The Best Thai Cookery School
The Best Thai Cookery School
5
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
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168 within 6 miles
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
1,948 reviews
Excellent
1,868
Very good
63
Average
9
Poor
6
Terrible
2
Emily S
7 contributions
Jan 2020 • Friends
What an incredibly fun experience! We had a group of about 32, and it always felt like our chef was taking the time to make sure everyone understood and was on board with the dishes. We started at a market to understand the ingredients and what they all did. We made curry, pad thai, cashew chicken, tom yum,and sticky rice and everything tasted excellent. It was surprising how easy everything was to make once the chef explained it to us! The chef was humorous, thorough, and very helpful. We've learned so much to bring back home with us. Oh, and you get a little cookbook as well with pictures and instructions in case you forgot anything! Definitely a huge highlight of our trip to Thailand!
Written January 6, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Mark G
York, UK69 contributions
Feb 2023 • Couples
What a great day out! Set in beautiful countryside north of Chiang Mai, we 1st went to the market to pick our fresh ingredients and then a short drive to the cookery school. Pom showed us how to cook 7 different dishes with great flare and lots of jokes while making it easy to understand with lots of useful cooking hints and tips. 100pct recommend.
Written February 17, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Dan O
11 contributions
Feb 2023 • Family
We thoroughly enjoyed learning to cook Thai style with Pon, our humorous teacher. I strongly recommend this course for new and more experienced chefs. Our day started at the market and gave us insights into authentic Thai cooking.
Written February 17, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Puzzled66
Bonita Springs, FL166 contributions
Jan 2020 • Friends
This was great! First we went to the market and learned about the ingredients we were about to use. Then, at the cooking class site, we had great fun, each making 3 courses. Almost everyone’s meal came out great - all except the one who got spooked when it flamed up and lost part of the dinner. It’s a lot of fun with friends.
Written January 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Adam S
Calgary, Canada39 contributions
Feb 2020
Great class, enjoyed the market tour. Cooked some really good food, including the best pad thai I had in Thailand. The chefs running the class were excellent, they kept it fun for all. The grounds are also very nice, with a nice crossection of plants growing. My son enjoyed feeding the fish. Great stuff.
Written February 18, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
恭子 越
1 contribution
Jun 2014
We saw their website and got interested in the only fruit carving class because we had been to a different cooking class. On the website, their fruit carving class costs 400 Bahts for a group of 2-4 for 4 hours, which we thought pretty cheap!
When we called to book, they said the same price but for only 2 hours and we still thought it was reasonable and booked it. However, when we got there, they said it would cost 800 Bahts for 2 hours. To be worse, it wasn't even fruit carving, they prepared some vegetables like carrots and spring onions . The picture of the fruit on the website must be false advertisement.... We knew the price was too low for the value but still we kind of feel it was a rip-off!!! It wasn't even in a room either, just in the office ! We don't recommend it at all !
When we called to book, they said the same price but for only 2 hours and we still thought it was reasonable and booked it. However, when we got there, they said it would cost 800 Bahts for 2 hours. To be worse, it wasn't even fruit carving, they prepared some vegetables like carrots and spring onions . The picture of the fruit on the website must be false advertisement.... We knew the price was too low for the value but still we kind of feel it was a rip-off!!! It wasn't even in a room either, just in the office ! We don't recommend it at all !
Written June 25, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Ashkbarr
Bangkok, Thailand6 contributions
Feb 2020 • Couples
Sticky rice is a must have :) great experience just stand back for the cashew chicken to save your hair ;)
Written February 17, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Christine T
55 contributions
Dec 2018 • Family
This cooking class is definitely one of the highlights of our two-week Thailand trip! Food was excellent, setting was amazing, and our instructor (Nero) was entertaining. We signed up for the evening course.
Glad to have followed the advice of prior reviewers and not have lunch. Each person made each course of their own five-course meal. Setup of class allowed each person to tailor (pick one of three or four options) for three of the five courses.
Don't let the 13 km distance from Chiang Mai deter you, it's a short drive, and transportation to and from our hotel was included. Happy to get away from the city for the evening.
Facility is spacious but arranged for smaller groups. We were 4 of 11 people in our class. It looks like the standard group size is about 12 people. The founder/owner (Permpoon Nabnian) was teaching another class (a much larger tour group of about 20 people) on the other side of the building.
Recipe book also included in the course. Handcrafted wooden spoon also a fun souvenir.
We knew we wanted to do a cooking class (have done on other trips) but signed up just the day before. So glad we picked this one. Definitely THE BEST cooking class!
Glad to have followed the advice of prior reviewers and not have lunch. Each person made each course of their own five-course meal. Setup of class allowed each person to tailor (pick one of three or four options) for three of the five courses.
Don't let the 13 km distance from Chiang Mai deter you, it's a short drive, and transportation to and from our hotel was included. Happy to get away from the city for the evening.
Facility is spacious but arranged for smaller groups. We were 4 of 11 people in our class. It looks like the standard group size is about 12 people. The founder/owner (Permpoon Nabnian) was teaching another class (a much larger tour group of about 20 people) on the other side of the building.
Recipe book also included in the course. Handcrafted wooden spoon also a fun souvenir.
We knew we wanted to do a cooking class (have done on other trips) but signed up just the day before. So glad we picked this one. Definitely THE BEST cooking class!
Written December 22, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Sh286
San Francisco, CA24 contributions
Jan 2018 • Couples
I have never given a negative review on Tripadvisor before, but after having done the Zabb E Lee course followed by this one...it's really not even close. I'm pretty sure the majority of great reviewers here would not have rated this as highly if they had taken other cooking classes, either in Chiang Mai or in other countries.
On the positive side, the course takes place in a beautiful farm setting, with very clean individual work stations (can choose what you want to cook!). There were 11 people in my group and about 20 in the other group.
Our afternoon class started off with a confusing pickup– despite confirming our hotel over the phone (and having a conversation with someone about how he had just visited it), the chef picking us up kept calling us to ask "where we were" over and over again, until we had to give the cell phone to someone at the hotel front desk so they could explain. When we did get picked up, there was no hello at all– he muttered that he was having a terrible day then slammed the van door shut.
The route to the market was infuriating. We sat in silence, stuck in a cramped minivan for 50 minutes, circling around and around the old city to pick up 9 other guests– we literally passed our hotel twice in that time. Finally stopped at a market that was only a 2 minute walk away from our hotel! Would have greatly appreciated the opportunity to just walk there ourselves.
The course only marginally improved once we got to the farm. I feel bad because I know our chef kept saying he was sick...but he was obviously sick. He was painfully unenthusiastic the entire course, bored with his own jokes, sighing during the demonstrations and just clearly didn't want to be there. The hours dragged on and I felt like we were a real inconvenience to him. I love cooking classes and have done many, but this was the first where the mood was so gloomy, I couldn't wait for it to end.
We did get to "cook" a lot of different dishes but ingredients were much more prepared here than elsewhere– we didn't get to make our own curry paste, or even add sauces/seasonings (everything was premixed so all we had to do was put ingredients+small bowl of sauce into a wok and push things around). That would have been fine except that with a few exceptions, the dishes were fairly inedible– incredibly salty with flat flavor profiles (the chef mentioned that he purposely left out seasonings with a "stronger flavor" such as shrimp paste). Yes, I technically prepared my dishes myself but they have really idiot-proofed the method so I assume everyones dishes tasted the same.
Despite preparing over 6 courses, we left looking for places to have a real dinner and really regretted wasting an entire afternoon here driving in circles, "cooking" with a grumpy chef and honestly fairly horrible food. Please do yourself a favor and check out another one of the many cooking schools in Chiang Mai instead of Best Thai Cookery School.
On the positive side, the course takes place in a beautiful farm setting, with very clean individual work stations (can choose what you want to cook!). There were 11 people in my group and about 20 in the other group.
Our afternoon class started off with a confusing pickup– despite confirming our hotel over the phone (and having a conversation with someone about how he had just visited it), the chef picking us up kept calling us to ask "where we were" over and over again, until we had to give the cell phone to someone at the hotel front desk so they could explain. When we did get picked up, there was no hello at all– he muttered that he was having a terrible day then slammed the van door shut.
The route to the market was infuriating. We sat in silence, stuck in a cramped minivan for 50 minutes, circling around and around the old city to pick up 9 other guests– we literally passed our hotel twice in that time. Finally stopped at a market that was only a 2 minute walk away from our hotel! Would have greatly appreciated the opportunity to just walk there ourselves.
The course only marginally improved once we got to the farm. I feel bad because I know our chef kept saying he was sick...but he was obviously sick. He was painfully unenthusiastic the entire course, bored with his own jokes, sighing during the demonstrations and just clearly didn't want to be there. The hours dragged on and I felt like we were a real inconvenience to him. I love cooking classes and have done many, but this was the first where the mood was so gloomy, I couldn't wait for it to end.
We did get to "cook" a lot of different dishes but ingredients were much more prepared here than elsewhere– we didn't get to make our own curry paste, or even add sauces/seasonings (everything was premixed so all we had to do was put ingredients+small bowl of sauce into a wok and push things around). That would have been fine except that with a few exceptions, the dishes were fairly inedible– incredibly salty with flat flavor profiles (the chef mentioned that he purposely left out seasonings with a "stronger flavor" such as shrimp paste). Yes, I technically prepared my dishes myself but they have really idiot-proofed the method so I assume everyones dishes tasted the same.
Despite preparing over 6 courses, we left looking for places to have a real dinner and really regretted wasting an entire afternoon here driving in circles, "cooking" with a grumpy chef and honestly fairly horrible food. Please do yourself a favor and check out another one of the many cooking schools in Chiang Mai instead of Best Thai Cookery School.
Written January 13, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Mark_in_Asia74
Frankfurt46 contributions
Cooking schools are big business in Chang Mai meaning high volume. We checked and decided to try this one as it promised smaller class sizes and was located in the countryside.
First thing is manage your expectations. The majority of this schools aims for a fun day out with some information on Thai cookery. This is not a high profile event for professionals. The best Thai cookery school does that in a very nice way. We had a small class of 6 which was a lot of fun. Two teacher and after a larger Chinese group was gone the place for us. Very new and clean. Quietly inside some rice paddies outside the city. Not too long transfer and on the way back they even dropped us at our wish at a near by shopping mall. So the service was friendly and spotless.
The visit to a local market was ok. All questions were answered but of course it was rather short. Good opportunity to cheaply stock up with local herbs to take home. Half an hour drive in a closed AC van to the farm. Time flew by while we were cooking or watching Ritchie cook a lot of Thai dishes. There is some individual selection on your food and all tasted great. There were a lot of tips and jokes and help on individual cooking.
You go home with a professional small cookbook, a certificate and a smile. It is a great way to spend a day. Highly recommended for everyone wishing to learn a bit about Thai cooking. But do not forget this is a tourist experience and not a real cooking school. I recommend the full day offer otherwise it is way too hectic and the price difference is low. We did not regret our choice!
First thing is manage your expectations. The majority of this schools aims for a fun day out with some information on Thai cookery. This is not a high profile event for professionals. The best Thai cookery school does that in a very nice way. We had a small class of 6 which was a lot of fun. Two teacher and after a larger Chinese group was gone the place for us. Very new and clean. Quietly inside some rice paddies outside the city. Not too long transfer and on the way back they even dropped us at our wish at a near by shopping mall. So the service was friendly and spotless.
The visit to a local market was ok. All questions were answered but of course it was rather short. Good opportunity to cheaply stock up with local herbs to take home. Half an hour drive in a closed AC van to the farm. Time flew by while we were cooking or watching Ritchie cook a lot of Thai dishes. There is some individual selection on your food and all tasted great. There were a lot of tips and jokes and help on individual cooking.
You go home with a professional small cookbook, a certificate and a smile. It is a great way to spend a day. Highly recommended for everyone wishing to learn a bit about Thai cooking. But do not forget this is a tourist experience and not a real cooking school. I recommend the full day offer otherwise it is way too hectic and the price difference is low. We did not regret our choice!
Written March 25, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
sry today 09.03.2020
ณภัทร อ
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Sorry for reply late tripadvisor email is very slowly to come to alert us. It’s possible for you to do tomorrow?
hello we are 8 people plus 2 child 1 and 3 years we wanna go together but only 4 people wants Cook whats is the prise for us ? we wanna go too your cocking scholl tommorow from 16 p.m. greetings lukasz
ณภัทร อ
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Hello so it’s mean 4 cook 4 visitor right?
obrn1956
San Dimas, CA
Can I book this evening class 1 day in advance? Is it close to hotel Movenpick Suriwongse Hotel?
Sorry for reply late are you book already ?
Hi, how much is it for 2 people? Half day or whole day? Thanks
ณภัทร อ
Chiang Mai, Thailand
sorry to reply late the price is 1,000 bath per person we have only half day Morning and half day evening
Road679991
Zaandam, The Netherlands
How much is it for my husband and i to come to the morning class on Sunday 3 Feb
Many thanks
ณภัทร อ
Chiang Mai, Thailand
The course is 1000 bath per person. If you like to book please give me your name and hotel name and room number.
Amelia B
1 contribution
I visited the school whilst in Thailand back in February 2018. I was hoping to cook for my friends this weekend but have misplaced my cookery book! Would anybody be willing to post pictures of the recepies? Many thanks!
ณภัทร อ
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Hello, I’m admin from the best thai cookery school. You can download from our web site
We have electronic cook book there.
Kate G
18 contributions
Hi!
Do you have space for me to come tomorrow? What time would the class start and end please?
I
was very happy to see lots of vegetarians recommend you on Trip Advisor 🙂
I am staying at Y’s pool villas and hoping to cook tasty vegetarian Thai food for my children while here! Could you please let me know what the cost would be for me, and the price if I came with my 8 year old son?
Thank you! I hope to see you soon!
Kate
BT00001
Chicago, IL245 contributions
You are sending this to the wrong person. I was a visitor not the manager. Good luck. It is a great place.
The Best Thai Cookery School (Chiang Mai) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go
Frequently Asked Questions about The Best Thai Cookery School
- The Best Thai Cookery School is open:
- Sun - Sat 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
- We recommend booking The Best Thai Cookery School tours ahead of time to secure your spot. If you book with Tripadvisor, you can cancel up to 24 hours before your tour starts for a full refund. See all 2 The Best Thai Cookery School tours on Tripadvisor
- Hotels near The Best Thai Cookery School:
- (2.73 mi) Villa San Pee-Seua
- (3.06 mi) Joy's House
- (2.78 mi) Tonnam Homestay By Yul
- (3.54 mi) Liam's Suan Dok Mai
- (5.03 mi) Cross Chiang Mai Riverside Resort
- Restaurants near The Best Thai Cookery School:
- (0.44 mi) Ni-yom Homemade
- (5.35 mi) Uchi Japanese Gastro Bar
- (5.27 mi) Pizza My Heart At Nimman
- (5.51 mi) Khunkae's Juice Bar / Healthy By Khunkae Chiang Mai
- (4.48 mi) Cafe Arte