From Bangkok food tours, to learning how to cook Thailand’s signature dishes, and dinner with a view, check out these unmissable Bangkok Thai food experiences!
We’re back from Thailand and I can’t believe how incredible the trip was! I knew our holiday was going to be special because a) it was to a country I’d wanted to visit for ages and b) it was a proper holiday. It was time to recharge the batteries, do what we want when we want, indulge as often as possible and truly R-E-L-A-X.
Well, you know what, we did all of that, and so much more! There will be plenty more blogs from our time in Thailand (yep, despite it not being a work trip, I have lots of personal tips and pics I want to show you!) but first up I wanted to share a few of my fave foodie experiences from Bangkok. We finished our trip in the capital city, and over five days we squeezed in a lot. We toured the Grand Palace, ate copious amounts of street food, got drenched as part of the Songkran festivities and saw many sides to the city.
Almost all of my favourite moments in the city involved food. I honestly think eating is one of the best things to do in Bangkok! We decided to book onto a few tours for our final week, learning how to cook fresh and delicious Thai food, enjoying a night tour of the city by TukTuk, and finishing our trip with a view that I’ll cherish forever. So, it’s time for a quick rundown of my unmissable food experiences in Bangkok. If you’re visiting soon, add these Bangkok Thai food experiences to your list…
Evening Food and Tuk Tuk Adventure
This was my first trip to Bangkok and I thought this tour was a great introduction to a city which many tourists find totally overwhelming. We hopped on a private Expique tuk tuk and guide Lek showed us some great local spots across the city.
From 24/7 markets and tiny street stalls, to the buzz of Chinatown and backstreet restaurants, it was a great way to dive head first into Bangkok’s rich culture.
I lost track of how many foods we sampled, as even when we were wandering down a street Lek would appear with a small sample of something delicious from a street vendor.
The main thing I enjoyed was that I tried SO many things I wouldn’t have had the guts to try if I’d been exploring Bangkok on my own. The Thai hot pot was one of the most delicious dishes of the night – fresh, flavoursome and full of spice, you could add the ingredients you wanted to the bubbling broth and create your own unique concoction.
I also loved the little purple potato dumplings, pork satay and noodles with egg. Oh and what about those mini gooey coconut pancakes topped with sweetcorn? I’m salivating just thinking about them!
A tuk tuk tour of Bangkok is a really good way learn about the city and cover a lot of ground, plus having a local who can answer your burning questions is great – we had lots from our few weeks travelling around Thailand and couldn’t wait to quiz Lek.
If we’d stayed longer, I’d loved to have checked out one of their new Market Experiences cooking classes which also sound great!
Cooking With Poo
After spending a few weeks in Thailand, I was fairly familiar with the staples of the country’s cuisine. Delicious flavour profiles with spicy, sweet and sour all combined, tonnes of fresh vegetables and herbs, and irresistible smells too. I was hooked. Once we got to Bangkok I was excited to learn how to cook some of the dishes I’d been feasting on.
First things first, Poo is the name of the owner of this cooking school. She knows how funny ‘cooking with poo’ sounds, and has created a little empire out of it (she even has a best selling Thai cookbook)! Oh and she’s also one of the most inspirational women I’ve ever come across on my travels.
She told us the story of how she started with nothing, working jobs across the city to gather enough money to look after her family. She’s an incredible cook, so after a bit of persuasion, she started a little cooking school.
Over the years the school has grown, she has bigger premises and more staff. She’s also keen to give back to her community, so gives a percentage of the cooking school’s profits to local businesses.
But back to the cooking class! We started the day at Klong Toey Wet Market, seeing how the locals shop for ingredients. It’s a real feast for the senses – both good and bad. Mountains of mangosteens and lemongrass tantalised my tastebuds, while live frogs in net bags tugged on my heartstrings. It was hard to see, but experiences like this are an important part of understanding Thai culture, and I’m really glad the cooking school includes this trip.
Then we headed to Poo’s cooking school where we learned to make a few staples of the Thai cuisine. Over a few hours we cooked a tangy, spicy beef salad, a classic pad thai and a chicken green curry. I loved that we all had a chance to cook, rather than just watching demonstrations. Poo shared great tips along the way and we enjoyed eating each course after we’d made it. I’d genuinely say some of the food I made at the class was the best I ate in Thailand. The ingredients were so fresh and the recipes were wonderfully simple – I can’t wait to recreate some of the dishes at home.
Towards the end, the staff laid out a banquet of intriguing Thai fruits, from mangosteens and rambutans to rose apples. It was great to taste so many exotic fruits – again a new food experience! We also scoffed some mango sticky rice before waving bye bye to Poo and her friends.
It’s worth noting that the menu changes daily, so check out what you’ll be making before you book.
Dinner with a view at Vertigo at the Banyan Tree Bangkok
As you may have heard, we got engaged at the start of our trip to Thailand! It was so exciting and we couldn’t wait to celebrate once we got to Bangkok, with a special evening at the Banyan Tree’s sky-high restaurant.
On the top of the luxurious Banyan Tree Hotel (Floor 61 no less!) are Moon Bar and Vertigo Restaurant. We timed our visit to catch sunset at the bar before enjoying the sea of twinkly lights over dinner. There are plenty of sky bars in Bangkok, but this offers one of the best views of the city.
We started with cocktails at Moon Bar – I went for a passion fruit mojito while Macca enjoyed his first bloody mary in weeks. The views from the bar are unbelievable, and while it gets crowded around this time, we were still able to find seats.
There’s a little platform at Moon Bar, with glass around three sides, so you can snap great photos against the epic city views.
Then it was along the rooftop to Vertigo for dinner. We had a great table at the edge and tucked into a four-course menu with wine pairings. After weeks of Thai food, it was a nice change to have a meal featuring Western flavours and ingredients.
We started with a light beetroot and gin cured salmon dish, followed by a rich and velvety roasted sweet potato and cauliflower soup. The main course was a sirloin steak with potatoes and vegetables. I couldn’t believe it when the waiter arrived with the red wine and it was from Vina Montes – a winery Macca and I visited in Chile’s Colchagua Valley after just a few months of dating. It felt so special to see a bottle of it after getting engaged!
We finished the meal with a calvados mousse and enjoyed the city skyline one last time.
The service at Vertigo was excellent. Big thanks to our wonderful waiter who insisted on snapping a few special photos for us at the end of the evening. We’ll cherish these for many years to come.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my favourite food experiences in Bangkok. I didn’t have time, but definitely head for brunch in Bangkok if you get the chance. There are some incredible spots serving up super-pretty and tasty dishes!
As you can see, all these foodie experiences are totally different from each other, but provide such a great intro to the city! Looking for other foodie things to do in Bangkok? Check out Macca’s post about food tours in Bangkok.
I was invited to review these three experiences, but as always all opinions are my own.
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