Wow. If this had been the only thing we had done while in Thailand, the trip would have been well worth it. Aoy had some amazing things to share with us, and Nani was extremely helpful. Aoy is very passionate about what she does, and she obviously cares about those with whom she interacts. Truly one of the great culinary experiences of my life!
Aoywaan is an amazing chef full of fun stories and endless cooking knowledge. We cooked 5 dishes in her air conditioned kitchen then ate along the waterfront. I also found out and confirmed she is a winner of Iron Chef Thailand!
Factor in the several markets we toured and the food we ate there, the local coffees, and the boat ride along the river... and this turned into my favorite excursion on a month long trip. 10/10 will definitely do this again next time i am in bangkok... Thank you so much, Aoywaan!
We highly recommend this activity, particularly if you are looking for a private, personalized full-day experience with a real Thai Chef, not just a random cooking class in Bangkok.
(And if you don’t mind travelling to a nearby suburban town called Bang Kratheuk, immediately west of Bangkok, rather than staying in Bangkok proper. It’s still fairly convenient, since Aoy arranges for transportation from the Bang Wa station of the Bangkok BTS system.)
Initially, when I was searching for a cooking class for our Bangkok leg of our Thailand trip, I noticed many less expensive options for group classes, some with added-on market tours.
We tend to prefer instead spending one-on-one time with locals on our vacations, having down-to-earth conversations about the people, culture, politics, life, and food. And we love to cook!
This activity fit the bill. Our day with Aoywaan was fun-filled and action-packed! (Ie including our 50 min BTS commute each way to the most-west Bangkok Bang-wa metro station from/to our downtown hotel, full 7 am-3 pm)
Aoy made pickup from Bang-wa easy and punctual, and even sent confirmed directions and BTS public transit instructions and map on the whatsup app the day before.
We started our day with visits to 3 markets:
-quick morning visit to Pak Klong Talat Mai Flower market (with gorgeous flowers+++ still with the morning dew on them, as the market was getting ready for the day)
-longer visit to World Market (west side of Bangkok) to see Thai vegetables, fruit, live seafood and fresh meat).
-Don Wai “Floating” market (just west of Bangkok in Bang Krathuek)— food market by the river local to Aoywaan’s house
(Not a True “floating market”, which in Bangkok are for tourists only anyways.)
Refreshing to see almost no foreigners at these places, just locals. Even greater is that Aoy showing you around the markets is like having your own private Thai local tour guide who can show and explain to you the different Thai fruits, vegetables, the fish and meat that are popular there. From Toronto, with its large Asian population, we were acquainted with much of the Asian produce, but the sheer scale of market goodies was amazing to explore!
We had a quick bite to eat and coffee/tea at street stalls /“food courts” at both World Market and Don Wai (I guess we should have skipped the hotel breakfast!)
Then Aoy took us on a private boat ride from the market to her riverside restaurant located at her home. We met her family, who were very friendly and even showed us some traditional Thai dance moves!
Our cooking class involved Papaya Salad/Som Tam, Tom Kha soup, and Pad Thai. Very organized and went step-by-step, with nice plating of the dishes afterward.
Her niece took pics all along the way and even provided us at the end of the day with a personalized laminated recipe sheet including pictures of us and the food, and Airdropped us many photos of our cooking experience!
We then enjoyed our lunch we cooked with beers at her peaceful riverside restaurant “Aoywaan” and chatted with Aoy some more, before she dropped us off at Bang-Wa station at the end of the day.
All in all, a wonderful experience and opportunity to cook Thai food and chat during the drive between the markets to Aoy about various topics. She’s passionate and warm-hearted.
If you’re looking for a more “in-and-out” cooking class in Bangkok city proper, or don’t want to talk much with your tour guide/chef, a more structured, short class with other foreigners like those at Blue Elephant may be more your style. (When we were in Phuket, we happened to observe briefly a Blue Elephant cooking class. We also did another private cooking class at a high-end Phuket region resort earlier in our trip, which was as enjoyable as Aoy’s, and on-site and polished with professional chef and sous-chefs, but didn’t include the market tours and boat ride or extended chats).
If you’re looking for more of an individualized, memorable foodie experience with a fluent-English-speaking local Chef, then I suggest spending the day with Aoywaan.
She has even been on Iron Chef Thailand!
Caveat: you’d probably need at least a 3 d trip in Bangkok to give yourself time to do the other “sights” to see during the rest of your trip. But we enjoyed the reprieve of our private, local tour with Aoy as much if not more than running around in the heat checking out the Grand Palace/Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Pho, Wat Arun, Wat Suthat, Golden Mount, River Boat commute, etc which were crowded with tourists taking their instagram shots.