Bangkok’s renowned chef Gaggan Anand to cook in Sydney and Melbourne next month
The inventive chef, best known for creations such as “rat brains” and a menu entirely out of emojis, will be in Australia for a series of dinners, a progressive Indian lunch and more.
The chef who once built a menu entirely out of emojis is coming to Australia for the first time, with Gaggan Anand set to host a series of dining events at Crown Sydney and Crown Melbourne across nine days in April and May.
Anand, whose Bangkok restaurant Gaggan costs around $700 a head and can run to as many as 25 courses, is known for his experimental approach to Indian cuisine. His dishes often lean theatrical, including one of his best-known creations, “rat brains”, a dumpling shaped to resemble a brain, served in a “bloody” beetroot sauce, and Lick it Up, a curry designed to be eaten directly off the plate without cutlery.
The restaurant has been ranked No. 1 in Asia for 2025-26 by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, and among the top 10 in the world by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants academy.
The Sydney residency will run from April 28 to May 3, and offer a more scaled back version of the Bangkok experience. It will include a 12-course degustation held in an event space on level 3 of Crown Sydney, which will be priced at $549 a person and include a glass of Dom Perignon on arrival.
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Sign upThere will also be a progressive lunch series from May 1 to 3. For those who miss out on tickets, Anand will also design a bar snack menu for the hotel’s rooftop venue, Cirq, available throughout May.
The Michelin-starred chef will then travel to Melbourne for a series of events at Californian-inspired restaurant Marmont in Crown Melbourne on May 7 and 8. The Melbourne program will feature an eight-course menu drawn from his signature dishes, priced at $295, accompanied by a soundtrack curated by Anand and Australian DJ Grant Smillie.
In a statement, Gaggan Anand said: “Gaggan is not just about food, it’s about an experience, and we have never cooked in Australia before ... We will bring our minds, our techniques, your ingredients and our madness to your plate.”
Tickets for Gaggan Anand live at Marmont are now available. Tickets for Gaggan at Crown Sydney are on sale from March 30.
Erina Starkey – Erina is the Good Food App Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Previously, Erina held a number of editing roles at delicious.com.au and writing roles at Broadsheet and Concrete Playground.