POTONG, Bangkok

Bangkok’s most talked-about restaurant? Without a doubt, it’s POTONG — the bold, visionary home of Lady Chef of the Year, Chef Pam.

Inside a 120-year-old Sino-Portuguese building in Bangkok’s historic Sampeng Market, Chef Pichaya “Pam” Soontornyanakij has created more than a restaurant — she’s built a world where memory, heritage, and innovation collide on the plate.

Chef Pam, recently named The World’s Best Female Chef 2025 and the first Thai woman to win a MICHELIN star, doesn’t just serve food. She tells a story — her story. Her family once ran a traditional medicine shop in this very building. Today, she reclaims that space, transforming it into a five-act, 20-course tasting journey that honors the past while boldly reshaping the future of Thai-Chinese cuisine.

Each dish is a movement — part memory, part emotion, part revelation:

• Mission: A quiet opening — black chicken, Chinese herbs, and broth that whispers of generations past.
• Memories: Kuay chap noodles with pork tongue, broth, and caviar — comfort reimagined.
• Heart & Soul: Shrimp transformed into a Pad Thai “shot” — a single bite that captures Bangkok’s street food soul.
• Forgotten: Atlantic seabass meets beurre blanc — French technique meets Thai balance.
• Bold: 14-day aged duck — rich, tender, deeply layered and INCREDIBLE
• Spiritual & Humble: A crescendo of vegetal fire, childhood flavors, and delicate desserts that feel almost like stepping into someone else’s memory.

No bite is random. Every course is a reflection of Pam’s life — her technique, her heritage, and her unshakable creative vision.

POTONG’s Wine Odyssey pushes pairing boundaries with surprising matches. The rooftop Opium Bar is a world of its own and one of Bangkok’s best!

Chef Pam is a rare force — fearless, precise, deeply personal in her craft. She’s not just breaking ground as a woman in fine dining; she’s reshaping what it means to cook from identity, from memory, and from a place of love and rebellion.

To dine here is to travel through time — past, present, and a daring future — all guided by the hands of a chef who has turned her family’s legacy into a modern masterpiece.

📷 @lucievd Less