Culinary

Master the Intricate Art of Sushi-Making

Tokyo, Japan

With some of the planet’s premium seafood, 400-plus years of expertise and sleek aesthetics, sushi is Japan’s most famous dish on the world stage. A hugely popular dish in Japan, sushi is also strongly associated with Japanese culture. Although originating outside Japan, Tokyo is acknowledged as the birthplace of modern-day sushi and home to the world’s largest number of sushi restaurants. 

Today, discover the intricate art of sushi-making and its legendary secrets at a private sushi class, at one of the most renowned sushi restaurants within Tokyo’s Tsukiji Outer Market. Adjacent to the former Tsukiji Inner Market – one of the world’s greatest wholesale fish markets, which relocated in 2018 to Toyosu – Tsukiji Outer Market’s shops and restaurants still thrive. Your gourmet-savvy guide will point out fresh fish and seafood, seasonal vegetables, deli goods and premium kitchen equipment sold here.

Then join an exclusive sushi-making class, personally instructed by a professional sushi chef. At the restaurant’s sushi counter, learn how to make sushi rice with the technique of adding rice vinegar. Then create nigari, hand-formed mini balls of rice topped with fresh seafood sourced from Tsukiji Outer Market – one of Tokyo’s premier spots for fresh seafood! Enjoy your sushi creations for a delicious lunch.

Duration: 2 hrs

Authentic Street Food Tour by Night

Kowloon, Hong Kong

Discover Hong Kong’s world-famous culinary scene at night, guided by a local foodie expert. Explore Kowloon’s vibrant streets of Jordan and Yau Ma Tei on foot. Steeped in old-school Chinese ambiance, both neighbourhoods present a distinctly local flavour and some of Hong Kong’s finest street food options. At five typically local-style eateries, sample four astounding courses. Our culinary guide will happily share the secrets behind each street food dish, besides the renowned local food culture. This night-time tour is a marvellous opportunity to experience two of Hong Kong’s oldest, most authentic, while eating “like the locals”. There’s ample time to visit nearby Temple Street Night Market, the largest and best-known of Hong Kong’s enthralling street markets.

Duration: 5 hrs

Culinary Adventure in Bali

Bali, Indonesia

Embark on a unique culinary experience pairing authentic Balinese cuisine with food adventures. Ideal for those who love cooking and eating and want to understand more about food and its influence on the culture, the meals or cooking classes are structured around local, off-the-beaten-track experiences.

Choose from 3 different “Day in the Life of…” themes: visiting a local village to see Balinese palm wine being made and soaking your feet in a natural spring; making and applying traditional skin and beauty products from natural ingredients; or shopping at a morning market and learning how to prepare traditional flower offerings.

Duration: 8hrs

Street Food Night Market Tour

Yangon, Myanmar

Experience a sensory overload on this guided walking tour through Yangon Night Market, a relatively new, night bazaar stretching along the city’s Strand Road. Walk past the never-endling strip of vendor’s stalls and street food carts, piled with a staggering array of Burmese street food and favourite dishes. Our guide will provide insight into the neighbourhood history, besides introducing some typical snacks and delicacies to sample.  This vibrant night market also lends a great opportunity to interact with the many local families who eat here.

Duration: 2-3hrs

Learn How to Prepare Shan Cuisine

Heho, Myanmar

The cuisine of Shan State is loaded with unique flavours thanks to its many fresh, locally-farmed products, the influence of its nine primary ethnic groups as well as its preference for spices similar to those used in the south of India. Shan State is known for producing glutinous rice, fermented beans and preserved vegetables in rice wine while the floating gardens of Inle Lake supplies tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and string beans to much of the country.

Spend the morning shopping in the local fresh market and selecting ingredients. With the hands-on guidance from the chef, prepare popular Shan dishes including Shan noodles, vegetable tempura, and Shan salad which you will enjoy for lunch.

Duration: 4hrs

Cooking Class and Swimming at Kuang Si Falls

Luang Prabang, Laos

Spend a leisurely half day at the stunning Kuang Si Waterfalls, known for their turquoise blue pools formed by water cascading down in tiers from the hillside. Begin by visiting the organic farm of your instructor who is an author of the first English-language Lao cookbook. Her garden of herbs, medicinal plants, fruits and vegetables is situated in a wild jungle setting beside a river outlet of the Kuang Si Falls.

Gather ingredients from the garden for a cooking class with your host, showcasing some of Lao cuisine’s intriguing and perhaps unfamiliar flavours. After enjoying the lunch you helped prepare, explore the nearby Kuang Si Waterfalls with the opportunity to swim in the pools or hike to the top of the main waterfall featuring an impressive 60m (200ft) cascade.

Duration: 6.5hrs

Exploring Lao Street Food by Tuk-Tuk

Vientiane, Laos

While perhaps not as well-known as Thai or Vietnamese cuisine, the flavours of Laos are just as enchanting in their own right. Being mountainous and landlocked, Lao cuisine focuses on fresh, local ingredients and enjoys some similarities with Northern Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Spend an evening zipping around Vientiane by three-wheeled tuk-tuk on an adventurous dinner safari. Join the locals at a bustling evening food market to sample some Lao favourites accompanied by the staples of sticky rice and umami-rich padaek, a paste made from cured, fermented fish. Also visit pop-up stands that sell roadside desserts and drinks only in the evenings. End the night on a sweet note by sampling some traditional Lao sweets, many featuring coconut or sticky rice, and Lao-style roti with banana and coconut milk.

Duration: 3hrs

Experience Khmer Food Delights by Tuk Tuk

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Heartier than Vietnamese food and not as sweet or spicy as Thai, Khmer cuisine occupies a niche all its own. Shaped by history (with influences from China and France) and geography (incorporating rice and freshwater fish from the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers), Cambodian food showcases pleasing contrasts – sweet and bitter, salty and sour, fresh and cooked.

Spend an evening criss-crossing the town of Siem Reap by tuk tuk in search of Khmer favourites including snacks in the alleyways and side streets surrounding the Old Market; street food on famed Angkor Kyung Yu Road (also known as Road 60) including a range of exotic fruits, grilled meats, and for the food-adventurous, some fried insects; a more substantial sit-down meal at a local restaurant; and finishing off with a traditional Cambodian alcoholic beverage.

Duration: 3-4hrs

Cooking Class at Ambassador’s Former Residence

Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnamese cuisine is unique in Southeast Asia for its many influences, including the Chinese who ruled parts of Vietnam for a thousand years and the French who occupied Vietnam close to a century. Participate in an engaging half-day cooking class highlighting the bold, fresh flavours of southern Vietnamese cuisine at the exclusive former residence of US Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Begin with a trip to Ben Thanh, Saigon’s iconic market. Its central location and volume of shoppers means it has some of the city’s freshest ingredients. At the villa, learn more about this historic home with a tour and a short video, and enjoy a private, hands-on cooking demonstration, with tips on presentation and chopstick usage before savouring your culinary creation.

Duration: 3hrs

Discovering the Street Food Culture of Hanoi

Hanoi, Vietnam

An enduring image of Hanoi is of people clustered around low tables, enjoying steaming bowls of street food while motorbikes whiz on by. Northern Vietnam is not only the country’s cradle of civilisation, but is also the birthplace of many of its best-known dishes, including pho (noodle soup) and bun cha (grilled pork over noodles). Together with a well-known food blogger who has spent over a decade documenting Hanoi’s street food scene, explore some of his favourite Old Quarter wet markets and street food stalls. Listen as he demystifies Vietnamese food practices and unusual flavours while introducing you to some of Hanoi’s iconic dishes. Among the tour’s highlights are ceremonial cake stalls, dried and candied fruit, and traditional coffee in a historic café in the Old Quarter.

Duration: 3hrs

Exploring Saigon’s Hidden Eateries and Cafes by Vespa (Exclusive)

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City has 8 million residents and just as many motorbikes. Do as the locals do and hop on a vintage Vespa, zipping across Saigon’s urban districts in search of local, authentic eateries known mostly to the just most food-conscious of the city’s residents. Try Vietnamese versions of French-inspired flavours including freshly baked baguettes and a cup of “ca-phe phin” or rich, drip coffee, served in a vintage coffee shop. Taste how the Vietnamese treat fresh seafood in an out-of-the-way restaurant. Explore a mid 20th century apartment complex which transforms into hundreds of food and drink stalls in the evening. Finish the night with a Vietnamese dessert at a 50-year-old sweet shop, followed by a glass of local beer or a cocktail at a cosy Saigon bar tucked down a quiet alley.

Duration: 3.5hrs