A 70-year-old Thai street food seller who makes wok-fired dishes has been awarded a Michelin star at the launch of Bangkok’s first guide.

Jay Fai, or Auntie Fai, is known for her scorching portions of noodles with prawns and crab, cooked over charcoal fires. The eccentric chef wears ski goggles to protect her eyes from the hot oil sloshing around giant woks in her tiny shophouse.

A dish at Jay Fai in Bangkok’s old town. Photograph: Chawadee Nualkhair

“I was excited from the very first step I made in here,” said Jay Fai as she accepted the award on Wednesday at the five-star Grand Hyatt hotel, dressed in a white chef’s outfit. Her restaurant, an open kitchen with tiled walls and metal stools that spill out into the street, also sells rich, yellow crab curries.

Open daily in the old part of the Thai capital, the restaurant was one of 17 awarded stars, decided by Michelin after months of secret inspections. The other awardees consisted mainly of French haute cuisine restaurants, such as Le Normandie, where a jacket is “compulsory for gentlemen during dinner”, as well as upscale Thai restaurants.

While Michelin has a reputation for fine dining, it claims it is not all white tablecloths and silver cutlery. In 2010, a Hong Kong dim sum hole-in-the-wall was awarded a star and the guide gave a star to a Singapore chicken rice hawker last year.

Chawadee Nualkhair, a Bangkok-based street food blogger, said: “Jay Fai is like the queen of Thai street food. She could have done anything with her fame: chain restaurants, street food branches, a fancy secondary location, but she didn’t. She stayed at her open-air shophouse with her two woks. I’m glad she’s finally getting some recognition.”

The prices are, however, not in keeping with street food, which locals put down to her large portions. A Jay Fai favourite is her browned, thick crab omelette for which she charges about £20.

Quick Guide Michelin's unlikely stars Show Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle, Singapore At less than £2, Malaysian-born Chan Hon Meng’s tiny stand in Singapore’s Chinatown is reputed to serve the cheapest Michelin-starred meal in the world. The stall’s star dish is exactly what the name suggests: dark soy sauce chicken over rice and noodles. Chan shot to fame after his surprise inclusion on last year’s guide.

Tim Ho Wan, Hong Kong The previous cheapest Michelin-starred meal, the original 20-seat dim sum Tim Ho Wan in Kowloon was recognised by the guide in 2010. Now with 45 locations, the chain specialises in dirt cheap but excellent Cantonese fare, helped along no doubt by owner Mak Kwai Pui’s flawless culinary pedigree: he’s a former chef at the Four Seasons.-

Harwood Arms, London The unassuming Fulham gastropub is the only Michelin-starred pub in London. Michelin are careful to stress that despite its sky-high reputation, the Harwood Arms is really just a down-to-earth pub that happens to serve outstanding food. The menu focusses on game and wild ingredients, and is noted for an unpretentious selection of ales too. Nakajima, Tokyo There is no shortage of Michelin stars in Tokyo, but Nakajima’s famed sardine dishes make it one of the best value meals in the city. The small basement eatery serves them raw, deep-fried, grilled, or simmered with egg and soy sauce, all at less than £8 for lunch. Ido Vock

The much-anticipated Bangkok guide comes months after authorities angered members of the local food scene by announcing they would ban street stalls from the capital’s main roads in the interests of “order and hygiene”. The plan was partially reversed following the outcry.

The guide has 28 street food locations in it, although Michelin Guides’ international director, Michael Ellis, told the Guardian before the launch that only outlets with a physical address could be included, which excludes Bangkok’s thousands of wheeled food carts. No restaurants achieved the coveted top Michelin accolade of three stars.



While Jay Fai was the only street food vendor with a star, 18 were placed in the “Bib Gourmand” category, introduced in 1955 to recognise establishments providing stellar meals for a moderate price. One is a pad thai noodle shop, Baan Yai Phad Thai, which sells the dish for about £1.

“You can find the entire encyclopaedia of Thai food in street food. It’s omnipresent. We realised that street food in Thailand is not just a meal like lunch or dinner. It’s really all day long,” Ellis said.

The Thai capital joins Singapore, Shanghai, Seoul, Hong Kong, Kyoto and Osaka, and Tokyo as Asian food hubs deemed worthy of the French tire company’s famed red guide, first released for motorists in 1900.

Other winners

Bo.Lan: one Michelin star

Cuisine: Thai

The chef-owners Duangporn Songvisava and Dylan Jones grow their own vegetables and serve them in a renovated Thai house that hopes to have a zero-carbon footprint by 2018. All dishes, which change quarterly but have included local favourites such as panang curry and spicy wing bean salad, are served at the same time.

Nahm: one Michelin star

Cuisine: Thai

Located in the Como Metropolitan hotel, Nahm is a Thai restaurant run by the Australian-born chef David Thompson. The dishes are authentic and do not shy away from the heavy doses of fresh chilli loved by Thais. Michelin said the flavours are “intense yet perfectly balanced”. Thompson’s London branch of Nahm was the first restaurant in the world to receive a Michelin star for cooking Thai food.

Suhring: one Michelin star

Cuisine: contemporary German

Run by the twin chefs Thomas and Mathias Suhring, the first German fine-dining restaurant in Bangkok gained quick recognition. Its 12-course tasting menu is filled with homely German flavours and includes multiple wine pairings.

Gaggan: two Michelin stars

Cuisine: progressive Indian

Owned by Gaggan Anand, this is one of the most well-known restaurants in Bangkok, winning first place in the prestigious Asia’s 50 best restaurants list two years in a row. Gaggan has been praised for his playful food and culinary wit, expressed in a 25-course tasting menu.