Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School
Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School
5
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About
We are the First and Best cookery school in Chiang Mai. Owned and operated by "Master Chef" Sompon Nabnian... you will unlock the secrets of traditional Thai-style cooking. Have you ever wondered why Thai food tastes so different from restaurant to restaurant? The ingredients are the same, so it should taste the same, you would think...not at all! The best Thai food comes from using the freshest ingredients, along with the skilful art of preparation and combining the right ingredients at the right time to create an exceptional dish.Our school offers five fine mouth-watering courses for you to choose from (vegetarian options are available for all dishes in all courses):There is simply no better place to learn about the joys of Thai cooking!
Duration: More than 3 hours
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
5.0
450 reviews
Excellent
384
Very good
53
Average
9
Poor
1
Terrible
3
savouritall_karen
Calgary, Canada228 contributions
Jan 2020
Our teacher/chef Pon was such a talented chef with a knife and so entertaining. He kept us in stitches.
The school has a gorgeous set up and kept us comfortable with air-conditioning and their shaded garden seating.
The food was fantastic thanks to their recipes and caring instruction. I highly recommend this activity. It was first class and we left with a copy of their cookbook too!
The school has a gorgeous set up and kept us comfortable with air-conditioning and their shaded garden seating.
The food was fantastic thanks to their recipes and caring instruction. I highly recommend this activity. It was first class and we left with a copy of their cookbook too!
Written February 2, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JSimos88
131 contributions
Aug 2019
(Our trip was July 2018, Trip advisor only goes back to August 2019) First of all, so sorry for the incredible delay in this review! Garnet Oragarn was and I'm sure still is an amazing teacher! We were so lucky to have her as our guide and just as lucky that there were only three of us on our cooking class. Garnet took us through every step, showing us how to prepare each meal, then loosened the reigns and allowed us to recreate her delicious meals, always there to lend a hand of course. Even with it being just three of us we had such an enjoyable time as Garnet is not only a great teacher but is also a very good entertainer which will be sure to relieve any nervousness you have when it comes to cooking. Garnet makes you feel at ease and relaxed. Lots of laughing that day; especially when I got managed to get chili in my eye because I did not listen to instructions; always Listen to your teacher! Thank you so much, we had a blast!
Written July 16, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
WorldTravelingMom987
California40 contributions
Sep 2019
I spent 3 days cooking here years ago and still remember it fondly. It was actually about 15 years ago, but that isn't an option for the dropdowns for this review. I still use the apron all the time and the cookbook they gave me. I learned so much about Thai food from my time taking classes at this school. They took us to the local market, took a lot of time to explain ingredients and how they are used. I learned how to properly pound curry paste with a mortar and pestle. I would go again, and this time take my husband along, because he is finally learning to cook and would probably love it.
I fondly recall those three days: being taken from my hotel (not too early) to the cooking school, sitting around learning about the recipes we were going to make, cooking the food, then eating it for a late lunch! Then being taken back to my hotel around 4 or 5 p.m. Then walking over to the ENORMOUS night market and shopping all night long. What a wonderful 3 days it was!
I fondly recall those three days: being taken from my hotel (not too early) to the cooking school, sitting around learning about the recipes we were going to make, cooking the food, then eating it for a late lunch! Then being taken back to my hotel around 4 or 5 p.m. Then walking over to the ENORMOUS night market and shopping all night long. What a wonderful 3 days it was!
Written August 8, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mama and Papa
1 contribution
Dec 2019
My husband and myself did 5 days cooking course. The last time we did the course was in 2003. As we really enjoyed it then we thought why not do another course. There we met Chef Garnet and Chef Pon. The whole experience was unbelievable.
Their command of English along with different languages was just awesome. We laughed and learned and they answered questions with confidence
Chef Garnet is a credit to the school. If you are looking for a Thai cooking course this is a must.
Thank you so much we really enjoyed our cooking experiences.
Their command of English along with different languages was just awesome. We laughed and learned and they answered questions with confidence
Chef Garnet is a credit to the school. If you are looking for a Thai cooking course this is a must.
Thank you so much we really enjoyed our cooking experiences.
Written January 30, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Patrick S
Milwaukie, OR7 contributions
Nov 2019
This was one of the highlights of our 7 week trip to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.
They picked us up, took us to the market and then introduced to the incredible Garnet Oregon as our teacher. She was incredibly good and fun!! We had a small intimate class and the teaching, demonstrations and coaching were textbook perfect!!!
They picked us up, took us to the market and then introduced to the incredible Garnet Oregon as our teacher. She was incredibly good and fun!! We had a small intimate class and the teaching, demonstrations and coaching were textbook perfect!!!
Written January 13, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ryan P
6 contributions
Jan 2020 • Solo
The whole experience was absolutely fantastic. I attended 3 days of class with Chef Garnet and Chef Pon. They made the entire experience fun as well as informative. I have gone to a total of 4 places that offered Thai cooking classes. This was head and shoulders above the rest.
Written January 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thailandtraveler
2 contributions
Jan 2020 • Family
Today my family and I visited the Thai cookery school where we had an amazing time!! Our chef was Ning who was very encouraging and an amazing chef! She was very kind and made the experience incredible. I definitely recommend coming to the Thai cookery school especially if u have Ning.
#weloveNing
#weloveNing
Written January 4, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mark S
Knoxville, TN105 contributions
Feb 2020
I haven't sampled all the Thai cooking schools, but I can't imagine one better than this. I did five days of lessons in February, 2020. 30 dishes. If you like Thai cuisine, you have to do this. If you are new to Thai, or Asian cooking, you have to do this. If you are new to cooking, you have to do this. Regardless of your experience or tastes, you'll never learn more nor have more fun cooking and learning to cook. The best!
Written May 1, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Steven P
New York4 contributions
Feb 2014 • Friends
It's unfortunate that I never got the opportunity to experience a planned day of cooking at the Thai Cookery School.
Our experience setting up a Master Class with them via email was excellent, as was our correspondence with them upon arrival in Chiang Mai. After confirming a 9:30AM pickup at our hotel the following morning, we were very much looking forward to a great day of cooking. (And, as professional chefs, we were especially excited to be able to learn from fellow pros.)
In the morning, 45 minutes prior to pickup time, I received a call explaining that they could not accommodate our Master Class for that morning as a large tour group had suddenly booked a class for the same time. After trying to bump us to a later time, or to the following day, we were unfortunately forced to lose out on our long-planned class.
Clearly the school was taking advantage of the income provided by a large group over our small one, but it was a very unprofessional way to handle things. If reserving a class 2 months in advance is not sufficient guarantee then it seems completely pointless to offer reserved spots in the first place.
It's just a shame we were forced to miss out on this great opportunity.
Our experience setting up a Master Class with them via email was excellent, as was our correspondence with them upon arrival in Chiang Mai. After confirming a 9:30AM pickup at our hotel the following morning, we were very much looking forward to a great day of cooking. (And, as professional chefs, we were especially excited to be able to learn from fellow pros.)
In the morning, 45 minutes prior to pickup time, I received a call explaining that they could not accommodate our Master Class for that morning as a large tour group had suddenly booked a class for the same time. After trying to bump us to a later time, or to the following day, we were unfortunately forced to lose out on our long-planned class.
Clearly the school was taking advantage of the income provided by a large group over our small one, but it was a very unprofessional way to handle things. If reserving a class 2 months in advance is not sufficient guarantee then it seems completely pointless to offer reserved spots in the first place.
It's just a shame we were forced to miss out on this great opportunity.
Written March 8, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TheTravellingToad
Edinburgh, UK73 contributions
Jan 2015 • Solo
If you are just thinking of coming for a day, this is a great place to understand and practice the basics of Thai cooking. Go for it!
They offer 5 one day courses which together make up the beginners course.
My comments relate more to those considering signing up to the full five days course -
Firstly, there are two days with identical market visits next to each other - this feels like a repeat and a waste of your time at your expense for the one day visitors - you don't start cooking until mid day, meaning just three hours in the kitchen.
Secondly, there are two main teachers with random allocation to each course/day. Everyone will have their own preferences, but over five days the lack of English comprehension skills of one of the teachers really got me down. I needed to ask the same question many times to get a sensible answer. The person came across as very cold, but I think this is just as she was covering up her language difficulties. She kept on using the phrase "you decide" - I'm wanting to learn, and only have one chance to get a dish right so some guidance would be much much better..
Thirdly, you will probably never see the owner (on all the literature as personally teaching here) - he's off running a zip line business. This is no big problem here though as I thought Thanapon was a great Head Chef elect.
Fourthly, if you have time don't do all the days together - it gets just too much for your mind (and your stomach)
So my thoughts are, great for a day, only commit to one day and try it before going further.
The place is great, albeit 30 minutes drive away from the city. The staff on site work really hard - all you have to do is cook, they do all the clearing up for you.
It used to be the only choice in Chiang Mai from my past experience, but now I wonder if one of the other schools would be more inspirational and make you want to love cooking Thai food rather than just cooking by numbers.
I hope this helps you decide.
They offer 5 one day courses which together make up the beginners course.
My comments relate more to those considering signing up to the full five days course -
Firstly, there are two days with identical market visits next to each other - this feels like a repeat and a waste of your time at your expense for the one day visitors - you don't start cooking until mid day, meaning just three hours in the kitchen.
Secondly, there are two main teachers with random allocation to each course/day. Everyone will have their own preferences, but over five days the lack of English comprehension skills of one of the teachers really got me down. I needed to ask the same question many times to get a sensible answer. The person came across as very cold, but I think this is just as she was covering up her language difficulties. She kept on using the phrase "you decide" - I'm wanting to learn, and only have one chance to get a dish right so some guidance would be much much better..
Thirdly, you will probably never see the owner (on all the literature as personally teaching here) - he's off running a zip line business. This is no big problem here though as I thought Thanapon was a great Head Chef elect.
Fourthly, if you have time don't do all the days together - it gets just too much for your mind (and your stomach)
So my thoughts are, great for a day, only commit to one day and try it before going further.
The place is great, albeit 30 minutes drive away from the city. The staff on site work really hard - all you have to do is cook, they do all the clearing up for you.
It used to be the only choice in Chiang Mai from my past experience, but now I wonder if one of the other schools would be more inspirational and make you want to love cooking Thai food rather than just cooking by numbers.
I hope this helps you decide.
Written January 20, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Does this school continue classes during the burning season in March? For those who don’t mind the smoke
Written December 23, 2019
Yes, We have the class everyday. Please check our class details from our website
Written December 26, 2019
Hola, me gustaría saber donde contrataste el curso de cocina. Si lo hiciste allí directamente o desde España.
Muchas gracias.
Written July 31, 2016
Hi! Coming to Chiangmai 12th July for 3 days, planning to spend some time learning recipes, can you help in terms of fees, course that I can take up?
Written July 3, 2016
We spent a full day at the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School and paid 1450 THB (about $47 USD). We opted for the aprons in lieu of the 10% discount. This included pick up from our lodgings, a full day of cooking 6 recipes and since we opted to take some of our food “to go,” the cost of the day ended up including both lunch and dinner. It was fun and in a beautiful riverside setting and well worth the cost. This is the oldest cooking school here and it is obvious why: it is that good.
Written June 27, 2019
Hello
My family and I are coming to change may on the 9 of September . We want to come and learn cooking half day
Is it possible?
Written July 11, 2015
LekCMTCS
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Dear Sir,
Thank you for your interest.
Please find detail as below;
If you need to do half day course the price will be 1,200.- per person.
Please provide your accommodation and room number up on your arrival.
Look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best regards,
Lek.
Written July 13, 2015
stephdlg
Athis-Mons, France
bonjour j'aimerais savoir s'il faut reserver pour prendre un cours d'une demi journée?
Written June 3, 2015
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