Southeast Asian cuisine

Tailor-make your culinary trip to Southeast Asia

Take your taste buds on a culinary journey through Southeast Asia, where you'll find delicious dishes in every country. Taste familiar food like the creamy green curries of Thailand, or try something new, from deep-fried spiders in Cambodia to snake soup in Vietnam.

We can arrange for you to accompany a food blogger on a tour of Hanoi's best culinary hotspots, take a gastronomic tour of Kuala Lumpur with a local food guide, or participate in a cookery class in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Whatever your interests or tastes, we can tailor-make a trip to suit you.

Laos

Dishes in Laos, and also the north of Thailand, are nearly always served with khâo niaw (sticky rice).

The traditional way to eat it is to pick up a small handful in your right hand and roll it into a ball, which you then dip into various sauces.

Also worth a try is the delicious spicy green papaya salad, one of the most common street market foods in Laos.

Culinary delights tour of Vientiane

Visit Lam Pai-Bay Tong, a rustic restaurant/cookery school close to the Mekong River where you will learn how to create three local dishes using traditional ingredients and techniques.

Indonesia

Indonesia is a huge country with great diversity, and food here has been greatly influenced by visitors from all over the world. Nowhere more so than in Sumatra, where spicy Padang curries are based on those from India and the Middle East.

Ubud

Ubud is an ideally located town from which to base yourself if you're planning on exploring all that Bali has to offer. It has history, culture, architecture as well as flora and fauna to experience.

Malaysia

Nasi and mie (rice and noodles), the staple ingredients in Malaysia, can be fried, steamed, and boiled into sweet and savoury dishes usually accompanied by ikan (fresh fish).

The complex flavours of Malay food set it apart from similar dishes in Indonesia, which are simple but equally tasty.

Many dishes, such as sate (skewered meat) and gado-gado (steamed vegetables), are served with peanut sauce.

Street food tour in Kuala Lumpur

Enjoy a gastronomic journey of discovery via a walking tour of Kuala Lumpur. Accompanied by your local food guide, the evening tour allows you to sample some of Malaysia’s most famous dishes.

Thailand

Thailand is an absolute paradise for food lovers. If you want to broaden your palate, Bangkok is one of the cuisine capitals of the world, serving food from virtually every corner of the planet.

The further south you head in Thailand the spicier the food becomes. If you really want to try (or avoid) something distinctive and spicy, look for a kaeng tai plaa, which contains, as one of its more interesting ingredients, fish innards.

Thai for a day

Experience a typical day in the life of a Thai family by taking a cooking class in their home. Among other things, the family will also demonstrate their basket weaving skills, a tradition that has been in Thailand for centuries.

Vietnam

Vietnamese cuisine places a strong emphasis on the 'harmony' of tastes in food. Pho, a delicious local noodle soup dish usually served with beef or chicken, is ubiquitous in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

If you're in Vietnam, it won’t be long before you try a spring roll, either the crispy variety or try rolling your own with translucent rice crêpes.

Hanoi street food tour

Set off on a street food tour of Hanoi's best culinary spots with a food blogger.

Cookery courses in Southeast Asia

There are countless opportunities to find out how all the food is made. We offer cookery courses in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, and Peninsular Malaysia.

I did a cookery course at Y Thao Gardens in Hue and learnt how to make some amazing spring rolls, which I still recreate to this day.

Mark, Southeast Asia country specialist