Kyo Roll En Central World
The dessert counter on CentralWorld's 3rd floor belongs to Dej Kewkacha, named Asia's Best Pastry Chef 2025 by Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, and its signature bamboo-charcoal roll with Uji matcha cream is the dish that launched his thirty-branch chain.
Why go
Kewkacha is self-taught, a former mathematics student who found pastry through a roommate at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons and created the charcoal roll during time in Kyoto. The chain's name compresses the thesis: Kyoto, roll, and "en," garden. His stated method pairs seasonal Thai produce with Japanese technique, which is precisely how Jeff describes the place, and the same palate now runs the dessert course at Gaggan at Louis Vuitton. The Zen Roll Cake, a "rock-colored roll cake made from Japanese bamboo charcoal" filled with Uji matcha cream and black soybeans, is the constant; the seasonal fruit rolls rotate around it.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the seasonal roll cake, Jeff's order and his pick for one of Bangkok's best desserts; the Zen Roll for the origin story; matcha soft serve if you are walking the mall.
- Avoid: counting on aggressive, bitter matcha; Daniel Ang found the early parfaits sweet-leaning and
more overwhelmed at how it looks than how it tastes,
so order cake over parfait.
What locals & experts say
- Asia's 50 Best Restaurants (2025): Dej Kewkacha named Asia's Best Pastry Chef 2025, the Valrhona-sponsored award, with the profile crediting the charcoal-matcha rolls as
an instant hit
that built the brand.1 - Daniel Ang, DanielFoodDiary (2015): wished
the matcha could have been more distinct, ie bitter and less sweet.
3
Good to know
- Timing: mall hours, all day; rolls sell whole or by the slice and box cleanly for takeaway.
- Booking: walk-in counter.
- Getting there: CentralWorld 3rd floor, BTS Siam or Chit Lom; for the full Kewkacha arc, his Kyo Bar dessert omakase sits at Central Embassy two BTS stops away, in the same building as Eathai.
Jeff's take (his words)
- The note: a Thai chef that uses local ingredients to create Japanese desserts. order the beautiful roll cake that's seasonal, and in my opinion, it's one of best desserts in Bangkok.
Verdict
should-visit — The mall kiosk of the first Thai chef ever named Asia's Best Pastry Chef, and the direct descendant of the charcoal-and-matcha roll that built his thirty-branch empire. Jeff, who has eaten it, calls the seasonal roll one of the best desserts in Bangkok, and the Thai-fruit-plus-Japanese-technique thesis is exactly his lane. It is still a food-court counter, so the rung is for the cake, and the cake travels: buy the roll, ride the escalator, done.