Bo.lan
Bo Songvisava and Dylan Jones met on the line at David Thompson's Nahm in London, then the only Michelin-starred Thai restaurant in the world, moved to Bangkok in 2008, and opened Bo.lan the same year. The name fuses Bo and (Dy)lan and puns on the Thai word for ancient, which is the whole cooking philosophy in one syllable pair.
Why go
Today Bo.lan runs samrub-style: the courses of a set menu land on the table at once, served to share, to promote a culture of eating together like a Thai family dinner
(Time Out Bangkok). Three menus scale by appetite, Bo.lan Brief at 10 servings for B3,980, Balance at 13 for B4,600, Feast at 15 for B4,800, built from regional heritage recipes and rare produce bought direct from small farmers. The Michelin Guide made it a one-star newcomer in the 2026 Thailand guide, calling it a Thai restaurant rooted in heritage recipes and sustainability-driven sourcing.
The history matters because this was the restaurant that made boran (old) Thai food a cause. From 2008 to 2021 the original Bo.lan held a Michelin star, put Bo on Netflix's Chef's Table, and earned her the inaugural Asia's Best Female Chef award in 2013 while the couple chased a zero-carbon kitchen. It closed in 2021, a pandemic casualty Jones blamed publicly on government neglect of the industry. The Sukhumvit 53 house was announced as a compound for Err and Bolan Grocer (BK, 2021), and Err did operate from the grounds; by 2026 Err's own site places it at ERR 32 on Soi Sukhumvit 32, so the compound now holds the relaunched restaurant and the Grocer.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Feast if you have the appetite; 15 servings is the full argument. Time Out's reopening coverage flags the range,
salty cured fish from Isan,
asouthern Thai curry,
and central Thailand's chili-jam-coated riceinspired by a recipe from the early 1900s.
2 - Avoid: expecting a plated Western tasting progression. The samrub arrives together and is eaten with rice, family style. And book the right venue; Bolan Grocer shares the grounds, and Err, once here too, now runs separately on Soi Sukhumvit 32 (see the err entry).
What locals & experts say
- Michelin Guide Thailand 2026 (One Star, new):
a Thai restaurant rooted in heritage recipes and sustainability-driven sourcing, featuring rare regional produce from small farmers,
with mains arrivingsamrap
style for sharing.1 - Time Out Bangkok (2021): on the closure, Dylan Jones:
the government's COVID response... with an utter lack of financial and political support for small business owners... has certainly contributed to our decision to call it a day.
3 - Identita Golose: the two met at Nahm in London,
the only establishment in the world that served Thai cuisine that could boast a Michelin star
at the time.5
Good to know
- Timing: dinner, Thursday through Sunday (Time Out, 2024); confirm days when booking.
- Booking: essential; the samrub menus are set, so flag dietary limits ahead.
- The compound: Sukhumvit Soi 53 in Thonglor holds Bo.lan, Err, and Bolan Grocer; a walk from BTS Thong Lo.
- Budget: B3,980 to B4,800 per menu before drinks, cheap against Bangkok's other starred tasting rooms.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "restaurant for bo; from bo and dylan"
Verdict
should-visit — The restaurant that made sustainable boran Thai a movement, rebuilt around samrub service and back on the star list as a 2026 newcomer. Heritage recipes, small-farmer sourcing, and a family-style format you rarely get at this level make it a genuine standout; the must-visit rung would need a current critical consensus the reopened version has not yet accumulated.