The cooking at Mingles is founded on the principles of traditional Korean cuisine. However, the latest tasting menu at Mingles takes a new and distinctive approach to Korean cuisine by mingling the old with new techniques and sensibilities. The menu leans heavily on traditional Korean fermented products like Doenjang (soybean paste) and Gochujang (chilli paste) as well as seasonal produce found throughout the country. The craft at Mingles has helped the restaurant gain 2 Michelin stars and the title of Best Restaurant in Korea 2022 after reaching No. 16 in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. Seasonal ..read more

7th Door’s Logo 7th Door is the restaurant of Chef Kim Dae-chun and the culmination of his “20-year quest for gastronomic heaven”. This restaurant which opened in 2021 was awarded a Michelin Star in its first year and currently sits at No. 26 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. The goal of the restaurant is to explore the art of Korean fermentation and ageing in order to discover new tastes, but also to rediscover old ones too. And so, the name 7th Door came about. The first five doors represent the five basic tastes; sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami, with the sixth being fermentation and agein ..read more

Korea has some of my favourite food in all of Asia and I wanted to know all there was to know about it. But, that was probably a bit ambitious given how broad Korean cuisine is. I could only learn so much about Korean food by eating and I ate a lot. But, to truly learn how and why things are cooked the way they are I had to take a Korean cooking class. I had already done similar cooking classes in Thailand, Cambodia and Bali, all of which were fantastic learning and eating experiences! A lot of cooking classes are available throughout Korea in cities like Seoul, Jeonju and Busan. And so, after ..read more

Who is Mbah Satinem and What is Jajan Pasar? Known for having some of the sweetest food in all of Indonesia, Yogyakarta (Jogja) is home to culinary delights like Gudeg, Bakmi and Ronde. But, there’s one dish in Jogja that people are waking up at 4:30 am for and that’s Jajan Pasar. Jajan Pasar encompasses many things, but at the base of it are different types of sweet snacks, made from rice flour, sticky rice, cassava and coconut. Using these few ingredients, people have been coming up with new types of Jajan Pasar for years, however, there are a few classics that will never go away. And Mbah S ..read more

Bounties of herbs and vegetables, fiery sambals, rich spices and the freshest seafood are just some of the things that make Balinese cuisine so tasty. Some of my favourite dishes during my travels in Indonesia were from Bali with dishes like Babi Guling (roast suckling pig) and Ikan Bakar (grilled fish). The food here is the confluence of many different cultural influences; indigenous and Hindu traditions, influences from other Indonesian regional cuisines and Middle-Eastern, Indian and Chinese influences. It’s an exciting cuisine that’s well worth learning more about, and whilst you can defin ..read more

R4D’s Bar Room 4 Dessert is an award-winning restaurant known for its unorthodox dessert tasting menu in Bali. Helmed by Will Goldfarb, winner of “The World’s Best Pastry Chef’ in 2021, the restaurant has received praise for its avant-garde nature to desserts that showcase Bali’s nature and culture. Bali isn’t the first destination that comes to mind when you’re looking for fine dining restaurants; it doesn’t help when Michelin hasn’t gone through the effort of starring restaurants in Indonesia. But, what Bali offers to R4D is a bounty of ingredients that any pastry chef could dream of; cacao ..read more

Multi-day road trips in Northern Thailand are some of the most popular ways to explore the region. They give you the freedom to visit harder-to-reach towns, take detours to hidden waterfalls and check out random places on the map that you wouldn’t be able to do on a regular tour. The Mae Salong Loop is no different. Starting and ending in Chiang Mai, this loop takes you to the most northern parts of Thailand, up to tea fields and over to the popular city of Chiang Rai. It’s well worth the trip. Golden Temple in Chiang Rai What’s the Mae Salong Loop Route? The Mae Salong Loop starts and finishe ..read more

Rungfah Farm Stay Khao Sok isn’t the first place you’d think to do a Thai-style cooking class; normally people recommend going to Chiang Mai. But, this national park promises much to anyone that wants to cook a meal from farm (or rainforest) to table. The National Park is home to the world’s oldest evergreen rainforest. As such, all sorts of plants grow here from rafflesias (the world’s largest flower) to pitcher plants and tall coconut palms. The incredible biodiversity within Khao Sok makes it a nature lover’s paradise where you can stay, trek and cook amongst other activities, whilst surrou ..read more

The Mae Hong Son Loop is one of the most popular road trips you can do in North Thailand. And, if you’ve got the time it’s well worth it! The loop, starting and ending in Chiang Mai, winds its way along mountain valleys, visiting all manner of towns, temples, canyons and caves. Oh, and the food here is probably some of the most diverse in Thailand. Sunset over Mae Hong Son What’s the Mae Hong Son Loop Route? The Mae Hong Son Loop starts and finishes in Chiang Mai and visits 4 main destinations; Mae Sariang, Mae Hong Son, Pang Mapha and Pai. Some people choose to visit Pai first, doing the loop ..read more

Michelin-starred street food in the heart of Bangkok. At the helm of Raan Jay Fai is one woman, Supinya Junsuta, also known as Jay Fai, the winner of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Icon Award in 2021. In addition to these accolades, she was even featured on Netflix’s Street Food: Asia in Bangkok. What makes Jay Fai so iconic, besides the ski goggles, is her innovative approach to street food. Surrounded by other market stalls, Jay Fai stood out from the crowds by insisting on using only the best quality and most premium products in Bangkok. Oh, and she has the wok skills to match these ingredient ..read more