My Day on A Plate: Thailand

4.8 min read

I’ve had a partnership with the luxury travel brand Belmond since 2016, so I’ve been fortunate to host the Eastern and Oriental Express train journey from Singapore to Bangkok several times. I love it for the classic Indochinese style, the impeccable fine dining experience and the off-board experiences that provide insight into local life. And Thailand is a fantastic destination for foodies as there are so many ways you can learn about and taste the diversity of their cuisine – at street stalls, at produce markets and at fine-dining restaurants. Here’s a snapshot of the last day on my most recent Eastern and Oriental Express tour.

Morning

I alighted the train with the other guests in Kanchanaburi, a town in Thailand’s west. Here we had a choice of three tours and I opted to do a bicycle tour. Twenty of us rode through the town’s rice paddies and although the ride was only about three kilometres, it was hard work because we were cycling in the hot, dry heat. We stopped off at a local market where we were impressed by the big bowls of different spice blends and the assortment of fresh herbs and vegetables.

At the end of our bike ride we were treated to some mango and coconut cakes that were baked just for us. I’d never tried a cake like this before: they weren’t too sweet, a little bit savoury and had a nice spongey texture. We boarded the train again for lunch and arrived at Bangkok in the late afternoon where our time on the Eastern and Oriental Express had come to an end.

Evening

I followed the recommendation of Yannis Martineau, Head Chef of the Eastern and Oriental Express, and went to Issaya Siamese Club (for dinner. The restaurant, which is the flagship of Thailand’s first internationally renowned “celebrity chef” Ian Kittichai, is housed in a 100-year-old villa and has been named one of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants for the past five years in a row.

I tried five different dishes and the food was very inventive. One of my favourites was the red curry-glazed baby back ribs which came out, beautifully presented, on a box wrapped in banana leaves. The flavours were incredible and the team at Issaya were kind enough to share the recipe with me. When I travel I always get inspired by the food I eat. I might play around with this recipe and my version of it could end up at one of my own restaurants.

The dessert was also one of my favourites. Laid out on a large banana leaf were coconut, mango, banana, mango cake and shards of chocolate. It looked pretty messy but that was part of the fun and theatrics. I scooped up a little bit of everything and placed it on a shard of chocolate so that I could taste all the elements together. It was amazing!

The dessert was also one of my favourites. Laid out on a large banana leaf were coconut, mango, banana, mango cake and shards of chocolate. It looked pretty messy but that was part of the fun and theatrics. I scooped up a little bit of everything and placed it on a shard of chocolate so that I could taste all the elements together. It was amazing!

At the Bar

After dinner, I made my way back to the newly opened Waldorf Astoria, where I was staying. But before heading to bed, I I love to try different types of gin and the one that they had, Sipsmith London Dry Gin, had also been recommended to me by a friend. I ordered it with some tonic water and it had a strong juniper flavour – exactly what you want in a gin.