NAWA @nawa.thaicuisine was another Bangkok restaurant I’d been meaning to get to for a while, and I’m very glad I finally did.

The restaurant takes its name from the Thai word for “innovation”, which pretty much sums up what chefs Napol “Joe” Jantraget and Saki Hoshino are doing here: taking recognisable Central Thai flavours and dishes and pushing them into a much more contemporary tasting-menu format without stripping away the thing that actually matters — the flavour.

That balance is much harder than it sounds. Modern Thai cooking can sometimes become so concerned with technique and presentation that the food loses the intensity and soul that made it exciting in the first place. NAWA doesn’t. There’s plenty of refinement and cleverness, but underneath it all the food still tastes unmistakably Thai — sweet, sour, salty, spicy, aromatic and properly punchy.

The menu moves between little snacks, smaller composed dishes and more substantial courses, often taking something familiar such as tom yum, nam prik or a curry and rebuilding it in a completely different way. It’s polished without becoming sterile, and playful without ever feeling overworked or self-conscious.

NAWA currently holds one Michelin star, and in a city absolutely overflowing with brilliant Thai food at every price point, it manages to justify the fine-dining treatment rather than simply dressing Thai food up for the occasion.

Another very good meal in Bangkok — a city that continues to make it ridiculously difficult to ever eat everywhere I want to.
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Michelin - ⭐️
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