A whole experience catered around the love story of a Mexican and an Indian: Restaurant Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh (5. January 2024)
The Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh is the second restaurant of Gaggan Anand and is located right on top of his awarded restaurant ‘Gaggan Anand’. The place is quite different from his downstairs place, but more about that the next day. The Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh is a mixture of Mexican and Indian flavours and is dedicated to bringing the two worlds together. The evening started with “chips with spicy cheese sauce and spicy pickled nibbles (papaya, poblano chili, apricot)”, which were actually not only simple, but nice in terms of flavour combination.
The first step of the menu was the “tamarind sphere”, which was really a palate cleanser, which worked perfectly to get your palate started.
We decided to go for the “Crazy in Love Tasting Menu for 2 People” (6’000 THB each). The name is based on the story, which is used around the restaurant (for some illustrations, see below) and, again, focusses on bringing the flavours of the Mexican and the Indian cuisine together.
The first course was “Papdi Chaat (pan Puri with white bean mousse, morsels)” and “Golgappa Pomegranate”, which was a nice and flavour-intense start to the dinner.
The next bite were “heirloom tomatoes, black salt”, which looked relatively simple in terms of ingredients, but was actually quite tasty when it came to flavour profile.
Secondly, the “guacamole (guacamole with olive oil)” was truly simple, but it was prepared in a way that it would just make your taste buds dance in your mouth – and it went perfectly with …
… the “tortillas with tomatillo”. Frankly, the start of the dinner was definitely a good one.
Throughout the menu, respectively in the beginning, you had a couple of options. You could go for the ‘regular version’ or pick a few extras, and we decided to go for the “Ceviche Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh” (+200 THB), which was a delicious bite.
The “Akami Tuna Tostada with Mole Negro” and the “Chana Chaat Tostada with Mole Negro” were both great. Frankly, I hadn’t expected that, but the tuna was great with the avocado, and the Indian-inspired tostada was equally as good.
Then, it was time for something a bit unusual – at least to me. The “Rasam de Camarones (tamarind, senf; pepper; yuzu, shrimp, tomato)” was an interesting dish, as you really had to dig into it with your spoon to get out all the flavour. And since the whole thing was warm, it was definitely a bit different from what I had expected.
I’m a sucker for corn, that’s for sure. But cauliflower is my least favourite vegetable. So, I was a bit curious how the combination of “Corn & Cauliflower” would play out – and it actually worked a charm. I suppose this is mainly due to the fact that the corn was domineering in terms of flavour profile, but still, I hadn’t expected that the combination of the two would actually be enjoyable.
The “Chile Poblano / Mole Blanco” was definitely something interesting as I hadn’t tried mole blanco before (made with white chocolate instead of dark chocolate), and I can confidently say that I highly prefer the regular mole compared to the mole blanco. Not something, I had expected to say, but well, here we go.
The “Mediterranean Octopus / Mole Madre & Pipian” was a nice combination. The octopus was tender and tasty and went well with the mole – so, again, a great combination of flavours.
And as much as I loved the “oba tortillas” conceptually, they were definitely a bit too small to have the octopus wrapped into them, hence, not the optimal way to serve your dish this way.
The “Taco Pork Vindaloo” was among my least favourite dishes. It was too greasy on the on hand side, but it was also lacking a bit of special flavour, hence, this is the one I would not recommend you to pick from the menu.
The “Taco Black Angus Short Ribs” (+400 THB) were actually quite delicious. And they had a nice size since they would actually allow you to eat the dish without getting all the ingredients all over the place.
And of course, if you added a bit of spicy sauces, to imitate the Mexican spiciness, this would have been nice, however, unfortunately, the spicy part wasn’t really anything like Mexican spice at all.
Then, it was time for a “Beef Tongue Curry” (+200 THB) and a “Chicken Tikka Masala Curry”, and I must say that I actually enjoyed both, but in this case I believe that the regular Chicken Tikka Masala Curry was the better choice.
Finally, for dessert, they offered “Churros / Roasted Sticky Rice Ice Cream”. And frankly, it looked like a dish I would absolutely love, but it turned out to not be that, since the ‘roasted sticky rice ice cream’ was a bit of an odd flavour I didn’t really enjoy.
When it comes to the drinks, the “El Diablo Bastardo (Mezcal, Dragon Fruit, Coconut, Agave Nectar, Red Wine Float)” (420 THB) was okay, but frankly, also not my favourite.
What I absolutely loved about the place is the dedication to the story. It was really all about Ms. Maria (the Mexican) meeting Mr. Singh (the Indian). I wonder, though, how much of this story is actually inspired by Gaggan’s ture life story.
The fact that both his places are on the list of The World’s 50 Best, resp. Asia’s 50 Best (currently No. 33), isn’t really surprising to me. Talking about Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh, I get why it is unique in terms of flavour combination – Mexican and Indian cuisine have both very powerful flavour profiles, and they go quite well together. Hence, the combination of the two somehow asks for recognition.
On top of the combination of the two cuisines, the place is also nice from a design perspective. If you want to go to Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh, you’ll be walking up the slopes from Gaggan Anand and he is looking at you to welcome you in his realm.
What I like a lot was the dedication to the story. I think I already said that, but before you get to pick your food, you’re handed a booklet of about 30 pages, which tells the story of Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh.
Obviously, I don’t want to spoil it by posting all illustrations here, but I really loved their story how they bumped into each other, and their foods mixed, at Bangkok airport, and how it turned out that they are both into each other and finally end up being together.
On top of all of that, the staff at the Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh is outstandingly friendly and makes sure you have everything you want and need during your dinner here.
Given the place is not really massive (approximately 8-10 tables à 40 people), I would highly recommend you to book your table well in advance. Obviously, this is even more true for the Gaggan Anand, but also here, you need to make sure to book in advance. When I’m in Bangkok next time, I’m more than happy to try again what he has to offer in an updated menu. One note with regards to the price, I believe the price is relatively high for Bangkok. For international standards, it’s fine, but the menu is definitely not on the cheap side of things.
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Contact Details:
Restaurant Ms. Maria & Mr. Singh
68/2 Soi Sukhumvit 31
Khwaeng Khlong Tan Nuea
Watthana
10110 Bangkok (TH)
Tel.: +66 91 698 6688
Tel.: +66 62 424 1000
E-Mail: reservations@mariasinghbkk.com
Homepage: http://mariaandsinghbkk.com
About the Author: Sven
I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org.
Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City. 
