I knew that when coming to Thailand I had to do a cookery course and opted for a half day course at Asia Scenic. What’s fantastic about Asia Scenic is rather than the group deciding which dishes to make, each individual gets to pick. As quite an adventurous cook with a fairly high spice tolerance, this was a huge plus.
Our tutor, Kitty, was a star and incredibly engaging. Throughout the morning you learn about Thai ingredients, visit a local food market and prepare, spring rolls, a soup, curry paste, a curry, and some noodles. For my curry dish, I opted for the Khao Soi, which I had eaten in Dash the night before and can safely say Khao Soi is now going to become my impressive and obscure dinner party dish from this point forward.
I think I could write a song about how much I enjoyed Dash. Prize for the best meal of the trip 100% goes to Dash and the rest of my group agreed. It’s certainly not a hidden secret so be warned, turn up early, or book ahead. For Thailand this is on the pricey side of things but with Western eyes this is still a really reasonably priced dinner.
The Khao Soi, or Chiang Mai noodles, are a coconuty broth at a spice level of your choosing with meat, vegetables and egg noodles with deep fried egg noodles on top. I opted for the crispy pork and could eat that one dish time and time again.
Alongside my delicious noodles I went for the luminously coloured Chiang Mai Iced Tea, nothing like a long island but very delicious, and rounded off my dinner with icecream wrapped in bread and deep fried. The dessert came decorated with a face which I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated.
I feel Dash could totally warrant a trip back to Chiang Mai by itself.
When I got back from Thailand the first thing my mum asked was, “but if you wanted a sandwich in Thailand could you buy one?”. The bread on the whole in Thailand would definitely make most French people weep but there are a few cute little bakeries that serve pastries, pies, and bread and this is one of the better ones. When your main carb has been rice for a while it is particularly satisfying biting into a nice crusty roll.
Thapthim Krop is a traditional Thai dessert of water chestnuts (which tends to be translated as water truffles) in an agar jelly or syrup, made to resemble pomegranate seeds. It is then served in coconut milk and shaved ice and a mixture of other fruits. This cheap and cheerful cafe serves the dessert in various forms as well as your more usual Thai dishes such as curries and noodles. I had the pad see ew which although fairly small portions, but for the price could have bought it twice, and one of the chef’s special Thapthim Krop. The dessert is an acquired taste but certainly worth a try.