Chef Garima Arora’s latest menu at Gaa in Bangkok looks beyond familiar ideas of Indian cuisine, transforming regional traditions from Bihar into a thoughtful contemporary tasting journey.
Indian cuisine is often spoken of as though it were a single culinary tradition. In reality, it is an intricate mosaic of regional identities, local customs and centuries-old techniques that resist easy definition. It is exactly such complexity that has long informed the philosophy at Gaa in Bangkok, where Chef Garima Arora continues to challenge perceptions of Indian fine dining by presenting dishes that celebrate the country’s extraordinary culinary diversity rather than reducing it to familiar stereotypes.
That approach is evident in the most recently-launched tasting menu at Gaa, which draws inspiration from Chef Arora’s recent research travels through Bihar. Rather than presenting the region literally, the Mumbai-born chef — who pivoted to professional cooking after studying as a journalist — distilled the culinary traditions from the northeastern state in India into eight thematic chapters spanning chaat, breads, curries, masala and kebabs.
Across 16 courses, Thai seasonal produce continues to provide the foundation while Indian techniques, flavours and cultural references shape the narrative, reinforcing Gaa’s identity as a modern Indian restaurant anchored around heritage rather than dabbling with fusion.
Consider dishes like Atte Ki Khichdi, which reimagines a resourceful Bihari preparation in which hand-rolled whole wheat flour dumplings replace rice, transforming it into a savoury interpretation of the comforting pan-Indian khichdi. Served alongside an array of nine house-made chutneys, pickles and condiments, the course highlights how necessity has historically shaped regional Indian cooking.
Elsewhere, Morel, Malai, Total Masala pays tribute to the carefully guarded spice blends found throughout northern India, pairing Kashmiri morels with rich malai, Gaa’s proprietary 16-spice seasoning and buffalo milk brown cheese sourced from Mumbai.
Even dessert continues the storytelling with Tadka Ice Cream, inspired by Kerala’s traditional sadhya feast, where a hot tempering of spices is theatrically poured over chilled daal payasam ice cream encased within a crisp banana papadum.
The setting remains integral to the experience. Occupying a restored 1960s Thai wooden house in Bangkok’s Thong Lo district, Gaa juxtaposes its distinctly Thai surroundings with a menu overflowing in Indian culinary heritage. That interplay between place and identity has become one of the restaurant’s defining characteristics: a Bangkok restaurant that expresses India not through nostalgia, but through thoughtful reinterpretation informed by research, storytelling and an evolving understanding of its own traditions.
Gaa
Address 46, 1 Sukhumvit 53 Alley, Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10110, Thailand (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 5.30pm to 11pm pm to 2.30pm and 6pm to 9pm Mondays to Fridays; 12pm to 3pm and 5.30pm to 11pm Saturdays and Sundays
Tel (66) 63 987 4747
Website www.gaabkk.com
Instagram @restaurant_gaa
Reservations book here
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