The story
Potong is a Thai restaurant in Bangkok, located at 422 Vanich Rd., Samphanthawong, where chef Pichaya "Pam" Soontornyanakij serves a tasting menu of progressive Thai-Chinese cooking. The restaurant debuted at No. 13 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2025, earning the Highest New Entry Award that year.
Chef Pam was born into a family of fourth-generation Chinese herbal medicine producers. Her training includes time in the US at Jean-Georges before she returned to Bangkok. The kitchen builds its dishes around five elements: salt, acid, spice, texture and Maillard reaction. Each course draws on her family memories, so the menu reads as a personal account rather than a fixed template.
The tasting opens with house-made charcuterie and a collaboration wine. Later courses include crab roe, blue crab and brioche, and 14-day aged duck. The five-storey building housed the family's herbal medicine business from 1910. A third-floor room holds hand-painted tiger drawings, and Opium Bar occupies the fourth and fifth floors for late-night cocktails.
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What’s the hype?Winning a constant stream of awards since opening in 2021, Potong is the fine-dining restaurant in a narrow multi-floor building from chef Pichaya ‘Pam’ Soontornyanakij, which offers a tasting menu of innovative Thai-Chinese cuisine in the heart of Bangkok’s Chinatown. And 2025 sees another award: Potong is the winner of the Highest New Entry Award 2025, making its impressive debut at No.13. On the menu:The food at Potong focuses on five elements: salt, acid, spice, texture and Maillard reaction (the chemical process of reducing sugars that brings distinctive flavour). The degustation starts with house-made charcuterie and collaboration wine, before moving through courses including Historical Stories – crab roe, blue crab and brioche; Bold – 14-day aged duck; and Heritage – pandan, a peanut bon bon and tamarind. The tasting takes diners through Chef Pam’s culinary memories and emotions. An historic setting:Potong is located in a generations-old five-storey building that housed the family’s Chinese herbal medicine business from 1910. Restored over two and a half years in a major architectural project, the site now houses late-night cocktail haven Opium Bar on its fourth and fifth floors, the main dining room on the second floor, and on the third, an original room filled with hand-painted tiger drawings. Soon, the former first-floor apothecary will be home to Sino House: a ‘funky Thai-Chinese’ restaurant with live music. Meet the chef:With Thai, Australian and Chinese heritage, Chef Pam grew up in Bangkok before moving to the US, where she honed her skills at the legendary Jean-Georges. She went on to win multiple awards and became a judge on Top Chef Thailand. Since returning to her hometown, she has quickly become one of the most influential chefs in the country and beyond, winning the Asia’s Best Female Chef Award 2024 and The World’s Best Female Chef Award 2025. If you like this, you’ll love:Chef Pam also runs the Texas barbecue-inspired Smoked, and beef omakase restaurant The Table by Chef Pam.
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