This Fall Asia is alive with great foodie experiences. Here’s a list of some exciting offers in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Japan.
Celebrating Chiang Mai’s Loy Krathong Festival With Dinner
Meliá Chiang Mai’s 21st floor Mai Restaurant and Bar will offer an exquisite four-course dinner menu accompanied with spectacular views of Chiang Mai to mark Thailand’s traditional festival Loy Krathong. Available on November 8 and 9 and priced at THB 2,999 nett (USD 71.20) per couple, the menu starts with a trio of appetizers, Tom Yum soup seasoned with a paste of wild chili, prawns and winter mushrooms. The main course is a choice between baked salmon trout with green chili relish, wok-fried locally grown edible ferns and safflower rice or slow-cooked tender pork ribs in Khao Soi curry sauce served with home pickled vegetables, garbanzo beans and potato, followed by a ‘Loy Kratong treasure basket’ of Thai desserts. The dinner also includes a glass of red or white wine and a selection of fine teas or Spanish coffee.
Exploring French Gastronomy in Phnom Penh
In the new “Culinary Tour” at Raffles Hotel Le Royal’s Le Phnom 1929, diners can explore French cuisine through a journey that takes in highlights from the country’s most celebrated gastronomy regions, such as Brittany, Normandy, Alsace and Paris. Standout items on the new menu include Galette Au Sarrasin “Complète,” featuring egg, torchon ham and comté cheese; and Far Breton, thick custard cream cooked with black prunes flambé with rum. The “Culinary Tour” features three separate dining opportunities: The Regional Business Lunch, available from Monday to Friday, includes a 2-course or 3-course set menu starting from USD 20 net. The Regional A La Carte menu features popular dishes starting from USD 9 net. And the Themed Sunday Brunch (from USD 65 net) involves a lavish weekend spread. The “Culinary Tour” was designed by Raffles Hotel Le Royal’s new Executive Chef Martin Becquart.
Food Court Brims With Variety of Dining Experiences
Thirty-hectare beachfront resort Alma, situated on Vietnam’s Cam Ranh peninsula, offers something to suit everyone’s palette at the fun and happening Alma Food Court. The spacious culinary hub seats 312 guests and offers six different cheery food outlets serving a broad spectrum of local and international dishes. The outlets include An Nam selling Vietnamese classics, a Tokyo Express food truck with Japanese favorites, The Noodle House serving beef and chicken noodle soups, Little New York offering chicken cooked in a Henny Penny fryer, the French Bakery offering an array of pastries and desserts and Espresso Bar serving coffee, tea and freshly squeezed juice.
“Stones” by a Famous Japanese Artist Reshape Tea in Tokyo
In keeping with Palace Hotel Tokyo’s ‘harmony with nature’ ethos and the brand’s regard for tradition and innovation, artist Akito Akagi – internationally recognized as one of Japan’s leading contemporary lacquerware artisans – has designed a new afternoon tea set to commemorate Palace Hotel Tokyo’s tenth anniversary. The design of the new afternoon tea presentation, which launched this September, reflects a blend of traditional aesthetics and contemporary style. Akagi’s representative work “Stones,” was redesigned exclusively for the hotel. Handmade in the artist’s atelier, each piece of varying shape and size is reminiscent of river stones sculpted naturally over time, and each is finished in black or white lacquer, presenting an elegant canvas atop which the equally artful sweets and savories, which change with the season, are served up (accompanied by a selection of premium teas). This fall the theme is “Colors of Japan” and traditional autumn hues are reflected in what’s served. The price is JPY 8,000 per person or JPY 10,400 with a glass of Champagne. For more information, visit: https://en.palacehoteltokyo.com/restaurants-bars/new-afternoon-tea-stones/
Mothers Man the Kitchen on Cam Ranh Peninsula
When it comes to cooking, nothing is as sacrosanct as a home-cooked meal. That’s why a half-dozen mothers of The Anam Cam Ranh’s staff will serve up an authentic slice of Vietnamese culture every Friday evening from December 2 this year. Drawing on centuries-old recipes handed down the generations, the mother cooks serve up timeless Vietnamese classics, as if they were cooking for their own families. The dishes include bò nướng lá lốt (grilled beef in betel leaf), bún bò Huế (Hue-style beef noodle soup) and bánh xèo (crispy Vietnamese pancake), and are complemented by plenty of fresh, zesty salads and other treats. These mothers plate up fresh, healthy and delectable Vietnamese fare at cooking stations at the resort’s Lang Viet Restaurant that overlooks Long Beach.
An Enchanting Fire Dance Sets the Scene for a Balinese Feast
No artistic impulse at Tanah Gajah, a Resort by Hadiprana, is quite so bold as the kecak dance, held every Tuesday and Friday at 7pm, when dozens and sometimes as many as 75 performers from the neighboring village of Peliatan troop to an outdoor amphitheater on the hotel grounds, as if compelled by some ancient need to chant and dance. The guests, it would seem, are incidental. In a torch-lit shrine, dozens of bare-chested men in black-checked skirts keep up a heady chant while others reenact scenes from the Ramayana. There are mock battles, and monsters and great balls of fire, and chanting that will echo in guest’s memory for years to come. The performance is followed by a three course family style Royal Balinese dinner at The Tempayan. Prices start from IDR 785,000++ and includes a welcome drink to enjoy during the performance and dinner afterwards. For more information visit: https://www.tanahgajahubud.com/en/experiences/kecak-dance–dinner
‘Seafood Market’ Comes to Life on Ho Tram’s Sandy Shores
Thronged with locals haggling over the freshest catch of the day, Vietnam’s seafood markets are an icon unto themselves. It’s this eclectic market atmosphere that Meliá Ho Tram Beach Resort brings to life as part of the “Ho Tram Seafood Market” experience on Breeza Beach Club’s vast outdoor terrace every Saturday from 6.30-9.30pm. As the sun goes down to the right of the resort’s 500m of ocean frontage, large bamboo baskets brimming with fresh seafood such as crabs, squid, fish, shrimp, mussels, snails, clams and scallops are assembled on bamboo stalls to a backdrop of live chill-out music. Diners determine if their seafood is grilled, wok-fried or steamed, and choose from sauces and popular Vietnamese accompaniments including lime, chili, ginger, garlic, onion, coriander and mint basil.
