Baan Tepa

Few Bangkok fine-dining restaurants have evolved to the same degree as Baan Tepa over the past three years. What started as a humble 12-seat chef’s table in a previously abandoned ancestral house is now a sprawling urban farm, cafe, and elite fine-dining restaurant. Every dish is handled with remarkable tact—uncompromising on flavors, and spicy heat, but understanding that high-wire cooking is often delicate. Chef Chudaree “Tam” Debhakam’s almost zealous approach to zero waste and local produce (much of it sourced from the back yard, more still from farms around Thailand), combined with a menu that is both unique and familiar, put her restaurant in a category of one. There is just nothing else like Baan Tepa this year. 

Côte By Mauro Colagreco

Last year, Côte by Mauro Colagreco took home Top Tables’ top honor, and the restaurant has continued to impress. Only on the city’s dining scene since 2020, the eponymous Italian-Argentine chef Mauro Colagreco and team built the lush space inside Capella Bangkok on the river to become one of the city’s most talked about restaurants. Helmed by chef Davide Garavaglia and crew, Côte will be on Bangkok fine-dining lists for years to come. On the menu, diners will find a host of signature dishes made from the available produce at the time—so be sure to go more than once. At Côte, everything starts with the ingredients—fresh and local where it’s needed, careful and chic where it matters. 

Sorn

Maintaining its reputation as one of the hardest-to-book restaurants in Bangkok, Sorn has held a hallowed spot in the city’s fine dining scene since 2018. Baan Ice founder Supaksorn “Ice” Jongsiri turned decades of Southern Thai culinary knowledge into a fine-dining experience like no other. Plaudits have rolled in for this stylish space ever since, creating one of the city’s most celebrated restaurants for elevated, and fiery, food. It’s Southern Thai cuisine here—done in a way no one else can. These plates aren’t made; they’re constructed. 

Sühring

Bangkok’s culinary landscape was forever changed by these German twins, Thomas and Mathias Sühring. Through their meticulously crafted tasting menu, the pair created a food journey that was both adventurous and welcoming. Since its launch in 2017, Sühring has consistently garnered international plaudits in a way that takes Bangkok’s entire dining scene up a notch.It's also the first and only time the city has seen German food handled with the surgical eye for detail and careful hand required of elite-level fine-dining food. The finesse of their immaculate plating and extraordinary produce paired this with a selection of regional wines have put this restaurant on the map for years and will continue to do so for years to come. 

Samrub Samrub Thai

Headed by Prin Polsuk, formerly Nahm and Mandarin Oriental’s Sala Rim Naam, Samrub Samrub Thai is a place for people who want to take Thai food seriously. The space serves two rounds— and it’s not always easy to get a seat—at 5:30 and 8pm featuring a friendly atmosphere and new menus that keep diners coming back again and again. Attempts at elevated Thai food can often be a little stuffy, but this is a spot that doesn’t compromise on bold flavors and, occasionally, the spicy heat—not fine-dining heat, real heat. Here, you’ll find simple, unpretentious dishes that require a high degree of care and creativity. 

Haawm  

Haawm made a big impression when it debuted in 2020. Founded by the self-taught Thai-American chef Dylan Eitharong, Haawm has become the talk of Bangkok. The supper club turned intimate dining experience is where the host, chef, and waiter, Dylan himself, curates a menu emphasizing Thai family-style cooking. He takes inspiration from 1970s and 1980s-era cookbooks to create seven-course sharing menus. You’ll find a rare home-cooking experience here, accompanied by a list of ever-changing dishes. The space here belongs to Dylan’s aunt, and guests are welcomed into a cozy dining room adorned with antique furniture. In the middle of the dining room is a singular rectangular table draped in the restaurant’s distinctive floral tablecloth, a Haawm hallmark.  

Clara  

Chef power couple Christian Martena and Clara del Corso were the brains behind beloved Italian fine-dining institution Sensi nearly a decade ago. When they previewed Clara via a four-month pop-up restaurant in 2019, Bangkok’s dining scene was all abuzz for the official launch of their next venture. Since the opening of the standalone Clara in 2020, the restaurant has gone from strength to strength, becoming celebration of modern, regional Italian cuisine in Bangkok. The restaurant takes over an area formerly occupied by the white, cubic Yenakart Villa art gallery, encircled by a well-kept garden filled with sculptures and a sitting area to take it all in. 

Aksorn  

Through Aksorn, David Thompson’s unique take on Thai cuisine birthed a menu scoured from forgotten recipes of the mid-20th century. The novel and academic approach to cuisine here has garnered awards the world over since opening in the pandemic, and the stress on innovation never seems to stop. There’s a thin line between academic and authentic, and nowhere does it quite like Aksorn. The menu is a fulsome tribute to Thai heritage cooking. It received a revamp in August of this year, maintaining a focus on cookbooks from 1940 to 1970 and featuring a unique range of methods and ingredients. 

Jhol

India-born, New York-trained chef and worldwide restaurateur Hari Nayak opened Jhol in early 2020. Regarded as one of the forefathers of modern Indian cuisine, Hari created Jhol as a contemporary southern Indian restaurant in the heart of Sukhumvit that delivers haute cuisine. The new menu from Jhol this year, launched in October, hits the coast hard. The journey kicks off with a “prelude” celebration of India’s 7,516 kilometers of coastline, featuring a crab pachadi with pineapple and caviar, beet chop and a delectable pani puri with a twist of avocado and passionfruit. The understated atmosphere here exudes a sense of ease—like walking into a friend’s place—with a tasteful blend of vintage charm.

Acqua 

With more than a decade serving diners down south, Acqua is a relatively new spot on the fine-dining scene, opening just last year with a passion for Sardinian flavors. Led by chef Alessandro Frau, the spot has made a quick splash in Bangkok and around the world for its style, creative flavors, and stellar wine list. Acqua’s chef inspires carefully plated, unique dishes like the 72-hour sous vide burrata stuffed tortelli with wagyu beef cheek ragou topped with 25 years aged balsamic vinegar. Look for ingredient and location influenced dishes, like their simple seasonal wild mushroom risotto with foie gras and snails. It’s all about authenticity at this chic spot, but that doesn’t mean the menu doesn’t get creative. 

Restaurant Potong   

This 120-year-old, five-story shophouse in lively Sampeng represents the heritage of a five-generation Thai-Chinese family and their historic medicinal shop. Glass jars with fermenting ingredients line the shelves on the way to a wooden elevator originally used by Chef Pitchaya "Pam" Utarntham's family to transport herbs to upstairs. Each floor of the shophouse has a story to tell. Pam caters to all five senses in her 20-course dinner, from a garland of mixed herbs and fresh sea bass to the 14-day five-spiced aged duck and the fun palate cleanser of chrysanthemum and cacao nibs. 

Canvas   

Recently, Michelin-starred Canvas launched its latest tasting menu, Oomph, and it might be the restaurant’s most ambitious yet. The menu, which spans a whopping 28 courses, uses exclusively Thai ingredients, and we mean everything—caviar from Hua Hin, ikijime fish from Surat Thani, wagyu from Sakon Nakhon, prawns from Krabi, pigeon from Kanchanaburi, and a lot more. Despite the large dish count, most of the courses are finished in one or two bites and the experience is not as intimidating as that number “28” might seem at first glance. Despite the small size, many of the dishes are incredibly meticulous, like the 227 Forms of Wagyu (pictured), which sees beef from Sakon Nakhon, duck egg, garlic root, chives, and wasabi presented in 227 distinct pieces that create a colorful mosaic on the plate. As with Canvas tradition, head chef Riley Sanders flexes his art pedigree not only with his plating, which has made the venue's food unmistakable in Bangkok’s crowded fine-dining landscape, but also with artwork that mimics the appearance of each dish in an abstract way. As the meal progresses, menu cards with Sanders’ own artwork reveal, one at a time, hints at the next dish to come. There really is no analogue to a Canvas menu in Bangkok’s dining landscape right now.

Haoma   

Few Bangkok restaurants take sustainability as seriously as Haoma. The novelty of Haoma’s bold, urban farm and zero-waste dining is accompanied by Deepanker "DK" Khosla, previously of Charcoal Tandoor Grill & Mixology. Haoma has persisted on the Bangkok dining scene for its comfort food as well as its haute cuisine. The ten-course tasting menu features inventive foods like the Samudra with squid and sea urchin; "Lobster Two Ways" with ghee roast, idli, pulissery; and the "Chicken or the Egg" where they grow all the ingredients of this dish in Haoma farms. 

Samlor   

Samlor lies hidden inside the alleys of Charoenkrung amid the old school warehouses and shophouses. After leaving 80/20, star chef duo Napol "Joe" Jantraget and Saki Hoshino opened Samlor, a restaurant free of the normal formalities of fine dining. Serving no-frills comfort cuisine as well as gap glaem (Thai bar snacks). It’s elevated, but not arrogantly so. The menu is posted on the walls and changes as fresh local ingredients become available. Respect for locally caught Thai fish is one of the distinguishing features here as well as the Joe’s crab omelet. 

Nusara

Nusara, which overlooks Wat Pho and is led by chef Thitid "Ton" Tassanakajohn, is all heart, inspired by Ton's grandmother. With just 10 seats and a twelve-course meal that puts a contemporary twist on Thai classics, Chef Ton refers to the cuisine as "Colorful Thai Cuisine." You can’t really put this food in a box, either, as it’s neither traditional nor contemporary. The 12-course tasting menu is jam-packed with earthy ingredients served with Instagram-worthy platings. On your way out, don't forget to stop by May Rai for a natty wine or yadong nightcap. 

Gaa

Chef Garima Arora,the first Indian female chef to earn a Michelin star, is a star on Bangkok’s dining scene, and her food is built on a mix of heritage cuisine and bold, innovative dishes. Found at an unforgettable 60-year-old Thonglor baan ruen Thai-style building, the restaurant is heavy on making bold, ingredient-forward decisions that set the standard for modern Indian fine dining in Bangkok. Whether you’re going in for the tasting menu or stopping in at the lounge for a la carte, the food here steers hard into cutting-edge, science-based gastronomy, but there are timeless Indian flavors in every dish. 

Aromkwan  

Formerly at Yen Akat, the much-loved Asian smokehouse Aromkwan opened with a new Ekkamai location at the start of the year, introducing its first a la carte dishes. For meat lovers, this is the spot. The charismatic Vishnu “Bank” Prempuk brings an almost theatrical performance to this beloved and unpretentious dining space. The newer, larger space is a homey stage for Bank’s unique Asian smokehouse concept, featuring walls decorated in batik and hearty plates of meat done right, like his nine-hour-brined and smoked pork knuckle, fall-off-the-bone claypot goat curry, a refreshing Asian slaw, and grilled mackerel. 

Sushi Masato  

Hidden in one of the busiest districts in Bangkok, Sushi Masato remains as difficult to book as any of Tokyo’s clandestine sushi spots. From behind an L-shaped Hinoki-wood counter, the twenty-odd courses you get here are never enough. Perfectly cooked monkliver, and peeled Petchabun tomato with fleur de sel, and a superb line-up of nigiri will leave you enthralled by chef and founder Masato Shimizu’s deft knife work. 

Wana Yook   

Inside a charming 60-year-old colonial house, chef Chalee Kader, the talent behind 100 Mahaseth and many more Bangkok restaurants, creates an innovative seasonal tasting menu inspired by khao gaeng. Here, every course features rice from a different region of Thailand, and the chef’s flavorful contemporary dishes are served in the dining room accommodating up to 60 people, elegantly outfitted with wood furniture and silk cushions. 

Mia  

Skilled chef duo Michelle Goh (last year’s Best Young Chef at Top Tables) and Pongcharn “Top” Russell (who won Best Young Chef in 2018) provide an exceptional five- to eight-course European and Asian seasonal tasting menu. There's something for everyone, from the hearty roasted quail with courgette pesto to the delicate Hokkaido scallop crudo with caviar and pickled kohlrabi. For your tipple, don’t forget to check out Behind the Curtain menu, a dark and stylish booze cave, and don’t miss out on the omakase dessert bar. The two-story home has a glass-encased kitchen and bar area, all of which are furnished with gilded geometric wallpaper and brass accents. 

Kate’s Place  

It didn’t take long for Pikhun “Kate” Wongsantia’s supper club concept to become a hit among Bangkok’s in-the-know diners. It made this official selection for Top Tables 2023 in less than a year after opening. This year, it’s well into the top 30 restaurants in Bangkok. Kate’s history at venues like Canvas and Suhring is evident in her careful plating and light twists on classic Thai comfort food, like duck laab, grilled lamb with roasted rice, and Thai wagyu khao soi. 

Maison Dunand   

Arnaud Dunand, the longtime kitchen commander of Le Normandie, traded his riverside perch at Mandarin Oriental to go it alone at this two-story space in Sathorn that feels like a French chalet. Alpine touches appear throughout the tasting menu, from freshwater blueback char with spruce to the drool-worthy cheese selection for the dessert course. But Dunand’s spirit wanders, with Brittany mussels, Burgundy cassis, and his signature caviar with sea urchin and potato soup taking diners on journeys across France. 

Mezzaluna  

Chef Ryuki Kawasaki’s menu at Mezzaluna can best be described as French cuisine with a dash of Japanese ingredients and simplicity. The seven course tasting menu changes with the seasons with the exception of one item: the crowd favorite wagyu beef. From oysters to truffles and tea, this spot boasts some of the most exclusive ingredients in the city. Mezzaluna gives diners a fulsome view of the Chao Phraya River with floor-to-ceiling glass framed by spiral chandeliers.

Small Dinner Club

The first rule of Small Dinner Club is not to talk about it—this makes the description a little challenging. The concept is a 10- to 12-course meal with a twist: the chef will not reveal what each dish is made from until the end of the course, encouraging consumers to think, investigate, and commit. Owner Sareen Rojanametin takes the sensory and intellectual experience of fine dining seriously and is doing it in a way no one else can. Expect the unexpected here, and that is very much by design. 

Resonance  

In a city that has sub-genres of omakase and hyper-regional French and Italian restaurants, Resonance opts for an entirely different approach. Shunsuke Shimomura, a former R&D chef for Gaggan, presents “boundless” cuisine, bringing influences from his experience working around the world into immaculately executed tasting menus. The minimalist decor guarantees you focus on the food. That’s to your benefit, as they’re incredibly nuanced. 

Le Normandie By Alain Roux  

Few Bangkok restaurants do formal, white-linened fine-dining like Le Normandie. Now under Alain Roux’s guidance, and chef Phil Hickman’s eye, the grand old dame has kept its sterling reputation intact. Eat like the city’s one percent with wagyu medallions served alongside a rich, savory jus, herb-crusted lamb rack, poached wild salmon, and other elite French dishes. Make sure to savor it, too: this is special occasion dining at its finest. 

Ojo  

Few restaurants can claim to elevate Mexican dining to these heights—figuratively and literally. Opening in June last year at one of Bangkok’s most famous addresses, Ojo brought a rare taste of Mexican dining to the 76th floor of the King Power Mahanakhon. Here, the charismatic Guadalajara-native Francisco “Paco” Ruano serves up elevated Mexican dining combined with one of the city’s best views. The space introduced some new dishes this year such as their Flan de Rompope with eggnog flan and chongos, but the fare here is always a mix of high-end home cooking and an international twist. 

Chef’s Table 

Start with champagne or a cocktail at Pink Bar before taking your seat at this stunning restaurant housed inside the Lebua at State Tower hotel. Originally from the Loire Valley, chef Vincent Thierry spearheads the detailed and sophisticated modern French cooking on display here. Since this is one of the few open kitchen concepts in town, where the kitchen is actually located in the center of the dining room, guests are treated to a proper show of culinary talent. 

Inddee  

Bangkok is no stranger to Indian fine-dining and this new spot in Langsuan is catering to a whole new crowd with its focus on ingredients and flavors that aren’t afraid to get a little spicy. The fare comes from the mind of head chef Sachin Poojary, and the seven-course tasting menu spans the Indian subcontinent, from Kerala to Rajasthan. Walk through the foggy, jungle-like atmosphere of the entrance, and look forward to region-specific ingredients and flavors—all while enjoying the smooth ambiance of this luxe century-old Langsuan. 

Le Du 

Chef Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn’s pride and joy, Le Du has played a pivotal role in putting modern Thai fine dining on the global map. With a focus on seasonality—Le Du translates to “seasons,” after all—the rotating four– and six-course tasting menus highlight Thailand’s agricultural bounty. But you’ll always find the signature khao kluk kapi, plump river prawns served atop organic brown rice mixed with aromatic shrimp paste.