At Jhol, Bangkok, Chef Shreesh Rao Draws Inspiration From Indian Coastline

The Leela Ambience Gurugram recently hosted a pop-up by Bangkok’s acclaimed, one-Michelin starred restaurant Jhol, offering diners a taste of the restaurant’s celebrated coastal Indian cuisine. Curated by Jhol’s Chef de Cuisine Shreesha Rao, the menu spanned across India’s shoreline through dishes such as Chicken Liver Achu Murukku with dry mango chutney, Kolkata Dim’er Devil with caviar and quail egg, Berhampur Fried Chicken, Surti Anda Ghotala with chilli cheese toast and truffle, and Ghee Roast Crab with Kanchipuram idli.

Worth a mention, the Tender Coconut Payasam rounded off the meal on a perfect note.

The progression captured what Jhol is best known for: regional Indian flavours presented with contemporary technique, precision, and a great storytelling.

For Rao, the journey to leading one of Bangkok’s most acclaimed Indian restaurants began closer home. Raised in coastal Karnataka, the chef grew up surrounded by the flavours that shaped his cooking. While many chefs enter the profession through family kitchens, his early years were spent learning the foundations of bakery and pastry before he expanded into modern Indian cuisine and fine dining. Over the years, he worked across India, the United States, and Thailand, with successful stints at restaurants like Rooh, Baar Baar, London Taxi and Indienne, Chicago.

Today, as Chef de Cuisine at Jhol, he pairs this international experience with memories from India’s coast. The inspiration, he says, remains deeply connected to the country itself. “What inspires me most is India’s unique and rich culinary landscape and at Jhol, we are deeply rooted in every region of India,” he added.

For Rao, creativity often begins outside the kitchen, and inspiration extends far beyond food. India’s textiles, architecture, rituals, colours, and everyday cultural traditions all inform the way he thinks about flavour, presentation, and storytelling. That curiosity eventually found a home at Jhol, where the spotlight remains firmly on India’s coastal food traditions— from cherished local recipes to lesser-known regional flavours that rarely make it to fine-dining menus.

Located in Bangkok’s Sukhumvit district, Jhol was founded by renowned chef Hari Nayak and has steadily emerged as one of the city’s most exciting Indian restaurants. Named after the Mumbai slang word often associated with “mischief”, the restaurant focuses on the diverse culinary traditions found along India’s eastern and western coastlines. The menu draws inspiration from regions including Konkan, Malabar, Chettinad, Pondicherry and Bengal, while incorporating seasonal Thai produce that stands true to its Bangkok setting.

The result is a dining experience that feels deeply Indian while remaining distinctly global. That balance is central to Jhol’s identity.

“At Jhol, we’ve always approached coastal Indian cuisine with a lot of respect for regional identity, technique, and storytelling, while still presenting it in a way that feels contemporary and globally relevant,” said the chef

The restaurant has become particularly known for dishes that reinterpret familiar regional recipes through modern techniques without losing their cultural context. Coastal seafood, fermented elements, coconut-forward preparations, regional rice varieties and lesser-known condiments all find a place on the menu.

At the Gurugram pop-up, Rao wanted diners to experience exactly that. “We wanted every plate to feel layered and authentic. Each moved through different regions, textures, and flavour profiles in a way that weaves a story.” he said. The pop-up menu showcased flavours from across the coastline—from Bengal’s kasundi to Kerala’s coconut-rich curries and Karnataka’s iconic ghee roast traditions.

One dish, in particular, encapsulates Jhol’s approach. The Ghee Roast Crab, served during the pop-up with Kanchipuram idli and coconut chutney, has become one of the restaurant’s defining creations. “If there’s one dish that really represents Jhol’s philosophy, it would probably be the Ghee Roast Crab,” says Rao. The dish begins with a flavour profile that many diners from coastal Karnataka would instantly recognise. What follows is where Jhol makes its mark.

“It’s rooted in the coastal flavours many of us have grown up with, but the way we interpret it at Jhol is very deliberate in terms of technique, texture, and presentation.”

For Rao, innovation is not about reinventing a dish beyond recognition. “Authenticity is never about replication, it’s about reverence.” Every recipe starts with an understanding of the original before contemporary techniques are introduced. “The innovation comes in how we tell those stories today—through refined plating, unexpected textures, or a modern lens on a forgotten regional recipe.” It is an approach that allows dishes to feel both familiar and new at the same time.

Restaurants like Jhol are emerging as regional Indian cuisine enjoys unprecedented attention worldwide. For decades, Indian food abroad was often represented by a relatively small set of dishes. Today, chefs are turning their attention to local ingredients, community recipes, fermentation traditions, and hyper-regional food cultures. Rao sees this growing curiosity as one of the most exciting developments in contemporary dining.

“What excites me most about the future of modern-Indian dining is that there’s finally a much deeper curiosity around the diversity and complexity of Indian cuisine beyond the familiar narratives.” At Jhol, that exploration frequently centres on ingredients and flavour traditions that remain underrepresented even within India.

“Whether it’s the use of kasundi from Bengal, coconut-forward preparations from the South, or regional styles of seafood and rice, the menu draws from the diversity that exists across India’s coastline,” he added.

What makes this moment particularly significant, he believes, is that both chefs and diners are increasingly willing to move beyond familiar territory. “Chefs today are exploring regional cuisines, lesser-known ingredients, coastal traditions, and local techniques with a lot more confidence and creative freedom, while still staying rooted in authenticity.”